Club of the Month: Cincinnati TTC

By Barb Curtis

If you find yourself visiting the Cincinnati area and have a love for table tennis please visit the Cincinnati Table Tennis Club, located at 3900 Winding Way in the Schmidt Fieldhouse on the campus of Xavier University.  Open play is on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 11:30.  The club’s members are friendly people of all ages, races, and occupations, including the club’s “good-will” ambassador, Jim Bracht (he’s “Not Santa”).

The club’s origin dates back to the early 1960’s, and over the 35-plus years and several locations, found its current home in 1997 at the Schmidt Fieldhouse.  The Fieldhouse is a table tennis player’s dream – spacious, well lit, hardwood flooring, a 40-foot ceiling, and a seating capacity of two thousand.  Equipment includes eight Donic Persson 25 tables, ample barriers, and a Newgy 40mm robot.  There are four certified coaches and many dedicated players willing to work with others in order to improve everyone’s overall game.

Over the past year the club’s membership has grown to the point where the nightly fees have been reduced from $5.00 to $3.00.  Club president Mike Lecture (also current president of the Ohio Table Tennis Association) credits part of the growth to a full-page article that appeared in The Cincinnati Enquirer in May of 2001.  The article gave an accurate description of the true nature of the game.  Impressed with the unique and widely varied ethnic diversity among the members, the newspaper ran a second half-page article in just over two months.

All of this attention has attracted many new novice players.  To help them improve their skills, the club recently completed an 8-week training session hosted by some of the club’s top players (Larry Hawkins, Nick Snider, Willians Capilo & Rick Morris.)

The club hosts a sanctioned tournament in the autumn of each year.  For more information, you can email the club at info@cincytt.org or visit their website at www.cincytt.org.