Senior Corner

Senior events were sprouting like mushrooms after a rainstorm in October, although there was precious little moisture in the Southwest during September and October. In the low desert in Hemet, California, an interesting competition, limited to seniors, ran for eighteen days, including most sports ranging from Bowling to Track and Field. This active senior event has the unusual name of OLDlympics. Now, one must suggest to the organizing committee that despite their good will OLD is a relatively debatable name, even though some players "lymp" through their events. It was a gland – oops, grand event! Wilfredo Escobar was the chairperson at the table tennis affair, aided by the authors of this article as chief umpire and desk director of the draws (and Olga took gold in the over 70 Women Singles).

In the 50 and over, Ragnar Fahlstrom, in his late sixties and known as "Ray" to his friends, prevailed against the youngsters to bring home the gold medal. Predominately young Ivan Slade, at 87, took gold in the over 80’s and over 70’s. A former member of the English National Team, he remembers when youngsters Dick Bergman and Johnny Leach moved into the team’s ranks. The former No. 17 ranked player in the world still uses his favorite Hock hardbat and chops his opponents down to size. Ivan later teamed with Stan Kahan to take the gold in the 70+ doubles against a determined team of Neil Smyth and "Blakie" Barlow. In case you meet Ivan at an event, just call him "twinkle toes," a nickname bestowed on him 70 years and 70 pounds ago.

Fresh from the Hemet games, your authors ventured to St. George, Utah, for the Huntsman World Senior Games. The huge event was opened at a grand ceremony by the Governor of the State of Utah; its two-week series of events provided athletics and health screening, flu shots, and renewed acquaintanceships for players from all over the world. You will be reading a report on the games in this issue. So we will skip to other golden Olympics events

In Southern California, five senior clubs met on Saturday, October 18 for a full day of singles, doubles, and team doubles, ranging in ages from 40 to over 90. The players, representing clubs from Laguna Woods Leisure World, Phoenix Club of Anaheim, Anaheim Senior Center, Irvine, and Seal Beach, were intermixed into four groups, all playing with teammates from other clubs. They were gastronomically named the Roman Pizzas, the Neapolitan Lasagnas, the Florentine Macaronis, and the Venetian Cannellonis. Fortunately, the delicious food served by the Leisure World gourmet hospitality was much lower in carbohydrates. The Pizzas were triumphant, but the other entrees will be seeking revenge at the next course.

Do you have multiple groups in your area? Let us know! What a wonderful way to provide new playing partners, competition, and general camaraderie for the young at heart! Moreover, table tennis activities and regular training are excellent aerobic exercises and are also significant in promoting physical and mental health later in life.

In our country, we have many wonderful national coaches, such as Cheng Yinghua, Jack Huang, Larry Hodges, Barney Reed, Sr., and other USATT certified coaches. However, it would be great if more trainers could be available for the grassroot senior players, too.

In some clubs, the coaches have been training their senior members on a regular basis. For example, one USATT certified National Coach and Hall of Famer (Wei Wang) has been involved in a senior training program for many years in various parts of South California. Bella Livshin, one of the top over 50 women players, is actively engaged in training senior players in the Los Angeles Area. Nick Mintsiveris was busy teaching the young at heart for years. Now, Loc Ngo has taken a torch of responsibility for coaching in several senior clubs and retirement communities. It is very helpful for seniors to be trained by players (ranked 2000-2300) to raise significantly the quality of their play.

People are never too old to learn new tricks, to compete, and have fun!

A Happy New Year to you all and a fantastic journey to your success!