Senior Corner

November/December 2005
By Olga & Stan Kahan,

Co-Chairs, USATT Senior Committee

949-830-6699 (ph) · 949-240-7167 (fax)

First of all, Happy Holidays and Season Greetings!

We have almost reached the threshold of the new year 2006, which calls upon us to embark on new endeavors. This year, 2005, is ending with a good harvest; there are many new table tennis Senior events and our favorite sport is spreading steadily throughout the country.

The USATT Senior Committee members evaluated its activities, with regard to the current year, as highly satisfactory. The USATT Senior Committee members are also involved in planning forthcoming Senior events on a wide scale. The Senior Committee agreed that it would be desirable to arrange Continental or International Senior Table Tennis Games in either 2006 or 2007, possibly in "the sinful city" of Las Vegas.

Senior Committee member David Sakai (2004 Hall of Famer) suggested to the USATT Board that Seniors must be over 40 years of age and Veterans over 50 years of age on the date of any senior national or continental tournament. It was also recommended to include 5-year age divisions into Senior tournaments instead of 10-year brackets.

There is wonderful news from our U.S. Senior Committee and for Senior table tennis. Olga is now a member of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Veteran’s Committee. This will afford her an opportunity to provide input at the world level to seek support and improve our tournaments. As Senior Table Tennis is concerned, Olga now represents the North American Continent. There are a total of six members who represent all the continents of the world, including Oceania. No senior member has yet been selected for Antarctica. If anyone is interested, please apply with white tie and tails, but remember that white balls have been banned for play on the continent.

Chairman of the ITTF Veterans’ Working Group, Mr. Chan Foong Keong, has already engaged in communication with his North American representative in order to assist in promoting table tennis among veterans. Mr. Chan has been involved with the Malaysian Table Tennis Association and since 2003 has also stepped in as the ITTF Competitions Manager in the Asia-Pacific Region. Let’s take a hat off to the great gentleman!

Mr. Hans Westling from Sweden was elected as Deputy Chairman of the ITTF Veterans’ Committee and he is in charge of World Veterans Championships. Some ex-World Champions have already entered the time zone of "prestigious maturity," especially those from Hans Westling’s native land.

Sad to say, we will deeply miss a wonderful athlete and entertainer from Poland, Andrzej Grubba. He had recently been elected to the ITTF Board of Directors.

We will also miss Dora Morrison from Oregon, who recently passed away. In 2003, Dora entered a totally new event – the Over 90 Singles, when she received her trophy among other nonagenarian contestants, in the Meiklejohn National Senior Table Tennis Tournament in Laguna Woods, California. We will never forget her charming broad smile! Scott Preiss’s story about Dora in the last issue of the USATT Magazine was beautifully written.

Let’s leave our "Senior Corner" looking towards a Happy New Year, wishing you, our readers, all things warm and wonderful from December to December.

Remember, above all, "KEEP THE BALL ON THE TABLE!"