Senior Corner

January/February 2006
By Olga & Stan Kahan,

Co-Chairs, USATT Senior Committee

949-830-6699 (ph) • naf@berkeley.edu

The year 2006 has begun with exciting news: the World Veterans Table Tennis Championships will be held in Bremen, Germany, May 15-20, at the same site as the Liebherr World Team Championships which are scheduled for the last week of April.

Mrs. Diane Scholer, President of the Swaythling Club International (SCI) and an ITTF Veterans Committee member from Dusseldorf, Germany, took on an enormous task, together with Mr. Hans Westling (Gottenberg, Sweden) the ITTF Deputy Chair of World Veterans Championships, in organizing this grand international event.  3,500 Veteran players from all corners of the globe will have the opportunity to compete in the same venue and on the same tables as these world-class athletes who will be playing in the World Team Table Tennis Championships at the newly renovated sports and Exhibition Complex, which, according to Mrs. Scholer, “are superb playing conditions.”

Doreen Schofield, V.E.T.T.S. International Coordinator from Stockport, England, had already arranged a group from the Veterans English Table Tennis Society to participate in Bremen in the World Veteran Table Tennis Championships in the blooming days of May.  Her friends and colleagues, including Doreen’s husband and her mixed doubles partner, Derek Schofield, and Mr. Brian Halliday (ITTF), plus all those English visitors who took past in the last October’s Huntsman World Senior Games and won batches of medals, have sent in their entry forms in order to compete in the upcoming World Senior Event in Germany.  Do you want to play?  Hurry up and send your entry form.  Fax 0049-211-602-89918 or call 0049-211-601730.  You might become a world champion!

“Defy Gravity – Your Chance to Fly,” the theme of last October’s Huntsman Senior Games in St. George, had a tremendous impact upon many mature players not only in Utah, USA, but also in the Caribbean Region of North America.  Senior Barbadians avidly stepped forward to continue the Caribbean Games and become involved in various sporting activities.  The Caribbean Senior Games Association (CSGA) cordially invites any player, mature but young-at-heart, to Barbados, either to participate in its Calendar of Events or just to visit there as its guest.  The Association’s theme for 2006 is “Growing Old is Cool.”  This CSGA organization is pleased to announce that the Caribbean newest institution – “the First Healthy Lifestyle and Active Aging Club” – is also open to any mature adult, and that those athletes who will be selected would represent Barbados at international events such as the World Senior Games.  According to the Calendar of Events, the Caribbean or Regional Games are scheduled on Sept. 23-24, 2006, and the beginning of October is reserved for the Caribbean Seniors’ Team to participate in the 20th Annual Huntsman World Senior Games in Utah, USA. For additional information, check out these websites: www.regionalseniorgames.com and www.caribbeangames.com.bb.

North American Table Tennis and the Stiga North American Tour is now advertising their 2006 Tournaments.  The 2006 Western Open will be held on Feb. 18-19, in Berkeley, California, and on Apr. 15-16 in San Diego, California.  These tournaments also include the Feingold Memorial Senior Events.  Contact: North American Table Tennis, 301-738-8250, info@natabletennis.com, or www.natabletennis.com.

In Southwestern Ohio, there is a wonderful place called Hithergreen Senior Center.  Fifty-five Seniors flock in five days a week from 9 AM to 4:30 PM.  They have an opportunity to exercise and play table tennis.  Some time ago, a group of just six people started to regularly practice table tennis and now those Ohioans regularly compete in Senior tournaments, including the Huntsman World Senior Games.  Last year some of them participated in the National Senior Olympics in Pittsburgh.  Sid and Jan Stansel, in their early days, went to college with Tim Boggan and their lifelong friendship steadily developed with their support and affection for this sport.  By the way, we may congratulate Tim Boggan, USATT Secretary and Historian, for his new position as “Director for Sponsorship and Advertising of the Swaythling Club International,” in additional to his many important activities in helping to develop table tennis on local, regional, and world levels.

Table Tennis is also starting to bloom in the area of the Rio Grande Valley, TX, as a result of a steady influx of active retirees who make winter home there, or for some, their permanent residence.  The gold medalist of many senior tournaments, Rosemary Davis, Missouri, occasionally visits this Harlingen Table Tennis Club in Texas, in addition to the St. Louis Table Tennis Club – known as the St. Charles T.T.C.  We are extending an invitation to these seniors from Texas and St. Louis, to join the Meiklejohn North American Seniors Tournament in Laguna Woods, June 1-4.  Let’s enjoy table tennis together and have fun to the fullest under the friendly Californian sun!

Bill Brin, table tennis active at 80+ years and recovering from a broken neck when his plane flipped over, with his lovely wife, Harriet, took gold, silver, and bronze at the 2005 Huntsman World Senior Games.  They practice together everyday in their basement.  Those who practice together stay together!