2006 STIGA Big Whack and Portland School League

By Sean O’Neill 

“What we really need is for table tennis to be in the school system!” How many times have we all heard this statement? Well, for the past fifteen years, Jim Scott and the PTTC (Portland Table Tennis Club) have been doing exactly this by creating two outstanding programs targeted at kids in their community: The STIGA Big Whack singles tournament and the Portland School League.

During this period Jim sought the support of two ambassadors of the sport. The first partner Jim teamed up with was Larry Gajderowicz of Escalade Sports. Escalade Sports has sponsored the PTTC by providing STIGA equipment each year, allowing the club to distribute tables throughout the Portland school system. It is not unusual for middle schools in the program to have up to a dozen quality tables at their disposal for use in table tennis physical education classes or after school matches with rival schools. “Larry Gajderowicz has really made this program possible with his generous support. The first-class equipment will be used by our community for generations,” Jim Scott proudly acknowledged.

The second individual that has had a huge impact on this program is the late Bob Viducich. Bob provided USATT memberships to students to encourage them to join the national association and share his love of the sport. To date, Bob has donated over 150 memberships to kids in the Portland school system. One of the saddest announcements at the tournament was that Bob had passed away during the event. At his funeral reception the following week, it was mentioned that one of the last notes he wrote to his caregiver had the words “Big Whack” on it. Bob was one of the first players to win a varsity letter in table tennis from Benson HS in 1949.

While Larry and Bob have had a huge impact on making table tennis a reality for kids in Portland, it has been the steadfast efforts of Jim Scott and Mark Kobernick that ensure that the program flourishes. Jim has learned the hard way that teams don’t just create themselves; you have to nurture them and feed them plenty of encouragement and support.

During the month of May, it is not unusual for Jim and Mark to be putting on three to four exhibitions a day at the various schools, signing up new players, speaking with school administrators, teaching physical education teachers, and whacking the ball back and forth with the kids. A bit of a pied piper of pong, when Jim arrives at a school during a lunch break or assembly, the kids’ faces light up.

Jim understands that quality equipment can make a world of difference in learning the game correctly. Getting a racket that can create spin is step one, so Jim will take inexpensive paddles and re-rubber them with older sheets donated by Paddle Palace to the program. Now the kids can loop and push with spin instead of just pinging it over the net. When a child has their own paddle, they have an incentive to join their school’s team or play in the STIGA Big Whack.

This year’s singles event saw a number of great battles at Portland State University. The presentation was first-class with each match umpired with a scoreboard. Big Whack T-shirts were available, in addition to school posters featuring mascots and team colors. In the premier event, David Baker, a middle linebacker for Roosevelt High School, beat Vu Le of David Douglas HS in straight games for the Boys High School Championship. David’s outstanding consistency, ball placement, and attacks were the difference in the match against Vu who was still catching his breath after a tough five-game semifinal match with Ronny Li of Westview.

In the Girls’ High School event, Valerie Chia of Sunset beat Cathy Xu of Wilson High School in a three-game match. Valerie had trained in China with her brother Brian during the summer time and is coached by former U.S. World Team member Simone Yang.

The Middle School Championships were full of fireworks with Corvallis’s Frank Liu of Cheldelin Middle School topping an all-star field of extremely promising seventh and eighth graders. In the final, Frank survived a 19-17 first game marathon to beat Raymond Xu of Stoller in four games. Michael Chen of Salem took the bronze over Brian Chia of Stoller.

On the girls’ side of the event, Mary Dang of Gregory Heights and Nagani Reddy (Sunnyside Environmental School) went the distance in a deuce-in-the-fifth seesaw battle with Nagini saving two match points, getting a match point of her own, but then Mary putting it away for the victory. Mary and Nagini have the making of a great rivalry as both are active tournament players and often practice together.

Like all the older events, the Elementary School Championships had preliminary round robins followed by single elimination. The boys’ event saw Cordell Harris lose a match in the round robin and then systematically dispose of all his opponents in straight games thanks to his outstanding ball control and consistency. In the girls’ event, soccer goalkeeper Clair Hennebery (Laurelhurst) blocked, lobbed, and scrambled her way over Amy Yin of Corvallis.

First, second, and third place trophies were given in each event at an awards presentation where each player also received high fives from their competitors en route to their own photo op. The parents had a great time, Jim and his crew had a great time, and most importantly the kids had great time.

The week following the STIGA Big Whack saw the 2006 Portland School League champions crowned.  On the Boys’ side, there was a battle royal to try to dethrone perennial powerhouse David Douglas from repeating as champs.  Roosevelt came to play, decked out in their black-and-gold uniforms with newly crowned singles champion David Baker.  Seesaw matches took place with the favorites getting the upper hand and a few narrow escapes. When the dust had settled the final score was 9-7 with the trophy remaining in the hands of David Douglas High School showing their depth and determination.

The Girls’ League champions went to Sunset in a full cross-country style round robin with Parkrose, David Douglas, Beaverton, Wilson, Reynolds and Benson all winning matches and getting on the board!

Some Quotes:

Steve Black (volunteer umpire): “It is nice to see so many new kids involved in the tournament this year. Many times, clubs have a problem bridging the gap between elite and beginners. This tournament clearly helps feed the new players into the sport at the grassroots level.”

Michelle Nguyen (St. Ignatius HS): “I think it was pretty fun, and I thought it was kind of hard since it was my first time trying. I didn’t win any matches, but I was still proud that I tried my best.”

Jim Hermann (head umpire): “The kids are great! It is so much fun to watch them live and see their adrenaline rush as they fight for trophies. Having each match individually umpired along with shirt and ties gave the event credibility and made it easier on the umps to keep play under control. When there is an umpire in a uniform, the kids treat the sport and their opponents with tremendous respect.”

Mary Dang (Gregory Heights): “I think the reason I won the Middle School Girls’ title was that I had to think on my own even though Nagani was coached by Sean O’Neill! I believe I have her number in tournaments, even though Nagani tends to beat me a lot in practice.”

Nagini Reddy (Sunnyside Environmental TTC): “I think I played well, but I could have done better. I could have used a better coach!”

Darell Potter (Sunnyside Environmental TTC Coordinator): “We have about 20-30 kids in our third to eighth grade program. We were very fortunate to be the recipients of some STIGA tables from the Portland school program. We meet weekly in both the winter and summer and practice and play matches after school with a local coach, Alan Panganiban. Jim is also helping us organize more team matches with the middle schools in addition to the K-5 schools. The kids had a great time this weekend, and getting a chance to play against other kids from outside the city was a big thrill.”

Boys’ High School – Final: David Baker (Roosevelt) d. Vu Le (David Douglas), 11,8,7; SF: Baker d. Kensaku Furuhashi (Southridge), -10,7,5,5; Le d. Ronny Li (Westview), -7,8,9,-11,9;  Bronze: Li d. Furuhashi, 7,8,7

Girls’ High School – Final: Valerie Chia (Sunset) d. Cathy Xu (Wilson), 5,5,7; SF: Chia d. Nozanin Donayorova (David Douglas), 4,3,6; Xu d. Alexis Jackson (Benson), 8,9,5; Bronze: Jackson d. Donayorova, 3,4,8

Boys’ Middle School – Final: Frank Lui (Cheldelin) d. Raymond Xu (Stoller), 17,4,-8,7; SF: Lui d. Brian Chia (Stroller), 8,9,6; Xu d. Michael Chen (Salem), 3,7,-9,9; Bronze: Chia d. Chen 7,-12,9,10

Girls’ Middle School – Final: Mary Dang (Gregory Heights) d. Nagini Reddy (Sunnyside), 8,-9,8,-5,11; SF: Dang d. Tabina Nguyen (Gregory Heights), 5,4,7;  Reddy d. Zoe Bluffstone (Maplewood), 9,6,5; Bronze: Bluffstone d. Nguyen, 9,2,4

Boys’ Elementary School – Final: Cordell Harris (Laurelhurst) d. Jacob Tietsont (Laurelhurst), 5,6,5; SF: Harris d. Jonas Hanna (Laurelhurst), 8,8,4; Tietsont d. Andrew Person (Laurelhurst), -5,-2,12,9,8; Bronze: Person beat Hanna, 9,8,8

Girls’ Elementary School – Final: Claire Henneberg (Laurelhurst) d. Amy Yin (Corvallis), 8,9,7; SF: Henneberg d. Mackenzie Stratton (Laurelhurst), 9,8,12; Yin d. Laurel Galaty (Laurelhurst), -7,10,-9,8,8; Bronze: Stratton d. Galaty, 5,9,9

Boys’ High School League: David Douglas High School d. Roosevelt High School, 9-7.

Girls’ High School League: Sunset 15, Parkrose 9, David Douglas 6, Beaverton 5, Wilson 4, Reynolds 4, Benson 3.

Boys’ Middle School League: Sunnyside d. Gregory Heights, 10-6.

Girls’ Middle School League: Gregory Heights d. Robert Gray, 12-4.

Boys’ Elementary League: Laurelhurst d. Sunnyside, 9-8 (Tiebreak).

Girls’ Elementary League: Laurelhurst d. Sunnyside, 6-5.