Most clubs are the work of just a handful of individuals, a small group of people with a dream. This is true also of the ‘Spinners Table Tennis Club,’ which opened in Plainview, NY, in May of 1999. The dreamer in this case was Michael Lalvani, a boundless source of energy with an incandescent smile.

Michael was in the software business when he returned to the game in 1996. He hadn’t touched a paddle since his college days in 1973. Not knowing which equipment to use, Michael bought seven paddles from a dealer, and thereby hangs a tale.

"I decided which one was best for my game and tried to return the other six," Lalvani recalls. "The dealer wouldn’t take them back! Not even for 50% of the original price! So I began to offer them to my friends, and before I knew it, I was ‘Spin Technology,’ a Joola distributor and yes, I offer an exchange or money-back guarantee on Spintech products!"

Not a man to do things halfway, Michael, in addition to his TT equipment distributorship, opened the ‘Spinners’ club. "We are on the 6500 sq. ft. second floor of a building on Dupont Street in Plainview. I set up seven tables, but there is room for ten or eleven. I put an anti-slip coating on the concrete floor and installed florescent lighting. We have a 1200 sq. ft. pro shop and are open six days a week."

The club hours are Noon to 10PM Tuesday through Sunday, with Monday as the day of rest. League play is held on Wednesdays, and paid coaching is available from USATT-Certified Coach James Ma, a former member of the Beijing Men’s Team. Ten dollars buys a day of play for walk-ins, and annual memberships are also sold. Michael has already recruited 40 members and is holding monthly two-star tournaments. If this leaves you feeling a little breathless, hold onto your paddle cleaner, there’s more.

"My friend, Roger Persaud, is trying to organize a regular intra-club competition with the other two clubs on Long Island," Michael explains. "They use donated facilities, but there are some very strong players who go to them regularly and we think we can start a Long Island Table Tennis League between our active clubs. I am also urging Eric Boggan to get back into the sport."

Michael has no end of ideas that he feels would be good for our association and the sport. Unlike many, however, he ‘walks the walk’ as well as he ‘talks the talk.’ "I make certain that everyone who buys a table from me gets a USATT membership. Why would you not want that? I met one gentleman who told me that he once belonged to USATT but that he saw no benefit to it and so he didn’t rejoin. I felt so strongly that he was wrong that I paid for his new membership myself. We must organize more activities for recreational players so that they have a reason to stay involved!"

There is no moss on Michael, that’s for certain. Altogether, it makes you rather pleased that a shall-be-nameless equipment dealer had a ‘no returns’ policy, and left one man determined that he could do better.