New table tennis team revives sport on campus
By Jessica Jue
Feb. 4, 2004 9:00 p.m.
As a new addition to the National Collegiate Table Tennis
Association, the UCLA Table Tennis Club team prepares to put its
paddles to the test against the nation’s best.
Unlike the other table tennis clubs of previous years, this new
group of motivated players aspires not just to reach nationals this
year, but to increase the sport’s popularity on campus.
“The staff and I aim to provide a fun and competitive
environment in which table tennis can be enjoyed,”
co-president of the club William Liu said. “We provide free
lessons for those who would like to improve their games. The club
will even organize tournaments periodically for those players who
wish to find some competition.”
By taking the Southern California Championship title with
victories over USC (3-2) and Cal Tech (5-0) in November’s
match-ups, UCLA is scheduled to play against the top two teams from
the Northern California division in the upcoming month.
“Our Table Tennis Club team is the strongest team UCLA has
seen in the last 20 years,” Liu said.
Despite the team’s growing success and its effort to
increasingly incorporate table tennis into the UCLA community, the
limited availability of practice facilities is hindering the
team’s cause.
“The situation is totally ridiculous and unreasonable to
us,” co-president Harry Wong said. “The workers at the
(Wooden Recreation) Center only allow us to open up three tables,
but we absolutely need all four tables.”
The table tennis team can be seen practicing every Tuesday and
Thursday evening from 7 to 11 in the lobby of the Wooden
Center.
“Table tennis is a strategic sport combining finesse,
speed and power,” Liu said. “I believe that the UCLA
students deserve better access, as well as equipment and practice
space.”
“A lack of this practice time definitely influences the
players’ performance during competition.”
A total of three tables are set up for use during table tennis
practice sessions. However, with 21 players on the team’s
roster and other students looking for free lessons, three tables
are not sufficient.
“We would love to do as much as we can, but with the time
slots of availability that the team has and the space at John
Wooden Center, what we do for the table tennis team now is the
optimal solution,” Wooden Center Manager Dennis Koehne said.
“The Wooden Center has four tables but there is definitely no
room for the fourth table unless they are side to side, and that is
dangerous.”
“The table tennis team does not have a huge budget, and
the Wooden Center is the one that pays for the tables. We put a
healthy subsidy from the department into table tennis equipment,
but there just isn’t enough space.”
With the Wooden Center’s new expanded section scheduled to
open in the spring, Koehne and the table tennis team hope their
troubles will be over.
For more information on the UCLA Table Tennis Club team,
e-mail [email protected].
