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------------------------------------------------------------------Fairhaven Athletics/ Connecticut TT Assoc -
2008 Youth Clinic at Amistad Academy May 2008

3 Tables/ coaching stations D.Strang coaches w/Newgy Kids wait for 'next'

short clip (click above)exhibition highlight point longer clip 7 min demo & game highlights(above)
CT TTA director Dave Strang and Fairhaven Athletics director Peter Noble were joined by Middletown TTC regulars Mark Mosher and Kacey in conducting an exhibition and clinic for students at Charter school Amistad Academy, as a part of it's after school sports Table Tennis program.

Dave and Mark played exhibition matches and audience challengers followed by coaching at 3 tables, one using a Newgy Robot. The 4 hour program ended with doubles matches involving various combinations of the kids and the 4 instructors.

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Connecticut Junior scores in another NYC tournament
photos by S.Katz

: David training w/ coach in FF Katz w/ trophies from USATT event

State Junior champ David Katz, moved up the USATT ratings
ladder again with a win in the 25 player U-1650 event at the NY TT Federation's September tournament in Chinatown.

13 year old David got his start and initial coaching a couple years ago at Fairfield TTC and often plays there on Saturdays, and also at home and the Stamford JCC with his father Sheldon,

He won 8 out of 9 matches and expects his 1456 rating to go over 1600, moving him up a few notches from his current #20 spot on the CT.TTA Fairfield/Middletown rankings (all ages) on our ratings page.

Dave Strang and Mark Mosher of the Connecticut T.T. Association entertained teachers and about a hundred kids at New Haven's Amistad academy recently with a table tennis exhibition and mini-clinic, arranged by After-school program coach and teacher Peter Noble of Community group 'Pequenas Ligas Hispanicos'.

The Youth Sports after school program includes a table tennis club as well as volleyball and a
variety of other sports and activities. The table tennis program is a continuation of the local
after school program originally started by Peter and Dave over 10 years ago, recognized in
earlier years by articles in the Yale Newspaper and Connecticut Spanish language newspapers
and by a US Olympic Committee and USATT funded Grass roots development grant.
(See link to article at bottom of page)

Dave and Mark played an exhibition match followed by challenge matches with selected teachers
and students during the first hour, and stayed two more hours to work with kids, play doubles matches
and allow kids to play against the Newgy robot on one of three tables provided by Peter's organization.

In addition to past and ongoing TT programs at schools like Texas Wesleyan University, Anderson College (SC) and Augusta College (GA), a new scholarship has been added for juniors attending the school of their choice, funded by a new $100.000 endowment. More information on the Wasserman memorial scholarships is available at: http://www.usatt.org/news1/wasserman.pdf

CT Junior champion takes greater NYC tournament titles/ Nearly Doubles his rating.
photos by S.Katz

Katz w/ trophies from USATT event
    David Katz of Stamford, took singles and doubles 'gold' recently in the 2006 AAU Junior Olympics Greater New York City table tennis championships . David took singles and doubles titles, both in the under 14 boys age category.
    And at another recent area tournament he won 13 of his 16 matches, and events including U-1600 singles, competing mostly with adults rated above him , boosting his USATT rating from 0778 to 1442 .
    'Dad' & practice partner Sheldon had good results too, reaching 0932 from a previous 659 rating.
David won his first junior titles at the 2005 CT. Championships last spring.
He and father Sheldon took up TT 'seriously' the previous winter with practice and lessons at the Fairfield TTC with club director and coach Dave Strang. They practice regularly with each other at home and as often as they can in FF, usually on Saturday afternoons..

Texas Wesleyan Rams:
Don't call them a pingpong team

By Brendan Murphy
ESPN.com
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2930890
(Archive)

This week, ESPN.com is featuring a few of the best non-NCAA-sanctioned programs in the country.

When coaches take a new job, they often speak of changing a "losing culture." This process generally involves taking a historically inept program and turning it into a winner. The challenge facing Jasna Reed and Keith Evans, however, is far more formidable.

TWU Sports Information

Jasna Reed helped Texas Wesleyan table tennis as both a player and a coach.

The co-coaches of the table tennis team at Texas Wesleyan University, in Fort Worth, are attempting to change the predominant perceptions of a pigskin-crazy populace. That battle begins with revising the moniker most commonly associated with the sport.

"What they refer to as pingpong in the U.S is what people play in their basements," says Reed, a player-coach for the Rams who is from Croatia. "Those people play in their basements for fun. They play with nonprofessional rackets, so it is more like just a game. Table tennis refers to the real sport, an Olympic sport that is very competitive. It is very popular in the [rest of the] world, but not in the U.S."

To Texans, collegiate titles are a birthright. After all, the state is home to the Texas Longhorns -- winners of 47 NCAA championship banners. Still, the dominance the Rams have displayed on the 9-foot by 5-foot table on which small-scale tennis is played is almost unparalleled.

Since the program's inception in 2001, Texas Wesleyan's table tennis team has won at least two event titles in the ACUI/NCTTA National Collegiate Table Tennis Championships and 28 of a possible 36 event titles in the past six years. This past spring in Columbus, Ohio, the Rams swept the championship event by winning all seven event titles -- coed team, women's team, women's singles, men's singles, women's doubles, men's doubles and mixed doubles.

"To be able to keep going back and [winning titles], it's an incredible run," says Texas Wesleyan athletic director Kevin Millikan. "Every year, people are gunning for them. The expectations for them are so high and there is a lot of pressure on them. If they don't win, it's a disappointment."

When Texas Wesleyan's administration decided to start a table tennis team in 2001, it didn't envision creating a juggernaut that would serve its way to sports superiority. The idea, in fact, was met with a fair share of skepticism. FULL STORY AT:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2930890

Except for contents, trademarks etc. owned by & designated from other sources, all design, logos, text and photos here and elsewhere are copyright Dave Strang DBA: RealTableTennis.com, CT.TTA, MT TT, FF TT AKRON TTC etc. c. 1992-2006. Permission must be requested and granted via e-mail for it's use unless covered by fair use provisions of the law where attribution and a link back to this site are required.
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The World Junior T T Championships will be held at the Maples Pavilion at Stanford University in California, in December 2007. Over 30 countries are expected to be represented.

For detailed info visit www.2007wjttc.org. and http://www.ittf.com/world_events/Stories_detail.asp?ID=12792&s_Tour_Name=&s_Year=&

Texas Wesleyan Rams: Don't call them a pingpong team

Texas Wesleyan Rams:
Don't call them a pingpong team