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Community Corner

Patch Viewfinder: Alameda Table Tennis Club

In its third year, the club continues to grow and offer classes for all levels — including kids with special needs.

When Dave Hanson and Avi Schmidt opened the Alameda Table Tennis Club two and a half years ago, they had only six players. That number has since grown to about 30 today, most of whom show up on Saturdays for practice and coaching.

The students, ages of 6 to 19, are taught by a volunteer coaching staff and compete in local, regional and national tournaments. Classes, which range in price from $10 to $20 (depending on how frequently the student attends), offer a chance for students hone their skills in a game that has not caught on as much in the United States as it has elsewhere in the world.

Hanson is hoping to help produce a generation of competitive American table tennis players that can keep up with, and eventually defeat, their international counterparts. A key to that, he says, is starting early. "You need to start at 6 or 7 if you really want to be top notch," he said.

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Stiff competition is in plentiful supply at the club, but it is not the only goal. At 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays, the club opens its doors—and its tables—to children with special needs who enjoy an hour or more of time to practice under the watchful eye of Terrence Chan, an accomplished table tennis player and mental health activist.

Chan, a member of the board of the nonprofit Friends of Children with Special Needs, brought together his two interests when he started the special needs table tennis class a little more than a year ago. He now oversees a group of 10 to 15 children every week and speaks proudly about their progress. But ping pong prowess is not the primary goal, says Chan.

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"The most important thing is making the kids happy," he says. "If they're happy, we're happy."

Alameda Patch photographer Chris Geier recently spent a morning at the Table Tennis Club, capturing images from the different classes.

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