A walk to the Laura MacArthur Elementary School gymnasium Wednesday nights will find dozens of kids playing hard. The kids are dedicated to their game and improving their skills. Many of them practice five nights a week.
Their game is table tennis.
The program is run by Valley Youth Center (VYC), and children participate from both the VYC and Copeland Community Center.
Many of the kids are serious about the game. About half of the 35 players participate in state or national competitions.
A.J. Simone, 11, said his goal is to be the table tennis champion of the United States.
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"I played the champion of the USA," A.J. said.
He lost the game, but watch out. A.J. has been playing table tennis since he was 5 years old. He knows he's not up to champion status, but he is close.
A.J. and Robert Li, also 11, won events at the Porky's Fall Classic tournament in Fridley Oct. 14-15.
Robert took first place in three individual events the U16, U800 and U1,000. A.J. took first place in U600 and took second place to Robert in U16.
The U16 event is for players younger than 16. The higher numbered events are based on the players' rating. The U600 event would be for players with a rating under 600.
Robert is probably in the top five in the United States for boys under 12 and A.J. is not far behind, said Angelo Simone, Valley Youth Center program director and table tennis coach.
The VYC table tennis program has been known in the past for producing state and national champions.
The program was started in 1979 at the Irving Community Recreation Center by Parks and Recreation employee Sonny Helbecka and has since served thousands of kids.
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The most well-known product of the program has been Cory Eider, now 23, who won every state title and several national events as a junior player.
"(Now we're) kind of starting all over again with a whole new younger group of kids," Simone said.
Robert and A.J. are the first to start winning big again, but the program also has several younger kids who are up and coming.
The center has been hampered in tournament participation in recent years because many of the tournaments are moving away from the Midwest.
Besides tournament locations, the table tennis program's biggest issue is funding. After a collaboration between VYC and Parks and Recreation ended in 2003 to 2004, the center lost several tables.
It is now down to six tables, where 12 are needed, Simone said. The program conduct fund-raisers, but most of those funds are used for traveling and tournaments.
Not all VYC players practice table tennis to participate in competitions. About half play just at the center for fun.
"Once they pick up a racket they don't want to put it down," Simone said.
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VYC requires the players to keep their grades up if they wish to play in tournaments.
"A lot of positive comes out of the table tennis program, he said. "All it takes is for them to beat one good player and then they have the confidence. Anyone can win at this."
Even though some students play for fun, table tennis is a sport.
It is an Olympic sport.
Table tennis is exciting. Tournaments can get intense, people are yelling and cheering, Simone said.
"That's the difference between Ping-Pong and table tennis. Ping-Pong is a basement game, table tennis is a sport," he said.
The VYC players are gearing up for their next tournament Dec. 9 in South Bend, Ind.
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Valley Youth Center is located at Laura MacArthur Elementary School, 727 N. Central Ave. Anyone can come to practice at the center Wednesday nights.
For more information, call Angelo Simone at 628-4896. Donations of tables and funds are welcome.
