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Welcome to the Phoenixville Table Tennis Club Monthly Update April 2025.
The Greatest of Ches-Mont Championships for 2025 are complete! The champions are:
Check out photos here. Records of local and state champions can be found here also.
USA Table Tennis has expanded their State Championship Series to include open championships as well as closed. Closed means only PA residents may participate. That is held at Manor in Lancaster this year 4/11 and 4/12.
Phoenixville has the privilege of holding the open this year July 12th. You can join through Omnipong.com. Space is limited due to time constraints at the recreation center. We MUST be done by 5pm. Therefore, we have opted to hold one spot in each event as a "wildcard". If the event you want to play in is full at Omnipong, you can email me to get on the waiting list. We will hold a separate event for waiting list players with the winner getting that final wildcard spot in the Open. Here is a direct link to the printable registration form.
The USATT State Championship Series awards USATT Ranking points as well as rating points, something new this year to mimic the International Table Tennis Federations World Ranking system.
Where do Olympians play after the Olympics? Philadelphia! Come see Major League Table Tennis wrap up their season at Saint Joe's, April 12th and 13th! I know, I know, "Nick, the States are that Saturday!" Fine, but you can go Sunday! The MLTT is a BLAST! And this is the CHAMPIONSHIP! Get your tickets here and use code PHILLYCLUBS to save some money. If you haven't seen MLTT in action, check them out on Youtube. The whole season is on there. You can also catch them on cable via CBS Sportsnet.
Follow the bouncing ball! We are rolling in events every week from here until mid April!
All this in addition to our regular:
February brought us Subodh as our Groundhog Trophy Champion! Girish, Brendan, and James qualified for the Greatest of Ches-Mont Singles Championship. You still have time to report your matches and qualify, but not much! The Doubles, Juniors, and Women's events do not require match wins, you need only satisfy the geographical restrictions.
Our daily, Greatest Ever Doubles Champions and Champ Challenge, contests will soon be joined by the Speedrunners challenge for the fastest doubles team. First to three for a flag photo!
If you are looking for coaching take a look here!
Yes! December is over and the daylight begins to grow again!
Looking ahead:
Looking back:
February Monthly Update time!
Looking ahead:
Looking back:
Winter is here and so is the monthly update!
The month ahead:
The month behind:
The Greatest of Phoenixville have been crowned! Jasen wins in West Chester. Thanks for the birthday cake and gift card! I bought a new Ping Pong Buddy and some balls for the club!
Greetings table tennis fans.
Let's talk about November and December!
Now, let's talk about October! (And a little November.)
That's all I can remember for now. Look for updates in the "This week in table tennis" emails I send out now.
Welcome to fall my friends!
September 2024 - New business
Old business
Greetings table tennis fans!
Hello ping-pongers! It's time for another monthly update!
Here we go with the new business first!
The old business!
May in review - VIDEO
Greetings table tennis fans!
1. The Battle of the Counties begins this month and continues each session until the end of June. This year the Chester County Cheetahs and Montgomery County Monarchs are running a draft style roster. Here is a link to the current roster selections. If you weren't drafted you can still participate.
The teams will play MLTT format, five players per session, four singles matches, one doubles, and one "golden game". More details on the format here.
Arrive by 6:30 pm Tuesdays, and 9:30 am Saturdays to be considered for that session's lineup.
2. The Blob Trophy Hardbat Tournament is now sanctioned by the International Classic Table Tennis Federation. In May there will be two mini tournaments, May 7th, and May 18th. These are open hardbat events. You can register at Omnipong.com. The winners of each mini tournament qualify to compete in our July Blob Trophy final event. We have hardbats at the club for you to use if you don't already have one. In addition, you will get a rating/ranking from ICTTF and the winner of the Blob Trophy qualifies to play at the ICTTF World Championships! Here is some video of last year's Worlds.
3. The Cruzin' Classic USATT sanctioned tournament will be held at the recreation center on Saturday June 22nd. Most events are full, but people do drop out, so if you want to be on an event's wait list, contact me. There are a couple spots open in the U1000 event as of this time. Sign up at Omnipong.com.
4. Ladies Group. Janel is organizing the women folk! For detail talk to her at the club or send us an
5. Thank you to everyone who was a part of our last 15 years! It has been a pleasure to serve you and bond over such a great sport! Aleem was last man standing on the king of the hill table and was crowned Intercontinental Table Tennis Champion of the World!
6. The first season of Major League Table Tennis is in the books. 1st Place: Texas Smash, 2nd Place: Princeton Revolution, 3rd Place: Carolina Gold Rush. You can catch every season match and the finals on the MLTT Youtube channel.
7. The third annual Ping Pong in the Park tournament is coming up Tuesday May 14th, 4pm-7pm at the outdoor table in King of Prussia. You can sign up here. I brought a couple of small tables last year and offered them again. So I am looking for volunteers to keep things going at the club until I can get there!
Yeee haw! What a month!
Greatest of Ches-Mont championships, virtual karaoke contest, Major League Table Tennis! It's like a whirlwind!
Okay, new business first!
Old business:
Your 2024 Greatest of Ches-Mont Champions! Singles: 1st Subodh, 2nd Varun. Ladies: 1st Naomi, 2nd Janel, 3rd Lilly, 4th Karen.
Doubles: 1st Nick F/Subodh 2nd: Karun and Abi. Junior event is postponed until the Summer. Our champions page is now updated!
We came in second place in the Health Care Access of Phoenixville's Virtual Karaoke Fundraiser Contest! It was a crazy event. They had a goal of $2500 but they raised over $4200! The final 48 hours was a true battle between first, second, and third. First placed knocked us out with only one minute left on the clock! You can watch all the contestants' videos here.
Ladies Group
Janel is organizing the women folk! For detail talk to her at the club or send us an
40?!!
Yes, we had a week there where we had 40 on Tuesday and 39 on Saturday. With tournament announcements and a room being taken away from us a couple of times, that may have calmed things down so we are in the 20s and 30s. Just remember the CODE RED rules when we announce them. You will find wait times are significantly reduced when we go red. Pay attention to who is next! Listen out for "Who wants to play" and jump on it!
It's time for the Greatest of Ches-Mont Championships!
All Greatest of Ches-Mont events are at no additional charge, are single elimination and require the participants to either live, work, or go to school in Chester or Montgomery Counties. In addition, the Singles Championship requires pre-qualification by winning six matches against six different individuals during our normal meetings. Report your matches here. Gallery of participants and past winners can be found here.
State Championships
Will be held April 5th-6th at Manor Church, 530 Central Manor Road, Lancaster, PA 17603. Hosted by the Manor Table Tennis Club.
Enter online at Omnipong.com.
Major League Table Tennis
? Take me out to the ball game! ? I don't know if there will be peanuts or Cracker Jacks, but there will be lively action when MLTT comes to Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. March 15,16,17th. Get you tickets here. Not familiar with MLTT? It's where the "Golden Game" originated from for our Battle of the Ages and Battle of the Counties. Check out there past events on their Youtube page. Use Promo Code: PRINCETON25 for 25% Off!!
Kids and Adult Coaching
This form will give you details and let you sign up. The form changes in real time, so keep visiting it for updates. We plan on restarting this month.
Karaoke Charity Fundraiser
If you missed the PongFather singing in person at the club, you are in luck! Here is the video. This video is an entry for Phoenixvilles's Health Care Access Contest. Vote for our video with dollars. Each dollar is a vote for us! Your money goes to helps provide health care services to those in need in the Phoenixville area. If we win, the prize money will go to the club!
Voting begins March 8th!
Groundhog Trophy Champion
Nick Cassell is our Groundhog Trophy Champion for 2024, showing us his is the king of handicap tournaments after winning this and our National Rubber Duck Day event. Check out more his winning smile and more photos here.
Good morning and welcome to the monthly update.
NEW BUSINESS:
This Saturday: Our third annual Groundhog Trophy Tournament is 2/3 at 9:30am. There is no extra entry fee, anyone may participate. It will be a handicap rules tournament and single elimination with a trophy and flag awarded to the winner. The handicap rules award starting points to the lower rated players giving them a chance against better players. And it makes every match a challenge for the higher rated players. If you don't have a rating, we will give you an estimated one. Here is our photo album of the past events.
The third Tuesday of each month: The stage area room will be used for monthly meetings for another group. Therefore we will be using only two rooms. That means only 6 tables set up. If the kitchen is free, we can put one in there. And I was told that if the exercise room is available we can use it for the final two tables.
The Greatest of Ches-Mont: Are you the best of Chester and Montgomery County area? Our Ches-Mont Championship tournament will be held in March. The open requires you to pre-qualify by winning six matches against six different players at the club between now and the event. You can report your wins here. Follow who has qualified here. Currently up to six players, their digital trading cards are showcased on Facebook and in this gallery.
Local tournaments: Princeton Pong holds a tournament the first weekend every month, you can sign up through Omnipong.com. The Trolley Car Table Tennis Club and PingPod will be holding a joint tournament Saturday February 10th. You can sign up through events tab, then community, then drop down Philadlephia.... Okay it's complicated. See if you can find it at Pingpod.com. Sorry, I can't provide a direct link.
MLTT: Major League Table Tennis is to table tennis what the NFL and MLB are to football and baseball. We have joined up with their partner program. Their next matches will be Chicago VS Carolina Feb 9th @4pm, Princeton VS Florida @ 7pm. Chicago VS Princeton Feb 10th @4pm, Carolina VS Florida @ 7pm. Princeton VS Carolina Feb 11th @11am, Chicago VS Florida @2pm. These matches are streamed live on the MLTT Youtube channel. You can also watch previous meetings there as well. Subscribe and add notifications to get pinged whenever they are streaming.
The MLTT is coming to New Jersey March 15th-17th. You can get tickets here. I have mine already.
When it rains, it rains money: Our rubber duck handicap system will be used for the Groundhog tournament, but also whenever it is raining, we will pull the ducks out and have a $1 to enter, winner takes all, handicap tournament.
Time to buy more balls: The balls are starting to run thin again. If you can, donate a dollar or two so we can purchase some more! Please and thank you!
Facebook: If you shy away from the social media but still want to see what is happening with the club. Our Facebook feed is now directly viewable on our website. So you get all our smiling faces, Greatest Ever Doubles Champion Photos, Monthly Review Videos and Lost and Shame shenanigans, 100% drama free!
Group Coaching: Our final session of group coaching will be Monday 2/5. There are 2 spots open for the kids program from 6pm - 7pm, and 4 spots for the adult program 7pm-8:30pm. If you want to join, sign up here. The cost will be $20.
OLD BUSINESS:
Nick C. won our National Rubber Duck Day Tournament! Yes that's a real day. This was an impromptu event to test out our duck system rules. See, it pays to pay attention to our emails and Facebook to know when I have a surprise event for you!
Welcome to the January 2024 Monthly update!
The new business:
The old business:
Time for the Phoenixville Table Tennis Club Monthly Update!
Schedule notes:
I had announced to the players last Saturday that we would be closed for the next two, that was INCORRECT!
Sat. 12/2 - Closing early at 11:30 - We are unsure if we will have 9 or 7 tables in play this day. Kids mult-iball will be 11-11:30.
Sat. 12/9 - Only two rooms, 6 or 7 tables.
Sat. 12/30 - Doubles Tournament. No open play this day.
Going forward, kids multi-ball practice will be from 11am to 11:30am Saturdays.
Saturdays are always in flux for us. We are allowed to used the space if nothing else is going on. It is more profitable for the recreation center to rent the rooms for events and if that happens we have to accommodate them. I appreciate your cooperation with this. I know it can be annoying sometimes!
Our Greatest Ever Doubles Tournament will be held Saturday 12/30 at 9am. Sign up at here or send me a message and I will add you manually.
Details link.
Details: http://level2199.com/short/gedc2023
Greatest of Phoenixville
Congratulations to Subodh for winning the Greatest of Phoenixville Championship, and to Brady and Nick for winning the doubles championship!
Here is a link to the photo album which includes the pre-tournament introduction video. Our Facebook page has a video of the live feed, and it was not a very good video. But it paves the way for our future improvement!
Greatest of Ches-Mont qualification matches will begin January 2nd. To qualify 1 - Live, work, or go to school in Chester or Montgomery Counties. 2 - Win six matches against six different individuals at the club from January to March. We plan to have an open, women's event, under 18 event and doubles on different days in March.
Report wins here: http://level2199.com/short/gocmmatches
Jameson's group coaching programs will be held Mondays in January, 1/8, 1/15, 1/22, and 1/29.
6pm - 7pm is the kids program.
7pm - 8:30pm is the adult program.
Cost will be $75 for the full four weeks.
Sign up: http://level2199.com/short/jb
Are you ready to volunteer? I have had warning I may need to pick up overtime from mid December thru early January. Should this happen during a club session, you will get the call to help setup and breakdown in my absence! Everyone is really good at helping out. I appreciate you all!
Nick here with your November 2023 Monthly update!
Some scheduling changes coming up this month: Tuesday November 7th is election day, so we have moved that meeting to Monday November 6th.
Saturday November 18th, we have to close off the stage room after 10:45am, and will be down to 6 tables after that.
We switched from our A,B,C vs X,Y,Z format in September to the MLTT format in October. Team Legacy was leading up until the second week of October and then Nexgen took the lead and never looked back! Congratulations to the youngsters! Final standings: Nexgen 179, Legacy 144. Photo gallery here!
I had entered a video for the USATT's 90th Anniversary Innovation and Growth Challenge and WON! With the win I received a plaque, one year pro-membership, and free entry to the US Open. Since I work at a small business and two of my co-workers are expecting newborns the same weekend as the Open, that is a fine excuse for my not flying out to California. And totally NOT that I dislike flying! But I am grateful for the opportunity! Don't know why Brady got his photo front and center there, maybe it is because I inspire him!
Our 2023 Greatest of Phoenixville Championship will be held Tuesday November 28th. You must qualify for this single elimination event. To do so, you must live, work, or go to school in Phoenixville and you must report winning six matches against six different individuals at our club meetings during the months of October and November.
The Greatest Ever Doubles Champions tournament will be held Saturday December 30th at 9:30am. Registration is open through Omnipong.com.
We have an unofficial program going. On Saturdays,11:30 to 12 Noon, I take any young players and cycle through multi-ball drills with them. The goal is to give kids attention and drills to help them improve their play. Jameson would like to conduct group training with the more dedicated kids, please contact me if you have a kid interested. Once we have enough kids we can arrange the days, times, and price.
-We have a robot for rent for our regular players.
Bo and Jimmy are off to college. Study hard fellas! See you soon!
WATCH OUT FOR SLICK FLOORS!
When the dew point is high, our floors and tables begin to sweat. This begins in the furthest most room and so far has been contained there. Please let everyone know if you feel things getting slippery. We reconfigure the playing area to avoid that room if it occurs.
ROBOT FOR RENT
We now offer rental of a Newgy Robo-Pong 1040 to our regular members. You can take this robot home with you for $10 per week or $30 per month. You have to supply your own balls.
Blob Trophy 2023 - Our Blobfest inspired hardbat tournament saw 13 players compete. Tim H. was our winner beating Jimmy S. in the final!
Battle of the Counties has come to a close. Our two month long event saw the Montgomery County Monarchs pulling ahead of the Chester County Cheetahs in the last two weeks and they never looked back. The Berks Bears took third over the Lehigh Lobsters. Both those teams could only compete sporadically but I appreciate them joining in the fun!
Watch out for slick floors! The DEW POINT is the bane of our club. When it gets hot and humid the AC cools down the floors and table tops to the point that a thin layer of water forms over them. Please be careful, and notify others if you notice it starting up.
We will hold a USA Table Tennis sanctioned tournament on Saturday August 19th.
If you have not already signed up please contact me to be placed on the waiting list. The events have been full for a while but people do drop out. There is no open play that day but you are welcome to spectate or volunteer! I could use some scorekeepers for the final matches.
Here is our local area guide for those coming from out of town.
New places to play
Recently I found out about two new places opening.
Club 28 - 3559 Edgemont St, Philadelphia, PA 19134. Plays Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. They also offer coaching, which you can book through their website.
Wise Game Club - 1045 Bustleton Pike Unit 7A, Feasterville-Trevose, PA 19053. Billiards, table tennis, computer gaming. All the Facebook videos they put out are in Russian.
Here is a google maps list I have created with all the places to play in our area.
Princeton Pong Tournament Winners
Jimmy and James took home some hardware in the monthly Princeton Pong tournament.
Tim-nitiative!
Tim W. has some items he would like to discuss. He is keeping a club ratings record, you will find it posted at the club. All you need to do to keep it up to date is send him your wins and losses.
Tim also would like to see about opening the club on Thursday nights. We wanted to see if a team can be put together to share the responsibilities of setting up, breaking down, turning the money in, etc. Nick cannot help because he works Thursday nights. Once we have a group of volunteers, then we will approach the Rec Center with the idea. Contact
Greetings and Salutations my table tennis friends!
Club Calendar:
Special opening Monday July 3rd, 6pm - 9pm.
The Rec. Center is CLOSED Tuesday July 4th.
Saturday July 15th 9:30am: Hardbat Mini-tournament
It has been an interesting month! The player count ebbs and flows as the Summer vacation period begins. Our Battle of the Counties event continues on however. We are at the halfway point and the Chester Cheetahs and Montco Monarchs are in a tight race to win the title. You can still join up here. The event runs through the end of July. Standings can be found here.
Looking for some tournaments?
Princeton Pong has a monthly event that is usually the first Saturday and Sunday of every month.
There is an Upside Down Giant RR in Middletown on July 15th and 16th.
Go to Omnipong.com to enter or download the event entry forms.
The Colonial Theater hosts the annual BLOBFEST July 15th-16th. So we decided to hold a 1950s themed event, the Unofficial Blobfest Hardbat Mini-tournament on Saturday July 15th at 9:30am. $3 entry fee (in addition to the regular $5 session fee). We have old school pips out, no sponge rackets that you can use for the event. Best of 3, games to 21, serve switches every 5 points, single elimination.
Our USATT 90th Anniversary Open is full, but people do drop out from time to time. Contact me if you want to be put on the waiting list.
Congratulations to our players for their finishes at the Princeton Pong June Open!