Last weekend in Woodland Hills, CA was the
Northridge Open presented by the Northridge Table Tennis Club at El Camino High School.Students of the
JUIC Training Group (headed by Stellan & Angelita Bengtsson) had a great showing!
After a tough loss to former US Men’s Singles Champion Jim Butler in the Men’s Open, long time club member Earl Alto stayed focused and became the champion of the U2500 event! Also, Teddy Tran (who consistently drives down from Orange County every weekend specifically to train in Stellan’s group) made it to the semi-finals of the Men’s Open! And guess what? He’s only 14 years old!
Our very own Daryl Sterling Jr. was interviewed by KSWB’s Raoul Martinez last Wednesday. In case you missed the live show, here’s a link to the interview so you can watch it any time you want!
Watch the Interview
http://pingponghero.com/fox-5-morning-news/
The
Henderson Senior Games is a competitive and social event open to anyone ages 50+. This event combines sports and games with entertainment and camaraderie. Events are selected by interest and include all aspects of friendly competition. For more information, visit the website by
clicking here.
Instructions:
Henderson Games Entry Form Instructions
Entry Form:
2012 Henderson Senior Games Registration Form
Special Discount:
Sunset Station Room Info for Table Tennis
San Diego Table Tennis Association
Board Meeting, 2012
February 21, 2012
7:05 PM
Balboa Park Activity Center Board Room
This meeting is open to all members of the SDTTA.
Call to order 7:12 pm by Ron.
SDTTA Board Members Present: Ron Spencer, Bill Chang, James Kahn, Borko Dragojlovic, Shelley Hardy, Earl Alto and Shariq Ansari
The approval of January 10, 2012 minutes was made by Shelley and seconded by Borko.
Communications not on the agenda have a limit of 3 minutes.
Action Items:
- Treasurer’s Report: Bill Chang passed out the Treasurer’s Report that has reconciled us through January 31, 2012.
- Webmaster Report – Daryl Sterling: Daryl would like all concerns regarding website to be emailed to him.
- Peewee / Jr Report / Angie – Brana – Earl: Earl is on the board so he has volunteered to be the go between for communications to Stell/Angie coaching group. The discussion regarding Jr team will be tabled until the next board meeting.
- Equipment/Executive Director’s report: Borko stated that players are breaking the nets at a rapid rate. He needs help with care of equipment and James will be working with him. It was suggested to protect the net assembly by keeping the assembly in the metal cabinet and then taken to the tables. This action will be put on the SDTTA website with a sign posted for members to obtain the nets. Ron and Shelley will meet to clean the metal cabinet out making space for the nets.
- Membership report – Borko: Not available. Borko will contact Mark Adelman to get the website to order membership covers.
Old Business:
- Tournament Update: Earl has come up with Columbus Day weekend October 6 – 7th to have the Neal Smythe Memorial Tournament. Earl consulted with Sungil and Angie about having a Giant round robin on Saturday limiting it to 60 people then having a small regular tournament on Sunday. The fee for Saturday’s round robin would be $45.
- Membership Enforcement – Everyone’s Duty – Thursday night is a good night for membership collection. Phil can print a current membership on Thursday night round robin. Board members can go to players that night and get them signed up during play. Borko has been volunteering his time Thursday night to collect daily play fees and taking new membership fees.
New issues:
1 Tournament request from Anthony LaChica who represents San Diego fire fighters who want to have a small table tennis tournament at our facility. The request has been approved by the San Diego Table Tennis Board Members.
2 SDTTA sign up for membership to USTTA. USTTA gives our club a 15% discount when we send our members forms to join and be a member of USTTA. The fee to join is now $49. SDTTA voted to pass this discount to the members who want to join USTTA. The cost to each SDTTA member is $42 and the member will pay to a SDTTA board member with the form that amount.
-
No sitting on tables enforcement: The SDTTA board members want to enforce that no one should be sitting on the tables for any reason.
-
Sample barriers and table from HiQua TT. Ron spoke to a sales representative of HiQua who has tables and barriers that our club may want to check for future needs and quality. The rep has not gotten back to Ron. Ron will email the board about getting sample barriers which can have the SDTTA name on them.
James made a motion to adjourn and it was seconded by Borko.
The next meeting is March 13, 2012.
Respectfully Submitted,
Shelley Hardy, SDTTA Secretary
Were you at the club last Monday wondering why there was a man filming inside the club? Well, it was
Troy Hirsch and his crew doing a segment for
Fox 5 News!
They came to do a story on our very own Paralympic hopeful,
Daryl Sterling Jr., and tell the community what he’s trying to accomplish with his training, traveling, and international competitions. If you didn’t catch it live during the Fox 5 News, you can view it online
here.
View the full story here:
http://pingponghero.com/fox5news
Our club lost an irreplaceable leader last year.
The list of Mr. Neil Smyth’s achievements is endless. From attending Yale University and being a member of the U.S. Navy, to being a Vice-President of the Las Vegas hotel Caesars Palace, he left an impact on a lot of people. Next to all this, he was a great family man. He may not be with us anymore, but the footprint he left on our lives is too big to be ignored.
It was a fall day when Mr. Neil approached and welcomed me to the San Diego Table Tennis Club. I don’t remember the details, but the truth is that very often we forget the first encounter with those we end up being close with.
I have never seen someone of that age being so good and active in our sport. He said that table tennis is the only sport where he can still beat those younger and faster than him.
He had a strange way of holding the paddle, and managed to keep it that way even though many suggested that he should change it. His serves seemed simple, but a lot of people had trouble returning them. He loved playing doubles. After a won point, he would celebrate quietly, without provoking his opponent. At the end of a won match he would just say victoriously: “That’s it!” Every won match was important to him. He would talk about these victories with people close to him, and after them he would go home satisfied. On the other hand, we knew that even if he lost, Mr. Neil would be rushing back to Balboa Park the next day ready to challenge some other people.
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I heard that he left his hometown New York and the other cities in which he lived, and moved to San Diego because of the beach and table tennis. Most likely the latter being the bigger motive. No matter how fancy an occasion, Mr. Neil always wore a table tennis pin on his coat. The love he had for the sport was enormous and many of us know this. I had the honor of being his doubles partner many times, but this was only when his favorite partner, Borko, wasn’t there.He wasn’t just respected in the table tennis world. During one of the USATT Nationals in Las Vegas, after I had lost my room key and was wondering around the hotel clueless, I luckily ran into Mr. Neil and the problem was solved. He told the security to contact some important guy of the hotel, don’t remember who, and after about a minute of explaining who he was and what he has done I received my new room key and a huge smile.
Mr. Neil was the treasurer on the San Diego Table Tennis Board of Directors. Phil Van De Wiele recalls that during the board meetings when Mr. Neil spoke everybody listened. He was the one collecting the daily fees from all the players and he always knew who paid, and who didn’t, and who needs to be charged the daily fee and who doesn’t. He was serious about it, but very respectful. His handwritten membership database was always extremely accurate and in the alphabetical order.
Mr. Neil asked Phil to run the Senior Olympics one year. Just like in picking his doubles partners and choosing which serve to serve, this wasn’t an accident. He trusted Phil as someone who will do the job right. But just in case he sent Phil “a hand written detailed description on seven pages of yellow legal sized paper covering every facet of the preparation and execution of a quality tournament.” Even though our club can’t be compared with the Navy or with the Caesars Palace, everything Mr. Neil did was in a very professional manner.
Mr. Neil was approachable to everybody. As a new member of the club Ms. Lyndelle Fairlie first talked to him about joining the club. With his kind words he urged Ms. Lyndelle to start attending the Thursday night tournaments and to play the Senior Olympics. His warmth allowed her to become a great senior athlete of our club.
Mark Adelman describes Mr. Neil in the most fitting words: “He was man of extraordinary character and integrity, with a fierce competitive instinct. He was also a man of tremendous empathy. He cared very much about his fellow men. He had an air of grace & dignity about him. That’s a rare combination for any man.” Many members agree with Mark and say that Mr. Neil’s presence will be greatly missed, but that his legacy is something that will remain forever.
The last tournament Mr. Neil played was the 2011 San Diego Senior Games. This time he played doubles with Micha Vlašić. They made it to the finals but were defeated by Aharon Shapiro and Mark Adelman. This silver medal was important for Mr. Neil especially because all of the men at the table were players younger and much higher rated than he was.
Mr. Neil did a lot in his life. He is an inspiration and an example of hard work and dedication towards the things one loves. The thought that we won’t see him at the club anymore is strange.
The end of life of those that meant a lot to us always comes as a surprise. It finds us unprepared. At first it takes away our words and later we slowly get used to the loss. We will carry the memories of our friend and mentor Mr. Neil Smyth for a long time. He will never be forgotten.
Brana Vlašić
January, 2012
San Diego Table Tennis Association
Board Meeting, 2012
January 10, 2012
7:05 PM
Balboa Park Activity Center Board Room
This meeting is open to all members of the SDTTA
Call to order by James.
SDTTA Board Members Present: Bill Chang, James Kahn, Borko Dragojlovic, Shelley Hardy, Earl Alto and Shariq Ansari
SDTTA Members not present: Ron Spencer
The approval of December 13, 2011 minutes was made by James and seconded by Borko.
Communications not on the agenda have a limit of 3 minutes.
Treasurer’s Report: Bill Chang passed out the Treasurer’s Report that has reconciled us through December 31, 2011. Bill wrote a check for the 2012 monthly SDTTA Board Meetings to BPAC. One more Board Member was needed to be on the checking account and Shelley volunteered.
SDTTA Board Member Positions were voted on unanimously by the board members present.
Chairman of the Board – Ron Spencer
Vice Chairman- James Kahn
Member Relations Director – Borko Dragojlovic
Executive Director – Shariq Ansari
Secretary – Shelley Hardy
Treasurer – Bill Chang
Public Relations Director – Earl Alto
Action Items:
- Earl came up with three possible dates to have the Smythe Memorial tournament take place which are Labor Day Weekend, Columbus Day or Veteran’s Day weekend. He will be presenting the board with more information at the next board meeting.
- 2012 SDTTA Membership Drive: Recommendations were made by the board to put up a sign that membership is due and a $5 daily fee applies after February 1st with members displaying their new membership stamps visibly while playing and having this also posted on the website.
- Shelley volunteered to look for a sign/stand to put out for all players to read about membership and fees.
- Members of the board will get together to learn how to post the members who have paid this next Fri at 6 pm here at the activity center.
New Business: There is a newly purchased table that is broken. James, Borko and Earl volunteered to check over the table to see if it can be repaired.
The next meeting of the SDTTA board will be February 14, 2012.
James made a motion to adjourn and it was seconded by Bill.
Respectfully Submitted,
Shelley Hardy, SDTTA Secretary
After a tough loss to former US Men’s Singles Champion Jim Butler in the Men’s Open, long time club member Earl Alto stayed focused and became the champion of the U2500 event! Also, Teddy Tran (who consistently drives down from Orange County every weekend specifically to train in Stellan’s group) made it to the semi-finals of the Men’s Open! And guess what? He’s only 14 years old!
