Idyllwild Community Center Sports: Ping Pong
The Idyllwild Community Center (ICC) is announcing the start of its new quarterly Ping Pong.
Tournaments are from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day) at Town Hall. Doors will open at 1 p.m. and registration is from 1 to 1:45 p.m. The tournament is set to begin promptly at 2 p.m.
Anyone age 15 and older is invited to enter the double-elimination bracket tournament for a $10 entry fee. First, second and third place winners will receive prizes from local sponsors and their names will be engraved on the new “ICC Ping Pong Winners Plaque” for all quarterly winners over the next eight years.
The idea is to hold a tournament each season, so there will be Winter 2024 champions, then Spring 2024 champions, and so on. Ping Pong is one of those sports where players of all ages and genders can compete and have fun.
Ping Pong (formally known as “table tennis”) was originally a leisure activity for the upperclass in Victorian-era England and centuries later became an Olympic sport in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
The tournament rules will be strict (so it’s fair to all) but the atmosphere will be casual. Music will play on our house sound system where people can make song requests for a small donation and snacks will be available for purchase. We’ll also have a cornhole set up for those waiting their turn to play.
ICC will provide Ping Pong paddles (also called racquets), but participants are welcome to bring their own.
The idea of the quarterly tournaments came to fruition when one of our wonderful local residents, Cathy Herrington, donated a Ping Pong table in near-perfect condition to ICC this past January.
Well, ICC now has two ping pong tables, so let’s put them to good use.
ICC looks forward to players and spectators joining in the Ping Pong festivities. For more information, email info@idyllwildcommunitycenter.org.
By Johnny Wilson
ICC Director of Programs & Recreation
& Stephanie Yost
ICC President
