Steve’s personal table tennis home page

Steve Good's personal table tennis home page

Hey, that's me of the front page of the Baltimore Sun! I'm the guy in the red shirt just below the center of the picture. This was taken at the North American Teams Tourament that was played over the 1999 Thanksgiving weekend.

Steve stats:

Current USATT rating

2022

Blade

Donic Defplay

Forehand rubber

Donic Desto F3 Max

Backhand rubber

Donic Desto F3 2.0

Basement Table

Stiga Elite Roller

Favorite Shot

Forehand loop kill from the backhand corner
A brief history of my envolvement in table tennis
YearWhatRating
1972-74 Played freinds and family in the basement. When I started winning all the matches nobody wanted to play me anymore. N/A
1978-80 Played in the recreation center and at the dorms in college. When I arrived I thought I was pretty good, so I was quite suprised when everyone at the rec center could beat me. By 1980 I was once again one of the best players around. My practice partners graduated and I drifted away for the sport for a time. N/A
1983-85 Joined the local table tennis club, which I found quite by accident. Once again I came in thinking I was hot stuff only to find that I couldn't get 10 from the best players. I played regularly at the York and Lancaster clubs, and started playing tournaments. 1200-1450
1985-1986 I moved to South Jersey and started playing at the Pensauken club. The club was crowed and I never got enough table time to keep me happy. 1450-1600
1986-91 I moved to Central Jersey and played mostly at the Westfield club. The Thursday night league was very competitive and a lot of fun. The level of competition at Westfield helped me raise my level of play. 1600-2000
1991 I conducted a junior table tennis class for the West Windsor Parks & Recreation department. It was quite an experience trying to get a dozen kids to focus on table tennis for an hour and a half. 2000
1992-1995 I was the coach, and later Vice President of the Monroe table tennis club. During this period I reached all the goals I had set for myself, and gradually drifted away from the sport. I stopped playing tournaments in 1993, and started playing just for fun and excerise. 2000-2100
1995-1997 My wife and I moved to Hershey, Pennsylvania. I played casually at the Middletown club, typically playing twice a month. N/A
1998-present My wife and I moved to King of Prussia, and bought a townhouse with a nice big basement. I Play a couple of times a week for fun and excercise, but only play a couple of tournaments a year. 2022


My views on table tennis in the U.S.A.

Over the years I've heard countless aurguments on why table tennis isn't more popular here in the U.S.A., I lump them into five basic categories that are heard over and over.
1) We need more TV exposure.
TV exposure would bring in new players and sponsers.
2) We need a world champion from the U.S.A.
Bring in new players from the "Winning is everything" fan base in America.
3) We need better junior programs.
Get programs into the schools, table tennis is a lifetime sport.
4) We need more/better clubs and leagues.
Grassroots programs will bring in new players.
5) We need better leadership.
Have the USATT promote the four areas above.

I find many of these arguements flawed. Here are my Opinions:
1) All you need to get TV exposure is viewers. It's really that simple. The reason table tennis is not on TV is because not enough people want to watch it. Until this changes, efforts to get table tennis on TV are a waste of time and effort.
2) Having a world champ would do wonders for table tennis here, no question. But being a practical person I have to say "So What!". It's not going to happen any time soon. Throwing a bunch of money at elite training programs might raise our athletes up a couple of notches, but on the whole it will have little effect on the sport in general in our country.
3) I have no statistical evidence to back me up, but my feeling is that kids do not stick with sports that they played in school. I know that I didn't, and yes, I played "lifetime" sports such as tennis, golf, and bowling. Of the kids that I have coached over the year, I'm not sure if any are still in the game. Starting school programs takes a lot of effort and commitment, and getting them to the point that they succeed on there own momentum takes even more. The costs are too high and the obsticles too great.
4) The problem boils down to simple economics. It's relatively easy to make money from a racket club, golf course, or bowling alley, but the same is not true for a table tennis club. The total lack of business promoting the sport at the local level places the burden on volunteers. The result: Not enough clubs; poor facilities and equipment; and not enough programs (leagues, coaching, etc...).
5) Well, over the years there have been good and bad leaders, and everything in between. Yes, some have been motivated by self intrests, some have been dishonest and unethical, some have not put much effort in, and some where not competent for the tasks they where given. But you will find this is to be true of any long standing organization. By and large the USATT has been run by hard working volunteers doing the best they could for the sport they love. In retrospect, the leadership, good, bad, or indifferent, has had very little effect on the growth of our sport over the years. So I find it hard to believe that bringing in a new crew will make a big difference.

I paint a pretty bleak picture, and I think that the odds are against table tennis every elevating above a basement sport. However, I do believe it's possible, I think that there is a critical mass, and once you reach it everything else will fall into place. It boils down to a chicken and the egg arguement, which of the areas will give rise to the others.

Grassroots. It seems so simple too me that I must be wrong. Without a good place to play, you lose your players to other activities, and I have seen this many many times. Without a table to play on the new player will not come back to your club a second time. If we could increase the number of quality clubs, the number of players would increase. Increase the number of players, and they will bring their kids into it. The kids will bring in their freinds, the freinds will bring their parents. With more kids coming in the chances of world class atheletes rise. World class atheletes and a large fan base will bring in TV. If the sport becomes popular, it will become profitable to run a table tennis club. To me, this is the key to gaining critical mass.

As I stated earlier, I think the leadership of the USATT has been good. But the programs of the organization have not advanced the sport. I feel the priorities have been wrong. The USATT has limited resources, over the years I've seen them applied to training centers, juniors, elite players, national tournaments, and the national magazine. None of which have much potential to increase membership or enhance the playing experience of the typical member. In the 15 years I have been frequenting clubs, I don't know of any benefit those clubs recieved from the USATT other than being on the "sanctioned club list". To me, this is the area that should recieve the most from the USATT, not the least.

I'm not blaming anyone, in fact I would like to take a moment to thank all the USATT volunteers for all their hard work. In fact this could be the key to future success. If each player would take the effort the make the sport a little better the cumulative effect would be enormous. It was in this spirit that I decide to create this website.

Steve Good
Click here to go back to the Southeast PA Table Tennis page


This page hosted by ? Get your own Free Home Page