How the Tucson Table Tennis Club makes its racket available to the community

TUCSON, Arizona — “It helps me sleep better,” Adam Block said of table tennis. “Physically, it’s good.”

Block is an astronomer by day and the club’s president, but if any member could give him a good match, it’s Ross Maynard, a conservation biologist who joined the club after hearing about it online.

“You can always improve,” Maynard said. “You’re never at a point where you think you’re good enough.”

On Saturdays, Block, Maynard and up to sixty others bring their ping pong balls to places like the Fred Archer Center.

“We do everything from drills to games to training,” Maynard said. “We talk about the game and how we can improve. We try to improve the players at the club. Every Saturday is really fun. I look forward to it.”

Table tennis is an Olympic sport that was at times dominated by men.

“There are a lot of men in our sport,” says Block. But it’s not all men. Especially not at the higher levels. In our club, for example, there are people with different beliefs, young and old, with a wide range of experiences.”

Among other things, the Tucson Table Tennis Club is involved in a partnership with the city on a Kid-Co program that teaches children how to play. They have also conducted Care Pong classes for people with movement disorders.

“There will be a personal discussion about this,” said Block. “We want to show the city that we are an integral part of it.”

In return, the city provides the use of its facilities. Table tennis is, in a sense, a sport like any other.

“It takes practice and patience, but you also have to be a little competitive,” Block said.

It’s a competitiveness that Maynard shares.

“I haven’t even come close to beating him,” Maynard joked about Block. “But I’ve figured him out. It’s just going to take some time.”