Larn Sweeney returned to the club two years ago. Photo / Bevan Conley
Larn Sweeney returned to the club two years ago. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui has a huge number of clubs, covering all sorts of interests. Our reporters have been finding out more about some of them for our Welcome to the Club series. Today Mike Tweed checks out the Whanganui Table Tennis Club.
The Whanganui Table Tennis Club has had it rough overthe past 18 months thanks to Covid-19, but president Larn Sweeney hopes a new dawn is on the way.
At present there are about 70 regular members, down from around 400 when he was a junior player there.
He is actively trying to get more people involved, and one of his latest projects is a schools introduction programme.
The facility at Jubilee Stadium is now shared with the YMCA, and there are three sessions of play a week - Monday morning, Monday night, and Friday morning.
"We used to run six sessions per week, and we hope to get back to that. We've just got to wait for things to settle down a bit," Sweeney said.
"The morning sessions are great for older or retired people, it's a chance to not only play the game but to socialise."
The sport itself was suitable for people aged 5 to 90-plus, and from those with mobility issues to the more athletic, Sweeney said.
There are about 70 regular members at the club. Photo / Bevan Conley
"The great appeal for me is its fun and anyone can play it.
"People who might not be able to move around so much can be competitive with people who can, and that's the beauty of table tennis. That wouldn't be possible in a more physically demanding sport like tennis.
"Here, all you need is decent hand-eye co-ordination."
A game of table tennis is played to 11 points, and it must be won by two points.
The match is generally the best three of five games.
Sweeney rejoined the club two years ago and, along with Dave Welch, is in charge of most of its operations.
He said they were hoping to set up a pay-to-play system, similar to the Whanganui Badminton Club next door at Springvale Stadium.
The Whanganui Table Tennis Association was born in 1964.
"There were separate clubs all around Whanganui, but when this [Jubilee Stadium] was built in 1989, they disbanded and everybody came here," Sweeney said.
The club's patriarch is 86-year-old Nelson Tizard.
He has been playing the game since secondary school in 1949.
"I got to be quite good for a while there. I reached the last eight of the New Zealand champs one year, and to the semifinals of the North Island champs another year," Tizard said.
"I'm not so good now, I can tell you that. When Dave [Welch] was a junior here I was in my 40s or 50s, and he couldn't get near me.
"These days I'd get annihilated."
Tizard said the most interesting win of his career came in the 1970s, when he and then- New Zealand champion Richard Lee defeated a touring Japanese pair at Springvale Stadium.
Since then he has won numerous over-45 New Zealand titles, managed national table tennis squads for trips to championships around the world, and was the secretary and treasurer of the Whanganui club for "donkey's years".
"I've certainly seen a lot of table tennis, and nearly everyone I've been involved with has been magnificent to deal with."
Nelson Tizard, 86, is still a regular fixture on Friday mornings. Photo / Bevan Conley
The game was at its strongest in Whanganui shortly after Springvale Stadium was built in 1966, Tizard said.
"We had 27 tables up there for interclub, which was 54 teams of three or four players. It was great.
"I had a spell in the late 60s and early 70s where I wasn't beaten in interclub.
"In those days it seemed like everybody just loved playing table tennis."
The need to get more younger people involved in Whanganui was the only way the club would grow into the future, Sweeney said.
"The kids we've managed to reach have absolutely loved the game.
"We are going to give tables to every single school that wants one, and then approach businesses like Affco and ask if they want one as well.
"Hopefully, we can get the brakes off in 2022 and build those numbers back up."
Social table tennis is played at the Jubilee Stadium on Mondays and Fridays from 9am to noon.
All skill levels are welcome, from complete novice to top players and all levels in between. Table tennis bats are provided.
It costs $5 a person (includes morning tea) and for students it's $3.
Monday-night sessions (also $5) kick off at 7.30.
Vaccination passes are required for entry. For more information, email info@ttwanganui.nz
