Table Tennis: Table tennis determined to survive

The Otago Table Tennis Association, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, held a lively annual meeting recently, which may prove to be a turning point for the sport locally, and elected a new life member, as Dave Cannan reports.

The facts, as always, speak for themselves. In 1953 there were 140 teams playing club competition table tennis in Dunedin. This year there were just 16.

Inescapable conclusion? Table tennis is dying here. Well, not so fast.

Certainly those numbers (about 100 players) indicate the sport is gasping for air but there is life in the body still and, as the 35 people attending the recent Otago Table Tennis Association (OTTA) annual meeting heard, a strategy to renew the game's popularity is already under way.

Working in tandem with Sport Otago, the OTTA is taking the sport to primary and intermediate schools, targeting 8 to 11 year-olds. Armed with portable tables and 60 new bats, the association's roadshow is spearheaded by its professional coach Wang Qi.

So far the response has been promising, with five of the 25 schools approached welcoming the sport. Others are expected to follow suit.

The OTTA hopes the knock-on effect will see junior ranks build again and ultimately strengthen the senior playing numbers.

And while no-one is expecting a return to the halcyon days 30 or 40 years ago, when Otago was arguably the country's leading table tennis province, the passionate debate at the annual meeting showed there is a determination the sport will not simply be allowed to die.

For top players like John Fogarty (52), who was elected a life member of the OTTA this year, such resolve is crucial.

He has offered to be part of any programme designed to prove to youngsters that table tennis, as he often declares, is indeed "the great game".

"I've always believed that," he said.

"Table tennis is a game for life. You can play it from the day you are born till the day you die. What other sports can you do that? It's healthy; it keeps you young and it's a lot of fun. There is great camaraderie too. You can go anywhere in the world and play the game - and you don't have to speak the language."

Fogarty practises what he preaches, having begun playing the game 44 years ago, but then he was born to play table tennis, being a son of the late Bill Fogarty, one of the game's great competitors and characters, who died in February this year, aged 87.

But for reasons unknown, Bill, a dual New Zealand champion back in the late 1940s who played A grade table tennis for at least 50 years, was never made a life member of the OTTA, so son John admitted to mixed feelings when accepting the award himself this week.

"Yes, it should have gone to Dad or even [sister] Yvonne, really. They definitely deserved it. So, to be honest, while I was honoured and pleased, I felt maybe it came a little bit early for me."

Yvonne, a multiple New Zealand champion, and another sister, Barbara Perry, of Wanaka, were both on hand on Tuesday to share their brother's proud moment.

And they, probably better than anyone, know exactly what he means when he talks passionately about a life of table tennis, of the huge profile the sport enjoys in Europe and China, of changes made to the game (new scoring system, larger ball) to make it a better television sport and of one yet-to-be realised dream - for the OTTA to own its own hall again, replacing the Kaikorai Valley Rd headquarters it sold in 1997.

In previewing the nomination for life membership, OTTA president Stephen Burgess outlined Fogarty's career, which so far has included national titles in 2002 (over-45 singles and doubles) and 2005 (over-45 mixed doubles), four Otago Open wins (2002, 2003, 2005 and 2007) and two Southland Open (2000, 2006) as well as numerous junior titles.

His subsequent election confirms his place among the leading players Otago has produced over the years including Russell Algie, Neville Brightwell, Bill Scott, Bryan Foster, Gary Murphy, June Magorian, Wendy Cuthbert, Val Braumann, Tracey Phillips, Simeon Cairns, Gary Williams, Martin Duffy, and other Fogarty family members.

On a night when many other players, past and present, were honoured with medals and trophies, one of the most popular awards was presented to husband and wife team John and Judy Kennedy, from the Abbotsford club, honouring 46 and 47 years respectively of playing the sport in Dunedin.

But the main talking point of a meeting which lasted more than two hours was the at-times rigorous discussion about the performance of the OTTA's near-new executive this year and areas where it is expected to do better in 2009.

It was a debate later described by Fogarty - and others - as "healthy" for the future of table tennis in Otago.

Certainly, the OTTA is in a good heart financially, having more than $180,000 in funds and recording a $7784 surplus for the year ending September 30, 2008.

But as Burgess concedes, increasing playing numbers remains the main challenge for his executive team.

"We are determined to lift the sport's profile," he said.

• Dave Cannan attended the meeting as a delegate for the Cale-Metro club.