OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I just started a club at Boise State University and plan on promoting table tennis in Boise, Idaho.

I wanted to start this topic to rant & also receive feedback about my process in promoting table tennis in my area.

First off,
There is an exsisting club here and they are about 8 - 20 people that show up regularlish. We play two nights a week. The problem with this club, there are about 8 people who are very good players, the other people that show up are pretty good. We actually get 2 to 3 new people per week that come to play 1 or 2 times, they get destroyed, and then never come back. There are a few members that are interested in catering to these beginners, but no body that is an officer is interested or has the time to consider this type of program.

There are no certified coaches in the state and I love the sport more then anyone I have known. I am actually from Dallas, TX and have played at a tournament at Weslyan. I have seen what can become if you try to get a table tennis club growing.

I know the demand is there, but there is nothing organized and not enough common knowledge about the club.

Okay that's the end of my ranting.

Okay me starting my club

I have started a club at Boise State University. We are still organizing things and don't play regularly yet. Here are some of my problems and I want you guys to think about it and let me know how I can over come some of these things.

1. Jumping through University Hoops: Our club has to do community service, pay for facilities, and the club has to be 75% full-time Students

2. Facilities: I can't find a resonable place to play indoor, every place charges between $30 - $40 dollars per hour to play indoors on an open space. I have tried calling schools and rec centers but they all charge about the same.

3. Getting money for the club: I want to allow as many people to play as possible but I also need to start getting money so that we can expand (tables, balls, facilities, tournaments, etc)

4. Keeping people interest: Everyone gets to a point where they are addicted to the game, I am not the best, I get beat by the best players in my club 100% of the time, but I keep coming back, I'm a rarity. How do you keep things interesting?

So far, we have gotten recognized by the school as an official club, which actually gives us the ability to market all over the campus (this is the biggest benefit), but we have a lot of restrictions on fund raising, travel, printed material, club membership, and really we can't do a thing without approval of the school.

I will be having a meeting soon to get officers for the club, I also plan on giving everyone in the club a job that will take one so that they feel more committed to the club.

Which me luck and tell me what you have done that has worked, or any ideas on my 4 issues.

Thank You,

PlayTableTennis

Good morning and welcome,
Im sure other members here will give you some leads and help but I just have a couple of questions
are you starting a club in opposition to the existing one?
If you are, are you both based from the Uni?

just another note if you are getting 2 or 3 new people every week can't you try and keep a phone or conact list of these players and when you have ...say 8 you then call them and say we are ready for you (bring a friend) and they play amongst themselves as in beginners tables or beginners night?

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Get hold of the U.S. Intercollegient Asso. They can help you deal with the school and show you how to do things. They can get you discounts on equipment and some free stuff. (balls, ect)
I have not been in the U.S. for a year now, (China) but I started a club every year for 5 years in the local college. I coached as many as 50 Asian students. Only about 10 from the U.S.
I also had a Grange and a church that would let us use their place. I know all the local players from the Boise club. They would do better if they had a good coach.
I spent as much as 40 hours a week coaching, for FREE. You are not the only one that loves table tennis. I started a club in a middle school and coached them. Now they have inter school tourneys. Talk to people in the Portland, Oregon area. They have a tremendous program and have really done alot for table tennis. They know how to do it and can help you.

This might be a helpful link:

http://www.nctta.org/

National Collegiate Table Tennis Association

One of the hardest things about a college program when I was in school was the turn-over from year to year. These guys should be able to get you started in the right direction with pointers and tips.

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This is the only Table Tennis Club in the University. I have suggested we get their contact information but I saw no change, and don't really want to work with an organization that is run by people that don't really have a desire to grow the club.

NCTTA is the link I was talking about. Talk to them.

Not sure how responsive they are... I Emailed them a few weeks back on another issue, and never got a reply...

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I always got an answer in one or two days. Maybe your E-Mail failed to reach them.

I have actually found them to take a few days to get back to me but they were helpful.

I have now gotten a few more people interested in helping start the club. We will be having a club meeting and we will try to get all of our marketing material approved. We want to build awareness at this point. That will be the game plan of the summer to get materials put together and be prepared for the fall semester, when they have the club fair and a have the new students.

I have also found a few places we can play off-site. I found that we could rent a warehouse, for $500 that would be 1600 sqft, that's enough for 5 tables. Which would meets our need. We haven't introduced fees and we will have to come to a census to see what we will do.

If any of you guys have some good marketing ideas, let me know.

Have you ever put flyers up in certain areas that have worked out well? etc?

It would have bounced. I suspect they were not interested in what I had to say or they thought I was a spammer, so they ignored it... I could be wrong of course

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