OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Rankings and ratings have been around since the beginning of organized table tennis and it has not proven to be the catalyst needed to popularize the sport in a major way.

Table tennis, at least in the US, is mostly played in basements/garages. The competition is primarily family or friends. The majority of people in the US are not even aware that there are tournaments, hence, most people have no clue about competitive table tennis. The few who develop a deeper love for the game seek out clubs to get more competition and variety of players. There, they discover leagues and tournaments.

Most club owners aren't focused on popularizing the sport per se. Most are primarily focused on just eking out a living by providing coaching, classes, and a place to play. Some clubs aren't even profit oriented, they're just a group of people who meet to play at the local rec center. I feel like they could do more, like holding more events such as tournaments and weekly leagues and advertising their events to make the general public more aware of their presence. The clubs also need to have events geared towards the less competitive people i.e. more for fun and socializing. The most successful club in my area, MDTTC, has been doing a decent job at it, and the other clubs are having varying levels of success.

The post I made earlier about more prize money doesn't apply just at the top levels. If there were more small local tournaments/leagues with cash prizes at all levels, that would help popularize the sport. Weekend warriors who win the small events brag about it to their friends. That might pique their friends interest, enough to get them to play.

For long term growth, more needs to be done to get kids interested. The majority of kids in the US develop interest through their parents and the majority are immigrants from countries where table tennis is more popular. Unlike the major sports, there are no televised events and no exposure to high level players that they can idolize. So another thing that can be done is to televise the championship matches of our two biggest events, the US Open & the US Nationals. The events need to be covered at the national level, not just at the local level. Table Tennis gets zero coverage even on the all sports channels. USATT needs to hire better marketing people.

From all your inputs, I sensed that competition players are more interested in Ratings/Rankings, while recreation players do not care less about them.
I think it would help the game if recreation players have a rating/ ranking. I keep marvelling at the handicap system used in golf. Almost every golf player including those purely recreation players who do not watch and participate in tournaments has a handicap and has to maintain their handicaps even when playing amongst themselves. Although the same 4 players play with each other almost every week, any new player can fit into the group easily. That I think is the real benefit of their handicap system.
Hence I think a players rating/ranking system in TT will help encourage players to mix around and play with each other (for all players, competition and recreation players), helping and popularising the game in the long term. Of course this must be implemented together with a myriad of other supporting and promotional events.
If only ... we can have a rating/ranking system commonly accepted and adopted and make this work.