The man behind a two-day Guelph Ping Pong Tournament took place over the weekend at the Evergreen Seniors Centre hopes it is a step to helping the sport get more established in Guelph.
Organized by University of Guelph professor William Tam in partnership with the City of Guelph and the Guelph-Wellington Seniors Association, it featured a youth tournament on Saturday that attracted around 15 participants and an open competition Sunday that saw over 40 players register.
"I guess nobody's really organized anything here before," Tam said of why there hasn't been a public table tennis tournament in recent memory.
"We have different people playing in different places."
He plays up to three times a week at a club in Kitchener and says most cities Guelph's size have table tennis clubs, but there isn't one here yet.
The tables used for the weekend tournament were loaned by the seniors association.
He reached out to different high schools to help promote the event on the weekend would like to see it become a high school sport like badminton or tennis is.
One of the hurdles might be cost, with a tournament-quality table costing around $700, he said.
"There are lots of people here that can play, but there is no one organizing it here," he said.
Funds for tables and a place to store and play on them, ideally a high school, would be good, Tam said.
"That's a major problem. We need to find a high school to host it for us and we need to get funding," he said.
The open event on Sunday filled up, with people being turned away.
"It's a good start," Tam said.
