USATT LEAGUE of the Month - Jan/Feb 2005
East
Texas Table Tennis
League
By
Steve Bell
The East Texas Table Tennis
League, located in Longview, TX at the Church at Grace Creek
began league play March 29, 2004. ETTTL is sponsored by
Grace Creek Table Tennis Club. Our current roster includes
49 players but the league has seen at least another 30
players play once or more over the last eight months. ETTTL
is currently the third largest league in Texas. To date
ETTTL has sponsored 38 events with a total of 1243 matches.
League play is one night a week
(Mondays) from 6:30 till whenever, and we play on four Stiga
tables. As you might guess, we are quickly outgrowing our
facility. 18 to 22 players will show up on any given Monday
and will usually get in all the matches they can stand.
I think our success can be
attributed to our diverse group of players, excellent
facilities and good club organization. Of our 49 players, 16
are under the age of 18. Fathers and children, husbands and
wives plus individuals make up our league. Our facility is
clean, well lit, and offers comfortable seating for
spectators. Good club organization is critical to completing
up to 70 matches between 20 or more players in less than
three hours and still post the results in a timely manner.
Our highest player’s league
rating is in the 1600s. Our players battle each other each
week with their ratings increasing or decreasing depending
on their consistency. One thing I have noticed is that when
our league players go off to play in tournaments they
usually come back with a tournament rating of 50 to 200
points higher than their league rating. I would account this
to our demanding league play. To have a successful evening
at league play, players have to overcome stressful work days
or school days and play at their peak against evenly matched
players. In league play, a point or two either way can mean
the difference between success and failure and this will
usually dictate your style of play.
Sponsored by 
and
All League Equipment Available
Tables | Rackets | Sponge | Balls
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