Club History:

Early 2005, the two founders of the Auburn Table Tennis Club, Tim Aquino, and Greg Cehan were also tennis players belonging to the local tennis club. Neither knew each other through tennis but word-of-mouth about their table tennis interest eventually brought them together and they began playing in their garages. It wasn’t long after, that they began wondering whether their would be any interest in the community for a regular place to play, where there would be more room, better lighting and most of all a variety of players. Both started looking around for a site where several tables could be accommodated where the venue was conducive to playing table tennis and where the rental or use fee was affordable. Tim contacted the Auburn Area Recreational District (ARD) and things started rolling and before long he was offered a room in one of their community buildings. Tim and Greg both brought their tables to the site along with balls and extra paddles. Word of mouth at the tennis club was about the only publicity they had in the beginning and on May 4th 2005, the club began with the two tables and seven combatants. The local newspaper ran an article on the club towards the end of May and the weekly attendance jumped to first fifteen and then twenty. To accommodate this level of participation two more of the players volunteered their tables and a couple more were either purchased or borrowed and ARD opened up an adjacent room to accommodate additional tables.

In November 2005 the club and ARD, in partnership, decided to purchase 5 new tables. In approximately one year our growth prompted us to purchase 2 additional tables. On July 30th, 2007, we removed our age restriction and began what we hope is a program that will bring the youth in the area to experience and enjoy the game of Table Tennis. In October, 2008, we hosted (in the main ARD gym) a 2 Star USATT sanctioned tournament, as well as a recreational tournament, which attracted over 150 players, cable TV coverage, and featured a High School competition between five local schools. Our Monday and Wednesday format currently attracts about 35 to 40 regular players, and we have many occasional players on our roster. Our success has in largest part been due to our association with ARD and the helpfulness and cooperation of so many of our members.