Bloomington, MN Community League Crowns Fall and Winter Champions
February 28, 2008

L to R: David Kolb, 2008 Winter League Champion; Dan Fowell, 2007 Fall League Champion; Seemant Teotia, Bloomington Community League coordinator.

Back in September Dan Fowell was just one of twenty-four table tennis enthusiasts who had joined the Bloomington, Minnesota Community League looking for fun and better competition. From this time forward he is to be known as the 2007 Bloomington, MN Fall League champion. The thirty year-old software engineer took first place and won a champions t-shirt by defeating David Kolb, 18, a senior at Eagan High School and the number two singles player on his high school team.

Father and son, Scott and Drew Nichols, go home friends no matter who wins their nightly challenge match.

Fowell remembered playing ping-pong as a kid, but said that it wasn’t until this past year, when he began playing regularly at his workplace, Fargo Electronics, that he realized just how much he loved the game. From the first night of the league it was clear to the league coordinator that Fowell’s initial point-handicap would have to be set well below the (+5) or (+6) where most newbies start. He racked up win after win until his point-handicap dropped all the way to a (-9). This meant that he would have to start many of his matches quite a ways below zero and spot some of the players in the league up to fifteen points.

League jokester, David Bies, takes a breather between matches. Whew!

David Kolb redeemed himself during the 2008 winter session of the Bloomington Community League and took home a sought-after league champion’s t-shirt for himself. David’s great league results along with his 5-1 record at #2 singles in the Minnesota State High School Championships also earned him a promotion up into the Competition League.

Congratulations to both of these league champions!

To learn more about Butterfly leagues in Minnesota go to www.tabletennismn.com.

Meranda Brekke works on her forehand drive technique. One...two...three...