(by Steve Hopkins)
The Rhode Island Club is open 5 days a week for most of the year, and we add a sixth day (Sundays for juniors) in the winter. Rhode Island is the smallest State by size in the USA, but the depth and breadth of its table tennis impact reaches well beyond the State’s narrow 37 mile width. About half of the club’s members are from Rhode Island, and the other half are from nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut. In fact, the club’s location in Manville, Rhode Island is only 5 miles from Massachusetts and 25 miles from Connecticut.
Rhode Island Table Tennis has a juniors league in the winter, runs an annual State High School Championship, offers quarterly sanctioned tournaments, and has individual and group coaching opportunities. The club offers great tables, lighting customized for table tennis, wood floors, and a small pro shop.
Rhode Island Table Tennis is one of the two or three oldest table tennis clubs in the United States – with a history as long as USATT itself. Some more unique highlights include continuous operation since the 1930s (with a history including visits from Dick Miles and Marty Reisman and Bernie Bukiet and later from more recent legends like David Sakai and George Braithwaite), being former home of USATT Hall of Famer Dick Evans (see references to our State in his Hall of Fame bio), having hosted USATT Magazine for a decade (our club is still decorated with magazine covers created in the State), and our club provides volunteers for the Boston Bruin’s Pucks & Paddles fundraiser each year.
The next sanctioned tournament in Rhode Island is the Butterfly Fall Open on November 12. Check Omnipong for registration info. The club is full of activity through unsanctioned events as well – including a regional Cambodian group event on September 3rd, and hosting a Braithwaite Club League event on October 15th.
For more about the Rhode Island Table Tennis Association and updated club hours, visit the RITTA web page.
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