By Marcus Uhe
Amongst the booming bounces, play-calling and squeaking of feet on floorboards at Cardinia Life’s basketball courts on Sunday afternoons, a new set of vibrations is penetrating eardrums.
The hollow bunts and soft rebounds of four table tennis tables provide a rapid rhythm of action and hum of excitement as the Officer City Table Tennis Club finds its feet in its formative stage.
Operating under the guidance of the highly-regarded parent club Officer City Soccer Club, the table tennis component offers physical activity in Cardinia that solves a gaping chasm in the local market, and a new avenue for social inclusion, particularly amongst the strong Asian immigrant communities in the region.
Initially piloted by the brains trust at the soccer club in Cheree Appledore and Radmila Dyson, the operations have been steered in recent months by Taral Madhiwala, one of the club’s founding fathers.
“Some of our players were playing soccer with Officer City Soccer Club and were already interested in playing table tennis, but from Pakenham all the way to Dandenong, there is no table tennis club at all,” Madhiwala said.
“We used to get together, all the parents, and play in our garage or play on outdoor tables at community parks, but finally we thought ‘we need something where everyone can get together and the community can take advantage of it.’
“Officer City Soccer Club gave us initial support, they said ‘you guys can start under us’ and all the paperwork was done by them.
“There was a parents and coach meeting for soccer and we were randomly discussing that it would be great if we could have a place where we could spend some time playing table tennis. Cheree, who’s the president, said ‘we can start that.’”
Open to all ages and abilities, the club offers casual play on a Sunday afternoon on four tables at Cardinia Life, with interest and demand quickly exceeding its capacity – so much so that primarily doubles matches are played out of necessity to cater for swelling numbers.
28 members have signed on the dotted line since its mid-year inception, with up to 40 awaiting approval once facilities allow for expansion.
For the Soccer Club, Appledore said new venture provides an opportunity for a new and alternative offering, despite describing the initial proposal as seeming “hair-brained”.
“We were actually looking to broaden our scope a little as well to get involved in a few more local community sports, to utilise venues better as well,” she said.
“There are a lot of people that do indoor sport and not necessarily love the outdoor sport of soccer.
“We actually found, talking to our members that there was quite a need for it in our area as well.
“From a soccer perspective, we’ve been able to use our branding and our membership base as well to encourage people to come along and just try it.
“The idea behind it not necessarily to get more people involved in one sport or the other, it’s more so to be in partnership and offer something a bit different to people as well.”
Pakenham’s James Bathe Reserve , one of the Soccer Club’s temporary homes, will soon provide tables for midweek play, while short term goals for the club include securing grants for volunteers to undergo coaching programs to help those beginning their table tennis journey.
In the long term, the club hopes to build its base to enter club competitions.
“What we’re noticing in the last couple of months is that lots of parents want their kids to learn table tennis, while when we started it was initially for people who already know how to play and they just needed company to play with,” Madhiwala said.
“That’s how we started but now we’re getting more and more kids.
“They’re so keen to learn and now we don’t have a coach at all, so we’re planning to send a couple of our members to the training, and once they get their training done, they get their license and we can start coaching as well.”
“People who’ve never played table tennis in the past, when they come and play once, they really want to come again.
“It was really music to our ears when they come and play once just for a taste and say ‘we’ll definitely come next week.’”
