By Andres Salazar

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Two players in the middle of a heated match at the Lethbridge Table Tennis Club. Photo by Andres Salazar.

When thinking about the highlights of Lethbridge, some places and clubs will come to mind faster than others. These days, when talking about local pizza places, Two Guys and a Pizza Place is the most common answer. For music venues, it seems to be a toss-up between The Owl and The Slice. Though, Lethbridge is also home to one of the most hidden of hidden gems. Located in the city’s north side, inside the Nordbridge Senior Center’s recreation room, is the Lethbridge Table Tennis Club. The club has been quietly playing and improving since sometime in the early 2000s. Since then, the group has seen multiple high-ranking players, people of all backgrounds, and continues to foster one of the most welcoming communities the city has to offer.

The Lethbridge Table Tennis Club recently welcomed The Meliorist, giving us an inside look into what makes this club so charming. Be warned, however, as these guys are not playing the tippy-tappy game that you would play in a friend’s basement during a party. These players mean business, regularly participating in tournaments across the province and meticulously choosing racket parts to create as ruthless a playing style as possible. At the same time, however, the local table tennis club is incredibly inviting towards players of all levels to come out and practice together. Though it’s been around since before other staples of the city, the majority of the local population has most likely never heard of this hidden gem.

The Lethbridge Table Tennis Club

(From the left) Jerry Mikusek, Hector Carcamo and Dave Bergen, the leaders and longest-attending players of the club. Photo by Andres Salazar.

The Meliorist was able to have a sit-down conversation with the Lethbridge Table Tennis club’s leaders, Jerry Mikusek, Hector Carcamo and Dave Bergen, to learn more about the club’s origins and inner workings. Though its exact start date is a bit of a mystery, the belief is that it most likely started at some point in the year 2000. While it hasn’t been the only table tennis group in the city’s history, this is the first one to play the sport at a competitive level. Always in the same building, the club has seen numerous competitive players, with some going to regional and semi-national championships representing the Lethbridge team. The local group is a fierce team, often competing in Calgary in both the Singles and Doubles categories, often bringing home medals for their competitive successes. An Olympic sport for a very good reason, high-level competitions can seem more like high-speed chess matches, mixing crazy athleticism with complicated techniques and strategies that change the speed and trajectory of the ball in virtually no time at all.

The Lethbridge club, however, also has a large number of non-competitive players, who come practice to get some exercise in, and to learn the skillset of the sport. Table tennis is a sport that can be enjoyed by everyone, as it’s low-impact enough for those who want to participate in physical activity without as big an injury risk, but can be intense enough to build strength and endurance. Strength and athleticism are not the only things that determine the winner, as one could feasibly win a match through smart strategies and good control of the ball. This creates a hilarious dynamic to see, as the fittest ULeth Pronghorn athletes have lost regularly to players twice their age. On top of that, having the right equipment can essentially neutralize the efforts of the opponent’s game, by reducing, reversing or intensifying the spin on the ball. What this all means is that regardless of your age, athletic ability, or skill level, you always have a chance to win during the game.

But, things haven’t always been easy for the table tennis club. Of course, the Covid-19 pandemic essentially put the club on the bench for years, and though it is now back to operating like normal, there were a handful of years where players couldn’t participate as they normally did. The biggest obstacle, however, came after the passing of Kaz Hayashizaki and Fuki Nishibayashi, two dedicated members and competitors of the club, following an ice fishing accident in 2014. Their presence is still missed, though the club keeps their memory alive, now playing on a table donated by Kaz. Nishibayashi was, until 2004, a professor at the University of Lethbridge.

Picture of Kaz Hayashizaki and Fuki Nishibayashi. Photo by Peter Ono

Quietly Rallying

For as special as it is, the story of the Lethbridge Table Tennis Club hasn’t ever really been told. Though it’s been around for about a quarter of a century at this point, finding anything about the club online is very difficult. Aside from their self-titled Facebook page and a few public entries on the Lethbridge Sports Council website, there aren’t many things about them online. The table tennis Club has no plans of stopping anytime soon; and although it isn’t known by every resident of the city, it still does have a quiet reputation for being a wonderful community. Every once in a while, you’ll bump into someone and after a short conversation, you’ll hear something along the lines of “Oh yeah! I loved going to the ping pong club!”.

The truth is that clubs like these are hard to find; people of all sorts of professions, age groups, and cultural backgrounds come here simply because table tennis is a fun sport. Scientists play against high schoolers, pizza restaurant owners regularly beat former kickboxing coaches and University of Lethbridge students come play against EMTs after they’re done playing on campus. Arguments, political divides and disrespectful attitudes don’t really exist at the club, as every game is played fairly, and ends with a smiling fist bump. One of the most hidden gems of Lethbridge, the ping pong club continues to invite more and more players to pick up a racket, and start rallying.

Thank you to the Lethbridge Table Tennis Club for giving us an inside look into their history, and their community.