(By LATTA)

“What a very bright & young day at LATTA on Sunday, March 24….Southern Cal Schools Table Tennis Tournament!  We had about 40 young players, from middle school (grades 6-8) to high school (grades 9-12).  The 4 schools were represented by Gabrielino High School (San Gabriel), Walnut High School (Walnut), Mark Keppel High School (Alhambra), San Gabriel Academy (private school in San Gabriel, grades 6-8) and LATTA (grades 6-8).  LATTA swept in Team and Singles Competition, taking 1st place in both events!  2nd Place in Singles was well deserved Mark Keppel HS while an energectic San Gabriel Academy placed 2nd in Team event.  There were many exciting points and intense matches too!  At times, I felt like it was a USATT sanctioned tournament!  I was so proud of my LATTA Students and all the other young Youths as well.  The top player from the tournament was 8th grade Kimberly May of LATTA!  The beauty of table tennis is that any age, size and gender can compete against each other!  

Aside from winning, it was just a wonderful scene for our table tennis community, promoting our sport, especially to the newer faces of recreational, lower level and intermediate play.  It was not only a fun experience for the kids and their parents, but to be educated and aware that table tennis clubs DO exist in many So. Cal cities!  Our mission is to attempt to build up a league among schools!  Everything takes time & teamwork!

Special thanks to HS sophomore, Alan Xian (rated 1881), Sean Lehnhoff (San Gabriel Academy Faculty) and HS senior Bryson Manalang (rated 1142) for organizing!  A big applause to all the Parents that came to support their kids!  We hope to make this School Competition an annual thing!”