WAB FEATURED CLUB: Table Tennis Minnesota
(by Steve Hopkins)
Table Tennis Minnesota has three locations in the Minneapolis-St.Paul area. The Training Center location is on Concord Street in South St. Paul, the Jewish Center location is on Cedar Lake Road in Minneapolis, and the Bloomington Armory location is in Bloomington. The Training Center is open Monday-Thursday and Sunday and offers a variety of training of open play options. The Jewish Community Center offers open play on Thursdays and training and a tournament on Saturdays. The Bloomington Armory location hosts a weekly round robin tournament on Mondays.
Mitch Seidenfeld founded Table Tennis Minnesota in 1992. The goal was to grow and develop the sport in Minnesota through leagues, tournaments, and instructional programs. Minnesota now has a four-tiered recreational league system, a high school league/state championship with over 30 high schools competing, and private and group instruction for players of all levels. Table Tennis Minnesota coaching programs have produced numerous state champions and nationally ranked junior and senior players. Seidenfeld’s work as a coach was nationally recognized in 2003 when he was selected as the U.S. Olympic Committee Table Tennis Developmental Coach of the Year.
As a player, Seidenfeld burst on the scene in 1990 at the World Para Table Tennis Championships where he won Men’s Class 8 as an unseeded player. Mitch has seldom found himself unseeded since, with great showings in many events including winning gold at the 1992 Paralympic Games and again at the 2007 Para Pan American Games.
Table Tennis Minnesota currently has three community leagues. The Bloomington Community League is open to all levels and runs on Monday nights. The St. Paul Community League runs on Wednesdays at the Training Center location. The Minneapolis Community League runs on Thursdays at the Jewish Community Center location. A fourth league is the Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Table Tennis League which uses handicap scoring in a 2-person co-ed recreational series that includes instruction and is open to beginners.
Hours and Locations:
Training Center (1185 Concord St N #305, South St. Paul, MN 55075)
Monday Open play 6:00-9:00 pm, Drills and skills drop-in clinic 7:00-8:30 pm
Tuesday Daytime Pong 11:00 am-1:00 pm, Open play 6:00 – 9:00 pm, Advanced drop-in clinic 7:00-9:00 pm
Wednesday Open play 6:00-9:00 pm, Drills and skills drop-in clinic 11:30-1:00 pm
Thursday Daytime Pong 11:00 am-1:00 pm, Open play 6:00-9:00 pm, Intermediate drop-in clinic 7:00-9:00 pm
Sunday Open play 10:00 am-1:00 pm, Kids clinic 10:30 am-1:30 pm
Jewish Community Center (4330 Cedar Lake Rd S, Minneapolis, MN 55416)
Thursday Open play 7:00-9:30 pm
Saturday KidzPong Junior Program 10:00 am-12:00 pm, Adult Drills & Skills 10:00 am-12:00 pm,
Saturday Round Robin Tournament 12:00-5:00 pm
Bloomington Armory (3300 West 98th Street, Bloomington, MN 55431)
Monday Round Robin Tournament 7:00-10:00 pm
For more information please visit www.tabletennismn.com
