“This is really a terrible match,” exclaims a girl who, to her surprise, suddenly finds herself trailing 5-0. Another girl does a handstand between the ping-pong tables. “I’m done already, because I’ve lost everything,” she says. Neither girl seems to mind.

It was a busy scene at UTTC on Friday, December 16. No fewer than 73 students from 14 Utrecht elementary schools participated in the school tournament, which was organized by our club for the first time this year. Previously, the tournament was held at SVE.

“I thought: we should organize it here for a change; that way, it’s more accessible for schools in the neighborhood to participate too,” says Wouter Kerpershoek. “We hope this will help us become better known. We want to get to know the schools and the teachers. But the most important thing, of course, is to get the kids excited, so they discover that table tennis is a fun game.”

Ton van Ginkel is helping with the preparations. “I’ve organized tournaments many times. Not for kids, but I was a youth leader years ago. So Wouter thought: Ton would be willing to help. Well, of course I fell for that.”

Great turnout

As the children stream in, Ton keeps track of the registration list. Of the 114 children who had signed up, 78 were able to participate. And 73 of them showed up. A great turnout, say the organizers. Especially when you compare it to the previous edition, when only 39 children participated.

But how do you keep a tournament full of wild children under control? Ton: “We have good supervisors, usually one per table. Especially with the youngest groups, you need a few good ones. Making sure the kids play on time—sometimes you have to correct them a bit. But it’s still noisy, that’s for sure.”

Well, that’s certainly true. Both UTTC halls are in full use, with a total of thirteen tables. In Hall A, Marc Londo keeps an eye on two of them. Every now and then he offers a tip, but otherwise he watches on, relaxed. “It’s a delightful chaos,” he says. “I think all the kids are having a blast. Every now and then they hit a fantastic shot and then make a clumsy mistake—it’s all part of the fun. We haven’t had any fights yet. There have been disagreements about how to serve, but I’m the boss. I tell them how it’s done.”

Yellow shirts

About 20 children are participating from the elementary schools in Hoograven, Lunetten, and Rivierenwijk. But the majority come from the Paulusschool in Tuindorp and the Kohnstammschool in Oost. The yellow shirts from the Paulusschool really stand out. Physical education teacher Janine Adams is responsible for that high turnout. She’s enthusiastically cheering on the children.

“You have to make a tournament like this a big deal,” Janine explains. “Practice a lot in class and keep asking the kids if they’ve signed up yet. In the end, so many kids wanted to participate that there wasn’t even room for everyone. My colleague from the Kohnstamm School had also lobbied hard.”

Two of Janine’s students make it to the finals: Raf wins the title in grades 5 and 6, and Stan is the runner-up in grades 7 and 8. And that’s even though neither of them is on the table tennis team. “They’re really the kind of boys who can do anything,” says Janine, “so I was pretty sure they’d make it this far.”

Impressed

The title in grades 7 and 8 goes to our very own Leon Röling, a UTTC member and student at the DaCosta School. It was certainly exciting, because his opponent won the first game. Leon is impressed: “Stan kept coming back in the rally and still managed to score the point. If he takes up table tennis, I’m sure he’ll become really good.”

There’s a special prize for Moira from the Kohnstamm School: she wins the trophy for best girl. And there’s another prize for the Paulus School: the school from Tuindorp wins the raffle for a mini table tennis table. “I’ll put that next to the big table we have, so a whole group can play,” the gym teacher beams. “That table will definitely be put to good use!”

Christiaan Bonebakker