Ping-Pong, Anyone?

Charles Drassler, of Gurnee, waits for Ian Szechowycz to serve as they play a game at the McHenry County Table Tennis Club. (Photo by John Konstantaras)

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Up for a little Ping-Pong? Or maybe a lot?

Either way, the McHenry County Table Tennis Club has you covered.

“Did I hear that click?” Dave Warren, 82, of Crystal Lake asked as he played against one of several opponents recently.

The oldest member of the club, Warren has been involved since its beginning more than two decades ago. He has played table tennis since the days when his dad won trophies in the sport.

“It was a Depression-era sport,” Warren said. “At that time, there was a lot more interest.”

The sport might not be as visible as it was back then, but players will tell you that if you’re looking for a place to play or a tournament to play in, you can find one.

With roughly 50 members, the McHenry County Club meets two times a week at Woodstock North High School.

On any given night, about 10 to 15 players ranging in age and ability typically show up, club founder and president Dennis Palys said.

Palys played table tennis in college, but stopped playing for awhile afterward. Wanting to get back into the sport, he placed an advertisement in the newspaper to gauge interest in a club. The positive response surprised him slightly. Yet, he said, it’s a sport for literally everyone.

“Everybody has grown up with a Ping-Pong table somewhere around,” he said.

Club members have become friends as they’ve compared styles and studied each other’s playing habits.

As you watch them play, the ball bouncing back and forth between laughs, you can tell they’re enjoying themselves. But don’t let that fool you. They’re there to win, too.

“The goal is to come here and have fun, but when you get to the table . . . We yell. We scream. We swear sometimes. We want to win,” said vice-president Lateef Ogunjobi of Woodstock.

Regardless of the outcome, the game always ends with a handshake or a pat on the back or two, he said.

Like most in the club, Warren keeps at it mainly because he enjoys it. But he also is in it for the exercise. And the way club members play, it’s definitely exercise.

“If you play it well, you can’t play more than two hours,” said Gabriel Bardan of Johnsburg, deemed the best player on a recent night.

Bardan joined the club nearly nine years ago, having grown up playing in a student club in Romania, where the sport is popular.

It’s all about your footwork and your style, he said.

The sport also keeps your peripheral vision and reaction time sharp, Warren added.

“It’s a healthy way to spend an hour a week,” he said.

Throughout the night, players who win three out of five games win the table and go on to compete against other players. At the end of the night, the players team up and play doubles.

A lot goes into earning those 11 points it takes to win a game. The balls, the tables and the type of paddles all factor in, players said.

For instance, Bardan orders his paddles from Canada at a cost of $200.

Those who play well can spin a ball up to 10,000 rotations a minute, he said.

It’s a game of technique, said Charles Drassler, who traveled from Kenosha, Wis., to play on a recent night in Woodstock. Anyone can learn, he said.

“A 9-year-old girl with superior technique could come in here and beat us all,” he said.

Along with a few women, including Linda Zhu of Wauconda (who plays simply because it makes her “feel good”), the club draws several father-and-son pairs.

“I still beat him, but he’s getting a lot better,” Paul Jacobs of Twin Lake, Wis., said of his 18-year-old son, Matt. “In this day and age, with all the things 18 year olds could be doing, it’s great for him to come and play Ping-Pong with his dad.”