Good times around the table: Carson City's table tennis club growing in membership

As much as Scott Miners would like to say he considered the common welfare when deciding to start a table tennis club in Carson City, he has to admit his motives were more self-serving.

"It was pretty selfish," he said. "I just love playing."

After driving to Reno for several years to play in the club there, Miners tired of the 60-mile round-trip commute.

So he placed an ad in the Nevada Appeal in July asking if anyone in the area would be interested in starting a club.

Mel Inglima's wife saw the item in the paper and pointed it out to her husband over breakfast.

"I called Scott right away," Inglima recalled.

Inglima recruited a neighbor and Miners brought his friend Wayne Lenhares. The first meeting of the Carson City Table Tennis Club was called to order in Miners' garage where the three were elected as the club's first officers.

Since then, they have grown to 14 members and have become affiliated with the national organization, the USA Table Tennis Association.

Dennis Parrish, a retired physical education teacher, was working out in the gym where the club met before moving to Gold's Gym on Topsy Lane where it now meets twice a week.

Someone invited him to join the game. Although he hadn't played since high school, he accepted the offer. Little by little, he said, his skill is returning.

"It's just fun to come out," he said. "Not only the ping-pong, but being with the guys is a good time."

Members range from beginners up to professionals.

Dean Doyle of Gardnerville, the world champion from 1980, recently joined the club. He brought along his friend Ben Nisbet visiting from New York to play last week. Nisbet is the former director of the USA Table Tennis Association.

Although the two get together often, they said they rarely play table tennis. It was good to have a place to dust off the paddles.

"You need a place to get together and play," Doyle said. "We're fortunate here in Carson City to have that opportunity. It's all about the camaraderie and exercise."

Nisbet shared some of his experiences creating youth table tennis organizations in New York as a way to reach out to kids who didn't find a niche in traditional sports.

Inglima, the club's vice president, said they would like to be involved in similar outreach.

"We would love to do clinics for high schools and junior high schools," he said. "It's perfect. You can play it year-round because it's indoors."

As a former college basketball player, he said table tennis can help improve skills in other sports as well.

"All athletes need eye-hand coordination," he said. "It's good for cross training because you're always moving. You have to be quick. You're sweating. The ball is moving, you're always in action. It doesn't injure your body, but it's very athletic."

However, the person who stands to benefit most from the club is his Christie James.

When her family moved into their home in 1999, her husband, Ed James, moved a table tennis table into the living room where it's been ever since.

After his last son moved away to college two years, he lost his partners. Now that he's found a place to play, he said, it may be time for the table to go.

"My wife's looking at living room furniture now," he said. "A couch? What a concept."