Club grabbing paddles for good-natured competition

By Frances Vanderploeg

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008 | midnight

Ted Marcus had only one goal Aug. 19 as he glanced across the table at his opponent, Gary Sternberg. "The champion is going down," he said with a laugh.

Sternberg has been playing table tennis, also known as pingpong, for more than 50 years. In Sun City MacDonald Ranch, he's a bit of a superstar at the regular Tuesday and Friday table tennis get-togethers, when a dozen members of the MacDonald Ranch community practice their skills.

The table tennis club is open to all members of Sun City MacDonald Ranch, as well as their guests.

Sternberg, the club's vice president, lived in China for eight years, where he first learned to play. Table tennis is considered the national game of China. Years later, he still considers it a passion. He is active in competitions held by Henderson and the Nevada Senior Olympics, where he holds a gold medal for the men's singles event, age 75-79, according to the Nevada Senior Olympics Web site.

Though Sternberg doesn't play every day as he used to, he still gives his peers a run for their money. Marcus noted the only way most people can beat him is by competing in a doubles match. During a singles match, they don't have a chance, he said.

The club isn't just for residents who have played before, though. Many people, including Sternberg's girlfriend, Mary Lou Burbine, also a MacDonald Ranch resident, learned the game after joining.

Burbine had never played before she and Sternberg met four years ago. Joining the club has offered her many incentives, she said.

"I like the exercise," Burbine said. "It's also great for hand-eye coordination."

Running around and having fun with friends makes it easy to break a sweat without realizing it, members said. Many of the club members quickly chimed in, noting that table tennis is especially good for seniors to get involved in, as it keeps them alert and their reflexes sharp.

"Even picking up the ball all the time is good exercise," Sternberg said, as balls often flew off one of the three tables and across the room.

Two of the three tables the club uses came from this year's U.S. Open Table Tennis Championships, held at the Convention Center in July. Nearly 100 tables are set up for the Open, and afterward are sold to table tennis enthusiasts for discounted prices. Sternberg said he would have bought another if it were within his budget. He was able to get the tables, normally valued at nearly $2,500 each, for $950 each.

The two tables they replaced were donated to Congregation Ner Tamid, at Interstate 215 and Valle Verde Drive. Sternberg said he soon hopes to teach the congregation's children how to play table tennis.

Until then, he's busy teaching his friends and club mates.

"A lot of them have illegal serves, but it's just for fun," he said, noting a legal serve requires the ball to leave the server's hand behind the white line painted along the edge of the table and up six inches before it's hit, plus one bounce before it travels over the net.

Legal play doesn't worry Sternberg much in the club setting, though. As Burbine said, "It's a senior community. It's just fun here."

Frances Vanderploeg is a reporter for the Home News. She can be reached at 990-2660 or [email protected].