The nets were arranged. Balls were being blasted. And competitors were sweating in Gym 2 at the Penn State Intramural Building. But it wasn't a usual game of volleyball that garnered the excitement. Rather the Intramural Building is hosting the USA Table Tennis Olympic Trials.
Although Penn State was chosen to host the event by default because the University of Pennsylvania backed out, Elite Athlete Chair for USA Table Tennis Henry McCoullum hopes attention will be drawn to the sport.
"Table tennis is still a parlor sport," McCoullum said. "The U.S. has plenty of basement champs and dorm champs, but the rest of the world would like us to get a national champion."
Tuesday opened the preliminaries for the U.S. Table Tennis Olympic Trials. With the close of the preliminary round yesterday, three players qualified to compete in the Olympic Trials to be held through Sunday. Nine players, who have already qualified to compete in the trials because of their national ranking, will round out the field of 12.
Of the 12 finalists, three men and three women will comprise the U.S. Olympic Team. The U.S. team will then face Canada and the three players who prevail will join the North American Table Tennis Team to compete in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
With the women's team ranked eighth in the World Championships, which is the equivalent to the Olympics, McCoullum has high hopes for the squad. But with table tennis not as prominent a sport in the United States as it is in other parts of the country, McCoullum said competition at the Olympics will be fierce.
"If you want to be competitive, you have to make your highest priority the sport," he said.
In other parts of the world, table tennis players' salaries range from $50,000 to $100,000. Drowned out by the more popular American sports, table tennis players do not have the opportunity to devote their time to a sport that receives little recognition. For instance, the champion of the U.S. Olympic Trials will be the recipient of $3,000 and insurance coverage.
Competitors in other parts of the world can make a career playing table tennis, while Americans are restricted to limiting their interest to a hobby.
"I never really had the time to practice before the trials," said Auric Malek, a student at Santa Clara University in California. "I'm satisfied with the way I performed here, but I'm looking forward to coming back next year."
Competition will last through Sunday when a U.S. champion will be named as will as the USA Table Tennis Team.
