History

The club was founded in the thirties - although little is known or recorded regarding that period. Activities were suspended during W.W.II. Following the war, a reorganization took place directed by E. John Hanna and Bob Lupo. The club site was Washington Junior High School on Pacific Avenue, near 10th Street. Six tables were borrowed from the Navy shipyard through the efforts of John Hanna, who was Director of Human Resources there.

The program of play at Washington was two evenings a week, along with a monthly handicap tournament. With continuous year-round play, a stable membership was established, and effective operating committees could be assembled. This in turn enabled the club to host a major yearly tournament - the Long Beach Open - which not only became an important source of revenue, but also drew attention to Long Beach as a table tennis center.

In 1970, Richard Badger became president and Warren Harper vice president. Gene Roseman continued as secretary/treasurer. At this time, John Hanna became the USTTA Western Region Director, but he also continued to be a force in local table tennis. During the early seventies, the club participated in league competition initiated and overseen by the California Table Tennis Association. Play continued at Washington until 1976, when we moved to DeMille Junior High School to get out of a deteriorating and increasingly crime-ridden neighborhood.

Initial play at DeMille was quite similar to that at Washington. However, in 1977, passage of California Tax Initiative, Proposition 13, greatly impacted our program. Subsequently, due to budget considerations, the City of Long Beach reduced our permit to a September-to-June period. We found that elimination of summer play resulted in a loss each fall of 75%-80% of our membership. This in turn required major recruitment to reestablish the minimum attendance prescribed by our permit. These became difficult times and necessary support was insufficient to hold a major yearly tournament, especially when obtaining the additional time and space from the city was so difficult.

Warren Harper moved to Northern California and Steve Rattner became acting vice president with Gene Roseman continuing as secretary/treasurer. In 1986, we were moved to Bancroft Junior High School. However, in the summer of 1987, the city advised we would have to begin paying a high nightly rent for continued use of Bancroft facilities in the coming school year. Our permit was terminated in September of 1987.

We became inactive until an agreement was made with the Long Beach Boys and Girls Club in 1988, allowing us to play at their facility on Lemon Avenue in Signal Hill. Unfortunately, the lighting and location (ghetto neighborhood) was unsatisfactory to virtually all the membership, and participation dwindled to one or two people. At this time, the Boys and Girls Club moved us to a new facility at the corner of Del Amo and Atlantic Boulevard. An agreement between the Long Beach Table Tennis Club and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Long Beach was made in November of 1990, detailing our play at this facility. A fee of $2.00 per player per evening was specified. Steve Rattner moved to San Diego and Frank Boyd took over as vice president.

In July of 1991, we were advised by the Boys and Girls Clubs that reallocation of resources would not allow our use of their facility after August of 1991. Again we were without a home! At this time, Steve DeFrance, a long time member of our club and also a faculty member at Long Beach California State University, initiated steps to have us become a member of Associated Students of California State University, Long Beach. After joining the ASCULB, our tables were stored on the 3rd floor of the Student Union Building. Play occurred in a lecture hall on the 2nd floor, necessitating the inconvenient use of an elevator to move tables from floor to floor. Open play was extended to the student body and faculty as well as members of the community. During this period of time, vice president Frank Boyd had been negotiating with the Long Beach Unified School District and the Parks and Recreation to obtain a new playing site in Long Beach. As a result, we were able to get Jefferson Middle School beginning in November of 1991. At this time, Gene Roseman resigned as Treasurer and was replaced by Bill Hillier.

Club play continues today at Jefferson with an expanded play of Monday and Wednesday evenings at 7 PM - 10 PM, Saturdays at 9 AM - 1 PM, and Sundays at 1 PM - 5 PM. Richard Badger resigned as president at the end of 2001. He was succeeded by Winston Ngai. Frank Boyd and Bill Hillier continued as Vice President and Treasurer respectively. Many other administrative positions were established and filled at the turn of the year. This club history covers the period to July of 2002.