The City of Virginia Beach will host the U.S. National Table Tennis Championships at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, Dec. 13 to 17. Selected by USA Table Tennis, the national governing body for the Olympic Championships, this event also will permit Hampton Roads residents to not only witness the competitions but also to participate in this exciting event by entering a recently created category for “first-time players.”
Entry fees have been structured to encourage recreational players – those who have never competed in a USA Table Tennis tournament. For $30 (plus a $10 one-time players pass and a $10 rating fee), players are encouraged to bring their skills out of the recreation rooms, basements and garages to share in the fun and excitement of competing in a national-level tournament against other non-rated players. Entry forms are available on the Nationals website at www.usnationalsvabeach.com.
Spectators are also welcomed and encouraged to attend the five-day event. The fee is $20, which includes four days – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Children under 12 are admitted free. Events for Saturday, Dec. 17, will be $20 for most finals events and $25 for the men’s and women’s singles finals.
Dean Johnson, chairman of the Local Organizing Committee of the U.S. Nationals, said: “By bringing this major sporting event to Virginia Beach, the residents of Hampton Roads will get to witness the athleticism and skill of hundreds of top-rated domestic table tennis players in one of the largest table tennis competitions in North America. Participants will compete in over 60 events on 90 tables in the playing hall. We believe that the economic impact of the U.S. Nationals coming to Virginia Beach will be very positive for the entire area. We expect close to 1,000 players; add to that friends, parents, coaches plus several thousand spectators over the five-day event and it amounts to a substantial boost in revenue for the hotels and restaurants at the Oceanfront in mid-December, a traditionally slow time of year.”
Johnson added: “Our goal is to produce the finest table tennis event of the year – in one of the best venues in the country – an event that will exceed the expectations of players and spectators alike. This is going to be an historic event not to be missed. I urge participants to submit entry forms early at either the USATT website, www.usatt.org, or the 2011 Nationals website, www.usnationalsvabeach.com.” The deadline for entries is Nov. 1.
For more information, please contact:
Dean Johnson
(757) 478-3605
usnationals2011@aol.com
www.usnationalsvabeach.com
About USA Table Tennis:
USATT is the national governing body for table tennis in the United States. Created in 1933 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado its staff serves the 8,000-plus members and nearly 300 clubs that are affiliated with USATT. It oversees a wide variety of membership services, the national teams, rules of the game and numerous online instructional and historical articles. USATT is governed and run by the nine-member board of directors, committees and professional staff. USATT is affiliated with the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the world governing body for table tennis, as well as the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
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