The following is a history of CATT – Carlisle Area Table Tennis – since it’s inception, as best compiled via club records and interviews with previous players who were mainly involved in organizing the group.
For ease of reading we give the choice of two condensed versions followed by a detailed version of our History.
Super Condensed Version: CATT History
1972 – Small groups start playing (seperately) in several homes/basements in Mechanicsburg, Pa. area.
1973 – Play starts in Carlisle’s Mooreland Elementary school gym over the winter months.
Original groups play there and also continue to play at various sites:
1976 – 1978 – Good Hope Middle School. (Group becomes a sanctioned National USATT Club)
1978 – 1979 – Shaull Elementary School.
1979 – 1985 – “Y” at The Well and Silver Springs Fire Station.
1985 – Barney Reed builds Table tennis addition to home – club plays there.
1986 – Lower Paxton Soccer Association in Harrisburg.
1988 – Harrisburg’s Camp Curtin YMCA
1989 – Carlisle’s Union Fire Co.
1995 – Carlisle YMCA.
2000 – Carlisle Park’s and Recreation site. (current)
Condensed Version: CATT History
1972 – Play starts with several players, including Barney Reed, Max McAllister,Vic McCoy and Tom
Steen playing (separately) in several basements in Mechanicsburg, Pa. area.
1973 – Play starts in Carlisle’s Mooreland Elementary school gym over the winter months. – Ivan Kerns re- enters the table tennis world in 1980 at Mooreland. Original groups meet and connect there, and
also play at other sites:
1976 – 1978 – Good Hope Middle School. (Group becomes a sanctioned National USATT Club)
1978 – 1979 – Shaull Elementary School.
1979 – 1985 – “Y” at The Well and Silver Springs Fire Station
During these years, the group also meets at various homes/basements.
1985 – Barney Reed builds Table tennis addition to home – group plays there.
1986 – Rent from Lower Paxton Soccer Association,
1988 – Harrisburg’s Camp Curtin YMCA
1989 – Carlisle’s Union Fire Co.
1995 – Carlisle YMCA.
2000 – Carlisle Park’s and Recreation site. (current)
For anyone interested in reading more in-depth details and/or learning about how table tennis clubs in this country struggle to survive – the following gives a detailed history since CATT started in 1972 and how it has developed to the present time.
CATT HISTORY
Over the years the geographic area includes about 20 miles – from Harrisburg, the Capital of Pennsylvania westward to Carlisle. At first in the West Shore/Mechanicsburg area, then moving to Harrisburg, and later to Carlisle, Pa.
The earliest information obtained begins in 1972 when a couple of small groups including Barney Reed, Max McCallister, Vic McCoy and Tom Steen played (separately) in various home basements/rec rooms.
During this time, in 1973, Bob VanZant, Principal of the Mooreland Elementary school in Carlisle, began a table tennis program in conjunction with the Carlisle Parks and Recreation Department, playing one evening per week over the winter months at the school Gym. The above groups met each other and connected when they began playing at the school. Additional players joined the groups over the next years and they played at various other sites including the Good Hope middle school (1976-78), the Shaull elementary school (1978-79), a Christian organization in Mechanicsburg – the “Y at the Well” (1979-82), the Silver Springs Fire & Ambulance Station (1982), and most likely numerous private home basements/rec rooms.
It was while playing at the Good Hope Middle School (76-78) the group officially organized and joined the National USA Table Tennis organization, with Reed the President. At that time CATT was “Capital Area Table Tennis” and the national organization was USTTA – United States Table Tennis Association – later changed to: USATT – “USA Table Tennis”. Over the following years Reed and McCallister alternately served as President and Rodney Peffer was the club Treasurer.
During the last couple years of the program at the Moorland School in Carlisle, Ivan Kerns reentered the table tennis world there. VanZant ended that program in 1982, moving to Florida. Also during those years the original group began playing at Reeds home in 1985, as he built an addition to his home exclusively for table tennis, with two tables and a very high ceiling. Some time after the Carlisle Mooreland program ended, Kerns was invited to join the group at Reed’s home, and later was elected Vice President.
In mid 1986 Reed found contacts that helped the group obtain and rent a playing site at the Lower Paxton Soccer Association which was at an old school the association purchased to start a soccer program on the East side of Harrisburg. McAllister, the current president, organized efforts and after the club players spent many hours/weekends cleaning and fixing up an old shop area at the school CATT was rewarded with a great venue with 5 tournament level tables – and two old tables, a 7-days-a-week program, with folks able to play any evening of the week including Saturday and Sunday afternoons. I might add that these new tables were obtained only through the efforts of players giving their time – conducting several large Sub Sales. Although Lower Paxton was a super place to play, by the end of 1988 the attendance never reached the anticipated level whereas CATT was able to pay the amount of rent they were expected to reach after two years. The Soccer Association was offered many times that amount by the US Post office to rent the area, resulting in CATT losing the venue in late 1988.
By this time, Reed was again the president – wanted to concentrate on using his home to train his son and daughter who were top USA players in their age groups – decided to give up the Presidency and Kerns became the new President. He and others looked for another venue, checking 24 places in the Harrisburg/West Shore Area. On 1-10-1989 they moved to and played at Camp Curtin YMCA in Harrisburg, but with the handicap of room for only one table on the stage, and playing one night per week. In a few months Kerns found a large room to rent at the Union Fire Company Social Hall in Carlisle, moving there on 3-28-1989 where they started playing 2 nights per week, having plenty of room for five tables – excellent lighting – a great venue.
Five years of playing at UFC ended when the fire company decided to remodel the room and make several smaller rooms for officers of the company. A search for another venue resulted in finding a very similar size room to rent at the Carlisle YMCA – moving there in November of 1995 and also playing 2 nights per week, with plenty of room for 5 tables and good lighting. This was a multi-purpose room for the “Y” and after nearly 5 years there the room was needed for other “Y” related activities, and once again CATT was forced to look elsewhere.
Yet another search resulted in finding a venue to play at the Carlisle Parks and Recreation Building on Franklin St. In early year 2000 CATT moved from the “Y to the P&R, where we obtained space to play in a gym where we again could use 5 tables, and sometimes set up the 6th in an adjoining gym. However, the P&R’s schedule only had an opening for one night per week – Friday nights.
By this time Reed had moved to California and been elected a Vice President of the National Organization. During the first year of playing at the P&R – after having played for 10 years in Carlisle – and with Kerns consulting with Reed – it was decided to change the name of the club from “Capital” Area Table Tennis” to “Carlisle” Area Table Tennis, and still use the acronym CATT. While making this formal change to the national office, with Kerns serving as President/Secretary, John Eppley became the Vice President/Treasurer. By this time Rodney Peffer’s work/travel schedule had made it extremely difficult for him to spend much time at the club, yet he had served admirably as Treasurer through all those moves and years.
During year 2004 Andrew Eppley offered to develop a CATT web site ( www.carlisletabletennis.org ), which he graciously keeps improving and updating to this day. He has since turned his website hobby in to a large multimedia company (NRCW LLC) now based out of Cincinnati, OH and is why you will see “This website is a proud production of NRCW LLC!” in the footer. – www.nrcw.biz
As of this writing of 12/5/2009, CATT is still playing at the Carlisle Parks & Recreation site on Friday evenings, except holidays, and the hot summer months of July and August.
With the help of some dedicated players we have been fortunate enough to provide great facilities for literally hundreds of players, and look forward to continuing that endeavor.