A WHOLE LOTTA LEAGUE

Is there a table tennis league near you? Are you able to compete on a regular basis? Have you considered starting a league? The advantage of leagues is that they can be run on a weekly basis. Most are relatively inexpensive, compared to playing in multiple tournaments. There’s slightly less pressure in league play. Did you have a bad day this week? There’s always next week. It’s possible to connect your league to USATT.  

In Atlanta we have the AGTTA League.   It features great competition, league ratings, and is run on a weekly basis. Really, the only down side to league play is that you can end up playing the same people pretty frequently. This does create some good rivalries, but can get old if you play every week. At least at tournaments, you usually get some fresh opponents, but it may not be worth the extra hundred dollars. 

There is a new league starting in Lawrenceville Georgia. A handful of players are starting from scratch at the new Atlanta Table Tennis Center.  While the AGTTA league is held on Tuesdays, the ATTC league will be on Monday evenings, starting on November 16th. It will be great to have more options for playing, once people start gathering more frequently.

Friendly matches are nice, and provide a chance to work on your game in a low stress situation. Tournaments are the best way to compete in a formal setting against the toughest competition. League play is a little less stressful than a tournament, but a little more serious than playing random players in unstructured open play. It’s not too hard to start a league, and it’s possible to fashion it to the particular needs of your community’s players. I’m anxious to get back to it. I suspect a lot of players feel the same way. I could actually play in both of my local leagues. That’s a whole lotta league!