Phoenix Club Table Tennis Group

A Short History of the Phoenix Club

A picture history...

The Anaheim Table Tennis Group was founded by the late Herbert Huber in 1980.

The club has come a long way since its start in 1980.  With the love to play the game, we played in a small facility known as the "Chicken House" (the picture on the right is taken from the remodeling):

Groundbreaking ceremony for the preset facility in 1991.

The group has traditionally been a close group of people with many enjoying time together outside of the club including picnics and other get-togethers.  Sometimes table tennis takes a back seat to food.

But it's not always food that we indulge in.

Don't get us wrong, though.  During our history, there has been a lot of competition and serious table tennis play.  Nobody will forget the valiant effort put forth by one of our founding members, Fritz Baresel.  After Fritz's retirement, his son gave him a custom made paddle that would prove to move him to the top of his game.

It is not hard to explain why some people love Table Tennis so much! It can be played indoors at any time of the year, and with proper lighting - any time of the day. It provides an excellent way to exercise with little chance of injury compared to other sports. Dr. Daniel Amen, who is a Clinical Neuroscientist, Double Board Certified Psychiatrist, Brain Imaging Specialist, and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, wrote the following in his book: “table tennis is the best brain sport. It improves hand-eye coordination. It's aerobic, uses both upper and lower body and causes you to use many different areas of the brain to function.” But to us in the Table Tennis Group of the Phoenix Club it provides an additional and very important aspect - FUN!

At the time Phoenix Club Celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1984, the Table Tennis Group was one of the youngest, having begun in 1980. Table Tennis is and has always been more popular in Germany (as in most of Europe) than in the US and taken more seriously as a sport. Consequently the level of play and competition was also higher. There were a few members of Phoenix Club who enjoyed playing table tennis, a love they brought from their home country, and decided to have an organized group to both enjoy and promote the sport they loved so much. The Tischtennis Group was founded in January 1980 by Herbert Huber. Some other founding members were Gunther Baresel, Fritz Baresel, Christine Daniels, Charlie Jones, Rolf Sukstorf, Ernst Hoppe, Willy Issler, Jan Fluegge, George Schwarz, Rudy Hartmann, and Hans Lumme.

Group members played one evening per week at the original Phoenix Club site on Douglass Road, where the Anaheim Pond Arena is currently located. There was a small building in the back of the club gardens, called the “chicken house” where the members decided to play. It had room for just four tables but it had no storage area. The tables had to be brought from a covered area (but still in the open), where they were stored. However, the members enjoyed their favorite sport and the Group flourished and added more members.

The Group is now 31 years old and usually has between 45 and 50 members each year. Astonishingly, many of the original members are still active in this Group, such as Fritz Baresel, Willy Issler, Hans Lumme and until last year, Rolf Sukstorf. Perhaps this is a testament to the sport of table tennis which can be enjoyed at all ages, but which can keep one young. Sometimes visitors drop in to play for a small fee. We often have visitors from Germany who when visiting the Orange County area for work or pleasure, drop by to play. Among them Stefan Dienesch, Siggi and Margit Plommer still stay in touch with us. We now play every Monday evening and Saturday morning in the Pavilion, where we have six beautiful tournament level Butterfly tables. The Group provides the table, balls and nets, and even paddles for those who forget to bring one.

As time has gone by, the diversity of the Group has increased with its size. As table tennis has become a staple in many Asian countries, such as China, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Korea and India, we have seen a rise in the number of members who originally migrated from these countries. Hence, our Group has acted a portal introducing German culture and heritage to many of these members as they have taken part in greater Phoenix Club activities (Oktoberfest remains a favorite for some unknown reason!) The Club also has members from a wide variety of professions and walks of life. They include business CEOs and Presidents, teachers, engineers, entrepreneurs, military veterans, government employees, and many others, all equals among the sport of table tennis. Members have supported fellow members and sponsored them anonymously when they have fallen on hard times to allow them to attend special Group functions or continue membership.

Among this diverse Group, the support for the Club has been remarkable. Besides volunteering at various events, our Group has been generous donors for many Club causes and has helped with the upkeep and maintenance of the Pavilion. Currently, we officially sponsor members of our Group who are interested in attending functions staged by the Club or by other Groups.

Within our own Group, the two most popular activities are the annual picnic and the Christmas Party. In the last couple of years the picnic has been held in one of our members back yard (provisions were provided by the Group) where our Group members got to know each other and their families in a more intimate setting and even enjoyed a game of outdoor table tennis (with the blowing breeze thrown in for an additional obstacle). This has sometimes been attended by guests and other members of our Club who are not in our Group.

Our annual Club Championships are held in the October time frame, to allow us to combine our trophy presentation with our Christmas party. Last year's Christmas party was a rousing success as we had changed our usual format to allow our Group members to show off their musical talents. We were very (pleasantly) surprised to see so much musical talent amongst our members and their immediate families. Offerings included music from South America and Germany, traditional Christmas fare, folk and classical music, played on guitar, accordion, piano and harmonica. This year we are planning an even bigger event and we invite all Phoenix Club members to attend.

In closing, we are now a mature Group, dedicated to our sport, yet strong in our dedication to the Club. We play a role in providing a conduit to German culture and events to many who would not otherwise have any such exposure. Perhaps this is the kind of setting in which the future of the Club lies.