Allow Millcreek Rec Table Tennis to Remain at Intermediate High School
The Erie Table Tennis Club has been active since 1975 in the Erie, PA and Millcreek Township areas and has called McDowell Intermediate High School (MIHS) home uninterrupted since 1990 as part of the Millcreek Rec table tennis program.
Apparently, the current storage location for the club's tables inside MIHS near the gym has been judged unacceptable for safety of egress reasons. The club has offered to donate our high quality tables and nets to MIHS to replace the dilapidated tables owned by McDowell for school phys-ed use. These are stored inside a secure storage closet adjacent to the area where we currently keep the club tables. There appears to be plenty of room for the club's tables in the storage closet, especially if some of the school's dilapidated tables are eliminated.
The Erie Table Tennis Club is one of the premier clubs in the country due in no small part to the first-class facility that is the Intermediate Gym. The club has 60+ active members and many more occasional visitors who enjoy the exercise, competition and camaraderie that table tennis offers. The game is truly a worldwide and lifetime sport with universal appeal because it is easy and inexpensive to play, people of all ages and skill levels can participate and the rules are the same all over the globe. Our club sees men, women and children ages teens to 70+ from many different countries and walks of life gather twice a week to enjoy the sport together.
We host a regional tournament in October and April every year that brings in hundreds of competitors ranging from local beginners to internationally ranked professionals from cities throughout the Midwest, Mid Atlantic, Northeast U.S. states and Canada. These visitors spend time in our community and generate income for our local hotels, restaurants and attractions. Our local club gathers at local establishments to support our economy as a group and we generate about $2000 income annually to Millcreek for the use of the Intermediate gym.
Table tennis is recognized as providing improvement in hand-eye coordination, balance, and mental acuity, while burning calories in a non-impact joint-friendly social activity suitable for all ages, especially senior citizens.
We are asking the powers that be to please consider our offer of donating our tables to the school so we can keep our club going in the first class facility Intermediate Gym, that provides so much benefit to so many people in our community, and attracts out of town visitors.
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