Actress Susan Sarandon, a table tennis enthusiast, helped to secure funding to bring the partnership to NYC public schools
New York City Department of Education today announced a new partnership to expand and enhance table tennis programs for New York City public schools. This new partnership provides CHAMPS middle school table tennis league support as well as free equipment and more training and scheduled events for winter programs in middle and high schools, valued at $75,000. There are 40 table tennis programs in NYC public schools, including 27 new programs added this year as part of this initiative. In addition, this partnership hopes to expand table tennis programs to even more schools and students in the coming months.
“We are excited about this new partnership that will give more of our students an opportunity to learn a new activity that they can enjoy well into adulthood,” Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm said. “I especially want to thank Susan Sarandon for her strong support and our new partners – American Youth Table Tennis Organization, STIGA and SPiN New York.”
“Thanks to this special partnership between New York City Department of Education, SPiN New York and Stiga, we are expected to provide expert instruction and life skills to over 1,500 school children this year,” said Ben Nisbet, president of the American Youth Table Tennis Organization. “Table tennis is a fantastic sport for our youth. Anyone can play.”
The 27 schools added this year are:
Manhattan
MS104, Simon Baruch Middle School
MS 131
The High School of Economics and Finance
PS 347, the School of American Sign Language and English
Frederick Douglass Academy II Secondary School
Bronx IS 219, New Venture School
Urban Assembly School for Applied Math and Science
MS 141
MS 390
PS 212
Entrada Academy
J. M. Rapport School Career Development, District 75
Brooklyn PS/MS 282, the Park Slope School
Brooklyn Technical High School
School for International Studies
The Science and Medicine Middle School
Queens
PS 49, Dorothy Bonawit Kole School
IS 77
IS 125, Thom J. McCann Woodside School
JHS 194, William Carr School
Queens School of Inquiry
JHS 216, George J. Ryan School
PS/MS 43
York Early College Academy
PS 811, District 75
PS 9, District 75
P256@831, District 75
All the schools in the program are eligible to receive:
- Equipment, including high quality table tennis tables, rackets, and balls;
- Coaching support from dedicated and knowledgeable coaches who can either run the program or partner with a dedicated teacher within the school to assist;
- Professional development training;
- Weekend interscholastic league matches;
- Final league competition, including a culminating event and tournament.
Through the DOE’s CHAMPS Middle School Sport and Fitness League, students are empowered to become Cooperative, Healthy, Active, Motivated, Positive Students—for life. Regardless of athletic ability, student participants in CHAMPS have opportunities to engage in a wide variety of physical activities before or after school, including traditional and non-traditional sports, along with fitness activities that can be maintained long after their school days are over.
The American Youth Table Tennis Organization is a non-profit dedicated to teaching table tennis and life skills to children, and is entering its tenth year of providing after school table tennis instruction for New York City public school students. By partnering with STIGA, a global table tennis equipment manufacturer, and SPiN New York, NYC's foremost ping pong venue for casual and league play, the organization is able to provide high quality instruction, equipment, and opportunities for a fitness activity all students can enjoy.