03/26/2022
Dear players and patrons of MatchPoint Table Tennis Center,
It’s been two whole years since MatchPoint had to close its doors due to the situation with COVID/lockdowns in March 2020. It’s been a crazy 2 years, and a lot of things have changed.
I apologize for the lack of communication. I’ve intentionally tried not to make an announcement about the status of the club until I had something definite to announce. There were already rumors going around that I was going to reopen, and others that I was going to close permanently. To set the record straight, until the end of 2021, I had hoped to reopen MatchPoint; but there were intermittent obstacles and situations that had to be resolved before a plan could be made.
However, last month, I made a final decision to permanently close MatchPoint for several reasons:
#1 Running the club myself took up too much of my personal time - about 75% of my weekday time after work. For 6 years, I had no life outside of work and table tennis.
#2 Table tennis is no longer important to me, as it once was. I loved the sport, and I tried to promote it and grow it in the WNY area. But now I need to focus my energy toward more important, eternal things; in particular, to preach and teach Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. There is nothing more important to me, and this is where I’ll be investing my life and passion from now on. As part of this ministry, I have been working on a website with my friend, Adam Cesar (some of you may remember him, as he’s the person who originally helped us get into CAWNY back in in 2014), and this work has taken up the time in my schedule that was previously invested into MatchPoint. (Our site is https://www.callingofgod.org/ for those who would like to check it out.)
#3 I’ve been having some issues with my knee for the last few years. In July 2021, it reached a critical point and suffered what may be permanent damage. Currently, it’s impossible for me to play table tennis or other sports. For all intents and purposes, consider me formally retired from table tennis.
#4 The situation with CAWNY (the school we rented the gym from) and the town of North Tonawanda has changed somewhat, and reopening the club there would have been difficult or impossible. The town owns the building, and they prefer to fill after-school time with school-related activities, rather than renting it out to independent entities (i.e. MatchPoint). In short, they have other activities lined up that take priority over us.
My apologies to those who really loved coming to MatchPoint for open play, taking lessons, staying in shape, and/or making friends. I will miss it, too. I hope all of you have been able to find accommodations for continuing to play and learn table tennis, whether other clubs, recreation centers, or your friend’s garage/basement.
(FYI, this was an email announcement I sent out on 3/23/22 to players who were registered in our system. The email also contained info on obtaining refunds for those who had unused visits or balances in the system.)
