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Ping pong aficionados of the Lower Mainland can perform on stylish metallic tables installed on the plaza beside the Richmond Oval, facing the Fraser River; at the cutting-edge fresh Slidey Slides Park beside Vancouver's legendary roller coaster in east Vancouver, on acid-green metal tables; and at the bucolic setting of the grounds beyond the West Vancouver community centre - http://bestpingpongpaddles.com/.
The sport has become the stylish new urban trend in Vancouver - belatedly.
"In Bratislava, where I come from, there are hundreds of tables. In Germany, tens of thousands," says Luba Sadovska, among a group of table-tennis enthusiasts in North Vancouver lobbying for outside tables there. "I just think Canada is supporting, and Vancouver is only catching the running train."
The town of North Vancouver is considering putting in a couple of areas across Lonsdale in permanent tables. Vancouver is considering adding in its new downtown park and also to the few it has in the Northeast False Creek.
Richmond has some already, but is also considering adding yet another one in Lang Park. There have also been tables sighted as far afield as Langley and Chilliwack, the University of British Columbia and Vancouver's grand Aztec street, Georgia.
1 reason for the popularity is that the shifting nature of living in towns.
"People do not have backyards or garages any more. Our parks are like our living rooms," says Tiina Mack, the manager of parks growth in Vancouver.
Another is that the nature of what folks wish to do for physical action.
"Participation in sports like tennis and golf is falling," says Richmond park planner Jamie Esko. "And this is great for urban parks, where space is limited." She states that for Richmond with its large Asian population, giving opportunities is a natural. "Our community centers cannot fulfill the demand."
Ping pong is just one of the newest types of activities park planners are integrating into 21st century parks. Both the Richmond Oval and Vancouver's Slidey Slides Park have beach volleyball courts. Richmond is considering incorporating chess. Slides that are Slidey has outside machines next to the dining Ping pong - http://bestpingpongpaddles.com/tables-reviews/
Vancouver's park planners are also considering introducing slack lines - principles tied low between trees or two poles which people walk along - and therefore are currently discovering a return in popularity of outside trapezes and rings.
But dining ping pong is seen as attractive because it is both societal and requires little athletic ability, which makes it open to a broad array of people.
"It's such an easy and accessible match and it's such a cool way to create a dialogue. Folks do not even have to speak the exact same language," says Renee Miles, one of a group of three young girls who operate frida & honest, an organization dedicated to bringing activities to public spaces.
The group utilizes funding it received from the city of Vancouver to place pop-up tables across the bike route at Adanac and Vernon up .
It is so non-competitive and societal that it doesn't even matter to gamers (or organizers) exactly what the weather is like.
"We have had some windy days where the ball goes all over the place, but it is not about having an Olympic-level game," Ms. Miles says. "In the end, it turns into a fun challenge to play against the weather."
One problem is price. Popup tables tend to be wooden, but durable outdoor installations are made of metal or concrete so they can withstand the elements. Those do not come cheap.
Richmond ordered its tables from manufacturer Cornilleau, which costs $6,000 to get a metal table. Meanwhile, Ms. Sadovska and her partners at the North Shore Table Tennis Club have appeared at sources for tables nearer to home and obtained costs which vary from $5,000 to $10,000 for concrete ones. They are looking for sponsors who would be willing to help pay for the costs for brand new ones in Vancouver parks. Some parks also have resorted to moving in and out the tables of buildings to protect them from frequent rain and Vancouver's erratic weather - https://medium.com/@conghieu4690/best-p … d5067cc180.
And organizers have noticed that when is not a single Ping pong player parkgoers continue to be happy to utilize the tables in different manners. As an example, on a brilliantly sunny day at Slidey Slides, a father and his young daughter were still having a terrific time on the three tables: dance.
Last edited by firosiro (2017-12-11 10:21:00)
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