By Suzanne Hodgson
Staff Writer

Clad in jeans and tennis shoes, with paddles in hand, men and women are flocking to Kennebunk Town Hall on Monday nights for a rousing game of pingpong.
Or table tennis.
Both names are considered correct, but pingpong is a game, and table tennis is a competitive sport played in the Olympics.
“I think the die-hards call it table tennis,” Kennebunk Recreation Department Program Coordinator Seth Oakes said.
Oakes has been running the table tennis program for nearly three months, and has seen participation rise and players improve.
“I’m going for a trophy,” said Lynda Bryan of Kennebunkport. “Ruth just wanted to play recreationally, but he [Oakes] created a monster.”
Oakes told the players last week that the Maine State Games had a pingpong portion and last year only one woman entered. Bryan now has her eye on coming in second.
Bryan and her friend Ruth Fernandez, also of Kennebunkport, are part of a group of eight regulars that Oakes expects every week.
Bryan saw an advertisement on Kennebunk’s access channel to play table tennis from 6  to 9 p.m. every Monday night for $2 and asked if Fernandez wanted to come along.
It’s been almost two months since the women began to play and Bryan is now looking to buy her own table tennis paddle.
“Sometimes when you’re playing with these, a hole develops. You swing with a perfect hit and [the ball] goes right through, then it fills back up,” said Bryan, joking.
Oakes explains there are different paddle types that range in price going up to $200.
Paddles with a bumpy rubber are more defensive, blocking against a spin on the ball. More serious table tennis players use a flat rubber paddle that allows for more speed and better spins.
Oakes even uses specific balls while playing. He says some have a more noticeable seam allowing them to break easier and have a more inconsistent bounce.
“It’s the number one game in the world. More people have pingpong tables in their basement than any other game,” said Oakes.
Those tables in people’s basements are exactly what Oakes is looking for. With an ever-growing participation, he’s hoping to find another two tables during the next few weeks.
Four out of the five tables Oakes uses have been donated to the town. On Wednesday he was headed to Scarborough to pick up another donated table.
Kennebunk Town Hall is not the only place to play table tennis recreationally.
Some of the regulars, including Oakes, play at Sanford’s Spectators Sports Bar.
 “My dad got me into the game when I was 6 years old,” said Jamie Vesenka, of Kennebunkport as he slammed the ball back to his partner, Brian Mathews.
Mathews and Vesenka have been playing for a while, and it’s not only a love of the game that keeps them playing, it’s the underlying benefits.
“It’s the number one deterrent of Alzheimer’s disease. That’s been medically proven,” Mathews said.
For those who may consider themselves a bit clumsy, Vesenka says the solution may be a game of table tennis.
“I didn’t have any hand-eye coordination when I started, that’s why my parents got me into pingpong,” Vesenka said.
The game can also provide exercise, not only hitting the ball back and forth, but running after the small orange balls if you miss.
“It’s a good way for people to blow off steam,” Oakes said, “You can beat the living day lights out of the ball.”
The pingpong players will have off next Monday due to the holiday, but the following week, Oakes expects them all to return.
“How can I win the trophy if we keep taking weeks off?” Bryan asked.
Recreational table tennis meets every Monday from 6 to 9 p.m. except for holidays, entrance fee is $2.

Staff Writer Suzanne Hodgson can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.