Umpqua Post/Deborah YatesA former Olympic table tennis coach and U.S. champion, fifth-grade teacher Jeff Mason Enjoys the sport so much that he makes sure his students all have the opportunity to learn the game.
Jeff Mason is hooked on teaching and table tennis
Mason, a California native, has kept a variety of animals in his classroom since 1987 when he taught in a ghetto school in Sacramento, Calif.
“The kids were poor, black and rough,” Mason said. “We had an interested principal who wanted to get the attendance higher.”
To do that, the school started to bring in teachers who did interesting things, like playing pool or juggling. Mason brought in animals, music and table tennis.
“The principal wanted teachers with special skills,” Mason said. “They were entertainers and someone the kids could bond with.”
It took seven years, but the school went from a losing school to a winning school because kids became interested in something besides themselves, Mason said.
“I was teaching third grade,” Mason said. “There I got hooked into elementary teaching �” it’s a blast.”
But before he became hooked on teaching young children, he was hooked on table tennis.
“My dad had played table tennis in Indiana,” Mason said. “He started me playing when I was 8.”
What Mason realized right from the start was that table tennis and ping pong were two different things.
“Table tennis is a sport,” Mason said. “Ping pong is a game.”
He played at table tennis until he was 12. That year, his father took him to see his first tournament. The first thing that caught his eye was how some of the people looked.
“They had different-colored skin and different-shaped eyes, ” Mason said. “This was the first time that I had seen ethnic people. I saw the players and I was hooked.”
He began to train for table tennis competition like any athlete trains for a sport. He worked out and ran many miles a week. He wanted to be a serious contender in the international Olympic sport that is second only to soccer in worldwide popularity.
In 1969 Mason won the U.S. Table Tennis Championship. He was 17. After winning, he was beseiged with coaching jobs paying $50 an hour. In today’s dollars, that was about $510 an hour. That was a lot of money. He continued to compete in national and international tournaments, and lived and coached in Yugoslavia off and on for three years. Stiga, an international table tennis company, was his sponsor.
Eventually, he became head coach of the Olympic Table Tennis Training Center in Sacramento, Calif.
“There were seven national coaches, but only three table tennis training centers in the country,” Mason said.
Stiga wanted to get the U.S. population excited about table tennis.
“They gave$1 million to the United States Table Tennis Association to promote the sport in this country,” Mason said. “They gave us 1,000 tables �” costing $1,000 a piece �” to give to YMCAs and elementary schools. They also paid for my airfare to travel around the country for exhibitions.”
But it didn’t work. Table tennis never caught on with American kids.
“My idea was to put the money in TV �” to have people play for an hour a night for a week �” but it was never used.” he said.
Mason understands that media sells and now he will have the opportunity to find out how well. Actress Susan Sarandon is promoting table tennis through her new Spin clubs. This may be what it takes to convince people that table tennis is a real sport, Mason said.
Mason’s professional table tennis career ended when he broke his back during a training session. After his family moved to Reedsport, he followed soon after. He began teaching at Highland Elementary in 1996.
After moving to Reedsport, Mason not only found a job, he met his wife, Sandy, at a Job Corps open house in Yachats.
When Mason is not in the classroom or playing table tennis, he likes to hike or explore local rivers and lakes by kayak, canoe or sailboat with his wife.
Staff writer Deborah Yates can be contacted at dyates@theworldlink.com, or (541) 271-7474, ext. 206.
