About the Coach | Team Concepts | FAQ | Recruit | Calendar

About the Coach

Ben Wolski is one of the most gifted junior development table tennis coaches in the United States. He is a clinic assistant to National Coach of the Year, Lily Yip, and certified as a table tennis coach by USA Table Tennis. He has studied as a coach at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado and the Zheng Ding International Training Center in China. Ben holds a B.A. from the College of Wooster in Ohio and is head coach of the table tennis team, JR program, and club at Gwynedd-Mercy College outside Philadelphia.

Recruit

If you are interested in joining the Gwynedd-Mercy College Table Tennis Team, please fill out the online recruit form.

GMC College Team Concepts

To have fun and enjoy the sport of table tennis on a higher level. Table tennis is a team sport. We travel and play as a team. The table tennis team is a social support system and part of the Gwynedd-Mercy College community.

To support your teammates at college and tournament events and represent Gwynedd-Mercy College to the best of your abilities; whether you win or lose: you must do so with class and respect for your opponent and for yourself.

To keep things in balance: your academics, social life, working life and sporting life are all interconnected.

To always learn new things: table tennis is like chess or music - you never stop learning. If you begin to think you know everything about the sport (which no one does) you will stop growing as a player. You must always have an open mind.

To share what you know: to teach your club/team members/friends what you have learned and help them at all times.

You are on a college table tennis team. You are expected to show up for certain events during the year like any other member of team or club at Gwynedd Mercy College despite the often tough demands of work, school, social life, etc. You are making a commitment to play on a table tennis team. This is a very unique opportunity.

To break the ping-pong myth: to help your classmates, teachers and community understand that table tennis is areal sport.

GMC College Team FAQ

Following are a few frequently asked questions regarding table tennis and the Gwynedd Mercy College Table Tennis Team.

I'm amazing at ping-pong. I have never lost. I beat all my friends. When do I start playing for the national championship for your team?

Okay, so here's the deal: you may, in fact, have wonderful hand eye coordination and amazing athletic skills. Ping pong, however, is not higher level table tennis. If you took your trusty ping-pong paddle out to a local table tennis tournament or NCTTA college event—it would be like entering a karate tournament without knowing karate or going to a piano recital without reading music. In short, you may fire off a lucky shot or two at best but it will be a very humbling experience.

Gwynedd-Mercy College competes in one of the toughest (if not the toughest) divisions in the U.S.against many national ranked teams(many with over 20,000 students) along with few smaller colleges. With training and hard work, GMC team members have learned to compete on a very high level--and we do very well against schools our size and play respectable matches against the powerhouse teams. For more info on college table tennis in general: click here:

Why?

There is a whole language to table tennis which, at least in the U.S., is not something you will learn in your everyday basement. To learn it, you must be willing to invest a fair amount learning the sport. It is not something that happens overnight. It normally takes a year to begin to understand the foundations of the sport on a basic level.

How do I make the team?

Players that are willing to invest the time and effort to be at practice, train, and improve will all be considered. There are four places on Varsity and a JV team. The team travels to two college meets a year along with any number of leagues and tournaments.

You must be a full time college student at GMC to qualify for Varsity with at least a 2.0 GPA. If you are a first year and do not have a GPA yet—that status is noted when filling out the form but this will not be an excuse if you are having academic issues.
Practice, practice, practice. The Varsity team meets formally once a week for an hour and a half during the school year. A number of team members play in area clubs in addition to practice. If you are a really good player but can't make it to practice—you are a weak link on the team and this greatly reduce you chances of playing in meets or Smackdowns.
Smackdowns. At least twice a year, Gwynedd invites other local colleges to a league event with GMC as the host school.
Women's development team. New women players will be grouped on a small development team. Those that show promise and a work ethic will hopefully develop into a women's team. Please contact the coach for more info.

*Coach Wolski uses Double Fish Balls and Double Fish Tables for junior training and development.