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 We would like to warmly welcome you to Ping Pong Parkinson LA’s first class on November 10th 2024 in Rosemead, California.
Participation is free and equipment is provided. Register via email at [email protected]. See you there! With over 90,000 people diagnosed by PD (parkinson disease) in the US every year, there is an ever increasing need to provide more phsycosocial support alongside medication. Our sport rehabilitation program does more than that. Come and experience these positive effects of playing ping pong first hand. For any further inquiries please contact [email protected].
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 We are in Lasko for the 5th Ping Pong Parkinson World Championship. The warm welcome, familiar faces, smiles and beautiful city is refreshing for the mind and soul. We would like to thank Thermana Lasko for hosting us and all our sponsors and partners.
A special and heartfelt thank you goes to the President of Slovenia, Dr. Nataša Pirc Musar for the support. "Slovenia is a country of sports. Just recently, on September 23rd, we celebrated our national holiday – Slovenian Sports Day – which emphasizes the importance of movement and physical activity, something that is particularly important for people with Parkinson's disease. Organizing the 5th World Ping Pong Parkinson Championship is a huge undertaking, and you have successfully managed it. You have ensured the participation of athletes from 24 countries around the world, for which you deserve the sincerest congratulations. Read her full message here. Matches are scheduled to kick off on Tuesday and everyone is welcome to come watch the action live on Thursday 17th October for free. Follow us on facebook for live updates.  The 5th Ping Pong Parkinson World Championship is just 1 month away! It's so exciting and we are waiting eagerly to see you all again. For our athletes coming to Slovenia to compete, you can find here the most important table tennis rules and their modifications for Ping Pong Parkinson, including wheelchair modifications.
Until then, let us recap how the championship was last year. Ping Pong Parkinson Austria was the host, and what a tournament it was! New world champions emerged and former champions were re-positioned. This was so far the most competitive world championship and with plenty of surprises. We would like to celebrate all players for their determination and congratulate the medalists who took the podium. Matches begun on September 26th, 2023 and concluded on Saturday, September 30th, 2023 where the fierce finals were held. Find a listing of all winners here. The highlights were the world champions, Thorsten Flues & Ilya Rozenblat, both title holders in 2021 and 2022 respectively who contested for the Men’s singles class 1 first place in jaw dropping fashion. They are also the only players who have already won three titles at previous world championships. Rie Koyama similarly cannot fail to be mentioned as she remained undefeated through all matches, keen to defend her 2022 win in the Women’s singles class 1. With unmatched scores, she took home the gold medal once again. Silke Kind surprisingly emerged with three medals in class 1, Women’s singles, Mixed doubles and Women’s doubles paired with Thorsten Flues & Gabi Salingré respectively. And yet again the Dynamites Jesper Jerslund & Peter Derheld hotly contested for the gold in the Men’s doubles class 1 but gave in to their German arch-rivals duo of Thorsten Boomhuis & Thorsten Flues. What a tournament. See you soon  It really is true that not everybody loves to compete, naturally some personalities are more achievers than others. But this year we have some great news - we listened to you and we also understand the needs of our Ping Pong Parkinson family.
So we have added a NEW non-competitive players addition to the World Championship. This will allow more people to join and play without worrying about falling or the anxiety that may come with competition. It reflects our passion about making ping pong or table tennis inclusive for people with a parkinson diagnosis & creating safe spaces to play. And best of all? We have lined up world-class coaches Kjell Åke Waldner and Nikica Vukeljato to conduct training sessions so that by the end of the championship we have gained more knowledge and practice to keep playing when we go back home. Please register quickly as booking slots are limited and specify that you’re interested in the non-competitive games. See you soon in Slovenia! • Tournament dates - October 14th to 19th 2024. • Register here Thursday was a historic day in America. The US Congress in Washington unanimously passed by voice vote the National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act.
This moment in history has taken years of laborious lobbying and public participation led by the Michael J Fox Foundation and other organizations. Thousands of people from all walks of life participated to rally the unanimous call and urge their Senate representatives to support it sending over 70,000 messages. It’s all thanks to everyone for each effort made. 215 senators and representatives have championed this bill, the first bi-partisan work to bring federal agency stakeholders together along with nonfederal experts, patients, and caregivers to build a national plan to prevent, treat, and cure Parkinson's Disease, including atypical Parkinsonisms like progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Now the bill goes to the White House for President Joe Biden’s signature. In America it’s estimated that 90,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson each year. We need to find a cure! We’re part of a future without PD.  This year’s PingPong Parkinson Quooker German Open (GO2024) just took a bow ending what was a successful, memorable and wonderful tournament.
Held in Nordhorn from 9th to 12th May, GO2024 saw 260 participants come out to play. It was the fourth edition and the biggest yet. The opening ceremony was graced by Mayor Thomas Berling and the Deputy County Councilor Charlotte Ruschulte. We also appreciate the presence of Nenad Bach and all PingPongParkinson leaders who came to participate in solidarity. We would like to thank all players, the organizing committee, our sponsors & volunteers and every family member and friend who cheered us on. Again we defied the odds and keep moving together in the fight against parkinson. Visit the GO2024 official page to relive the moments. See you again next year! Parkinson disease (PD) affects physical movement but it also takes a heavy toll on individuals socially. Therefore demanding that more attention is given to fight stigma and negative social impacts to enhance quality of life for a person living with Parkinson.
PD is also reportedly becoming the fastest neurological disease with an estimated 1.2million people to be diagnosed by 2030 in USA & over 10million people currently living with it worldwide. Does exercising really hold the silver lining? Well, it improves psychomotor symptoms, especially regularly playing ping pong but it also provides a supportive community environment. So lets keep pushing to break & remove barriers so that others with Parkinson can experience the benefits of playing ping pong for their health.  Have you been to PingPongParkinson in South West Florida? For several years now the ping pong sessions were being offered at Estero recreational center by Purvi Naik who has been spearheading all efforts. Recently however there has been a growth to the team namely the addition of Roger Berkley which has led to the expansion of venues where ping pong for parkinson patients can be offered to support the parkinson community and caregivers through the PingPongParkinson therapy program.
Classes are held at these 2 locations. Equipment is provided.
Read a feature article from Spotlight News Magazine here.  For the past four years since holding the first PingPongParkinson World Championship, we have met so many people who have touched our hearts and inspired our supporters and our work. We like to say, we never give up - and a big salute goes to those who keep us going by donating and helping run our classes and tournaments worldwide for people with a parkinson diagnosis.
A special thanks to you Fred for sharing your story. For almost 20 years, I have been living with this illness which imposed itself on me. Despite the progression of the illness, I never stopped fighting, trying to keep my spirits up and smiling. It was at the age of 26 that the symptoms of the disease appeared for me. This did not prevent me from meeting my wife with whom I have 2 beautiful children. But 3 years ago, a time when I was unable to hold a glass without spilling, and even worse for a dad, not being able to carry my son, my neurologist operated on me to perform deep brain stimulation. It was a first victory to curb the disease, I was very quickly able to carry my children in my arms. And then I met Franck Graindorge from PingPongParkinson France who told me about their first participation in the PingPongParkinson World Championship held in Croatia during summer 2022. He did not hide his enthusiasm from me, telling me that he had met a new family. I didn't realize how right he was until I joined PingPongParkinson!! An adventure was launched to finance this great project, find sponsors and donors, a strong solidarity was therefore put in place to go to Wels in Austria for the PingPongParkinson World Championship. We received support from the local ping pong club, school, and so many people. As I had the opportunity to tell some of you in Austria - sport unites. In fact, it doesn't matter how many matches we won or lost because we weren't playing against an opponent, but against Parkinson disease. Many moral values resulted from this, so many beautiful encounters, smiles, and kindness that will make me rich in this amazing journey, so a big thank you to all of you for allowing Franck and me such an adventure!!! Emotionally we were on top. Thanks to Nenad who allowed us to experience such moments, Thorsten for his discussions and his invitation to Nordhorn, Hamid and his wife, Mauro, Niels, Nadine... I can't wait to see you again. Frédéric Gourmon - PingPongParkinson Member. |
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