The 1,250 ping pong players of Whitehorse need a 1,000sqm venue. Will they ever get it?
“We are in the middle of a table tennis void.”
Matthew Sims
June 15, 2026
A shortage of six table tennis tables across a local government area may appear on the surface to be an issue of little import in the greater scheme of things.
But to the 1,250 or so people in Whitehorse who play or are coached, it is an issue that has been left untended for two decades, and one that urgently needs to be resolved.
🏓 State of play: There are 183 registered players within Whitehorse, but each week about 1,250 people play ping pong competitively or socially, or receive coaching.
They play across various venues. The Eastern Suburbs and Churches Table Tennis Association (ES&CTTA), established in the mid-1940s, hosts about 70 players in four grades and is the main club servicing Whitehorse across three shared-use facilities.
Play and competition are held at Mahoneys Reserve Pavilion Hall in Forest Hill (four tables), Eley Park Community Centre in Blackburn South (three tables) and Sportlink Vermont South (three tables).
Club president Neville Young told the Eastern Melburnian he had been campaigning for an exclusive venue since 2003 to cater for population growth.
🗣️ “We are in the middle of a table tennis void,” he said. “We do not have a venue available at a suitable time or big enough for a junior competition.”
Young said Whitehorse required a venue exclusively for table tennis. To fit 20 tables, each with a 10x5m play area, would require 1,000 square metres of space. The ceiling would need to be five metres tall to deal with the looping lobs, and the tables would remain permanently folded out to prevent damage and injuries from packing and unpacking.
✍️ What’s on the table? Whitehorse Council has been developing a new Indoor Sports Plan since August 2024.
A draft plan identified a current shortfall of six tables, which is projected to rise to 10 by 2046.
It outlined three options for table tennis: a new facility at Aqualink Box Hill, purchasing or leasing an industrial site in Burwood with a neighbouring council such as Monash, or repurposing Slater Reserve stadium in Blackburn North with Manningham Council.
⏭️ What’s next? Whitehorse Council has been developing a Table Tennis Feasibility Study since late 2024 but has not confirmed when final plans will be released.
Whitehorse mayor Kirsten Langford said while table tennis was an “important and growing sport” in the region, future investment would need to be weighed against demand from other indoor sports and broader community infrastructure priorities.