Ping Pong Popularity grows on JFK Promenade in GG Park – Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon

By Linda Badger

Two years ago, in his attempt to make JFK Drive attractive as a car -free promenade in Golden Gate Park, the city placed a cement ping -pong table in the middle of the street near Eighth Avenue. The table became quite popular and attracted the public at the weekend.

For a long time, Raymond Tracy Raymond Tracy was not surprised. A Ping Pong instructor, he pointed out that San Francisco is one of the Nations Epicenters of the Sport.

At the Olympic Summer Games 2024 in Paris, three of the four of the American athletes qualified to participate in table tennis competitions from the Bay Area.

Tracy is passionate by Ping Pong. The coffee table in his inner studio of Richmond is a Pingpongtafel table on a true size. He was very happy when the table arrived at JFK Promenade. He was even more excited when it went on. Everyone loved to play children, seniors and tourists from all over the world. Then the balls and paddles started to disappear.

Fortunately, Tracy is a natural caregiver. Born in Boston, Tracy began to work with children with autism. He spent five years helping running away and unmarried children in New York City. When he moved to San Francisco, he worked with young perpetrators in the Richmond district for more than 20 years. When JFK Promenades Ping Pong Area started to falter, Tracy stepped in to help.

Tracy began to clean the Pingpong area and took on it to supplement the disappearing balls and paddles. When the area became so busy that his friend, a seniors, could no longer play, Tracy decided to visit Phil Ginsberg, San Francisco Recreation and Park Department General Manager.

Tracy never spoke with Ginsberg, but after months of trying, the city was told that the city did not have the money to deliver extra cement tables, which would cost nearly $ 10,000 each to build and transport. Nevertheless, the city became aware of how popular Ping Pong is to park visitors and to promise new equipment and a safer space in the future.

In the meantime, Tracy said, two new tables appeared magically in a day, paved from plywood and old ping -pong equipment. Tracy also helps it to maintain it, although he said that extra cement tables from the city would prefer and will last over the years.

All three ping -pong tables are often occupied during the weekend and sunny days. Maleina Aguinaldo, a student from the University of San Francisco, commented on their popularity while playing Ping Pong with her family on a Sunday morning.

On my daily runs I see people of different ages using the tables, said Aguinaldo. It is so beautiful to see that our elderly community, especially, remains active for free! It definitely turns the heads and lets people pause on their runs.

Tracy has safety problems due to the growing popularity of Ping Pong on JFK Promenade.

It is a miracle that someone who follows a ball has not been run over by an e-bike who goes 30 miles per hour, Tracy said.

To tackle the problem, Tracy has rearranged the area, placed cones, nets and signs to prevent accidents. He also brought his worries to the attention of REC. and park.

According to Tracy, the city also expressed its concern that the tables are being taken over by ping -pong players who stay for hours while others wait on the sidelines. As part of the Golden Mile, the ping-pong and sitting baggag games were intended to offer a nice place for all levels of skill, not just serious players. Not someone to wait, he first wrote newcomers and children in Sharpie at one of the private tables supplied.

The city even says that it has plans to improve JFK promenades popular Ping Pong area. Tamara Barak Aparton, Deputy Director Communication and Public Affairs for Rec. And Park confirmed that the city bought another cement table. Barak Aparton said that the construction was planned for a fence to start from mid -March.

Giving Tracy priority to safety, is grateful that the fence is on the road and hopes that the city will install it soon. However, he is concerned that when the city installs the new cement table, these two private individuals will remove donated tables, so that only two tables will remain.

We need three, he said.

Table tennis is the national sport of China, whose athletes have won almost every gold medal since the sport was recorded at the Olympic Games in 1988. It is therefore not surprising that the Richmond and Sunset districts, with large Chinese communities, are home to so many Ping Pong Pros and enthusiasts.

The sport is not from China, but rather in Victorian England in the 1880s. According to historians, table tennis came from Aristocrats who wanted to bring the Game of Lawn Tennis to their salons. Lore is that British soldiers who live in India, invented the concept for the first time and played the game with the help of a golf ball, stacked a series of books in the middle of a dining table for the net, and two more books for paddles.

Whether you go back to China, England or beyond, there are plenty of places to play in San Francisco. The Richmond Community Center, located on 251 18th Ave., has various public ping -pong tables, and the Sunset Playground on 2201 Lawton St. has, one of the most popular Pingpong rooms in the city.

The Goldman Tennis Center in Golden Gate Park, where Tracy is an instructor, offers table tennis lessons for people of all ages every Saturday and has ping -pong camps for children. Tracy also gives private lessons at locations such as the Free Gold Watch -Arcade in the Haight on 1767 Waller St.

While Ping Pong is fantastic exercise, Tracy thinks the joy it gives him and others.

When you walk, you think of things, he said. With ping pong you are only the game.

He thinks that the only people who may not like Ping Pong in the park, lose all therapists because everyone who plays is so happy.

To participate in the pleasure, Tracy offers private lessons. It can be contacted on 415-946-9217. Visit to sign up for Saturday lessons or children's camps in the Goldman Tennis Center LifetimeActivities.com/WP-Tertent/uploads/sf-spring-2025-table-toeg.pdf.