In January, I was still living in a basement suite in Garneau just off of 84 avenue and 109 street. I was quite happy with my accommodations since it was as central a location as you can get. The U of A is a five minute walk away, the Kinsmen Sports Centre a mere 10 minutes and work at Rosso Pizzeria just down the road. It would have taken a lot for me to consider moving out but that opportunity came knocking when an old friend asked me to move into his apartment on Saskatchewan Drive. This wasn't any other apartment, but rather a penthouse suite. Needless to say I did everything in my power to make this opportunity work. I even had to pay an extra month's rent for my old place so my landlord would let me out of the lease.
You can say it was all worth it
With all my extra time, I soon found myself taking the espresso tour around town when I had days off from Da Capo. Iconoclast, a new coffee roaster/cafe in Oliver attracted most of my attention. Rob and Ryan set up a table tennis table behind the bar for customers and their own personal enjoyment. As soon as I saw the table I challenging Ryan to a game. I can't even count the number of games we played over the course of the summer but let me tell you, it was time well spent. I found myself addicted to the game and I couldn't stop thinking about it. One night I was laying on the floor in our living room when an idea popped into my head. I did some quick research and figured out the area of our living room to find out that there was plenty of room to have ping pong table.
I shared my idea with Rob Wilms from Iconoclast and he instantly came up with our name.
Ilia Biziaev from Oliver Apt. was also onboard and before you knew it we had a table
We created a few social media accounts and within a couple of months, we had an international following. International players from The Netherlands, Iran, China, America and clubs from Moscow, Dubai, New York, Los Angeles, Bahrain, London, Barbados, and Copenhagen were all keeping up with the ping pong action here in Edmonton. We host a friendly tournament at the end of every month so if you would like to play or know someone that would, don't hesitate to contact us.
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