Dan Goodman, left, prepares to serve.

by Joshua Kiser, Public Information Officer, California Veterans Home – Yountville

Dan Goodman, a resident at the Veterans Home of California at Yountville, will compete next June in the largest table tennis tournament in the world. He will participate in the World Veterans Championships, taking place from June 18-24, 2018 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.The event is held every two years in a different country. Goodman also competed the last time it was held in the United States. That was in Baltimore in 1990.

Here, in his own words, is his story:

When word got out that I was going to compete in the Worlds Veteran Table Tennis Championships next June in Las Vegas, I was surprised and elated when several residents of the Yountville community said that they planned on going to watch this old codger participate.

Some 70 countries will be represented, and it is anticipated that 5,000 players will bat the ball back and forth. Age brackets run from 40 years of age to 90+ in five-year increments. I’ll be competing in the age bracket of 85-89.

To just take in the aura, the flavor of the event, it’s worth competing. Never thought I’d be competing again at my advanced age, but table tennis helps to keep my brain intact.