Five months after opening its doors, the SMASH! Table Tennis Rec Center is living up to its potential as a recreational outlet in the heart of Hamilton.

From the outside the Commercial Building at 54 Reid Street looks like just another city centre office complex, but tucked away on the ground floor is a 3,800 square foot recreational space offering table tennis, a video games room, table football, and a DJ sound system.

The centre’s popularity has grown and it now hosts a ten-team corporate table tennis league.

Co-owned by the husband-and-wife team Jaymo Durham and Keivo Durham, and managed by Lynwood “Brotha Richie” Richardson, the centre will be the venue for the two-day Bermuda Schools Table Tennis Tournament, featuring middle schools and senior schools, at the end of this month.

Mr Durham is delighted by the success the business has enjoyed during its first half year in operation.

“I feel great about how things have gone, and I also feel relief and fulfilment,” he said.

“We put a lot of finance into renovating the building. It was a large capital injection. We had to fix up things, like the floors.

“This is the first [table tennis centre] of its kind in Bermuda and I’m glad there has been such a good response from the public.”

Mr Durham is an attorney and director of Amicus Law Chambers, which has offices in the same building.

This week the centre is playing host to Christian Lillieroos, the USA Table Tennis director at large, who was providing an ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) course designed to teach prospective coaches how to train and teach young players. Mr Lillieroos is an Olympic-level training coach.

SMASH! is open seven days a week. On Fridays and Saturdays, which tend to be the busiest days, it stays open until midnight.

“We cater to a wide cross-section of the community,” said Mr Durham, who is a qualified ITTF coach. “We have leagues containing a number of expats and we have schools that have been here for bonding sessions. Kids are loving the concept, and fathers and sons are coming together.”

A video games room next to the main table tennis floor is equipped with PlayStation, Xbox and Wii consoles.

The facility promotes itself as a “safe, alcohol and drug-free environment”.

From church groups to companies, the centre has proven to have a wide appeal.

“We’ve hosted a corporate bonding event for Hiscox. We’ve even had couples come here on dates.”

Mr Durham has a passion for table tennis, having played the game as youngster. While studying in England, he was part of the University of Hull’s table tennis team.

“I wanted to have a venue where people could come together and play table tennis, and we’ve had a very good turnout so far.”

SMASH! Table Tennis Rec Centre has its own Facebook page. It can be contacted on 296-4141 or by e-mailing: getsmashed316@gmail.com