Ahead of its 20th anniversary, Bermuda's table tennis league is being kept alive by a few dedicated senior players.

But if it's to thrive in the future, more players are desperately needed.

And new president of the Bermuda Table Tennis Association, Myron Piper, is hoping they'll emerge from the Island's youth.

To that end he's launched a drive to get youngsters interested in a sport he says rivals soccer in popularity in some parts of the world.

"In order to survive, it's imperative we get the juniors involved," said Piper, who will be a member of the six-man table tennis squad that will be travelling to the US Open in Baltimore over the Thanksgiving weekend.

"I would like to get some of those kids ready to compete in that tournament in two years' time," said the president of his five-year plan for the youth programme.

Targeted will be youngsters aged 13 and under and Piper accepts small steps will have to be taken initially in an attempt to generate interest.

"We have set up a youth training camp with the help of The Centre's Harold Minors and Kenneth Bartrum, who is the Youth Coordinator, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 4-6 p.m.," explained Piper, noting that training and registration began last Saturday.

"But this will not be a place to just drop off kids," he warned. "We will be looking to move the sport along so we will be looking for people who are interested in learning and committing to the sport.

"We're going to put in a lot of time so we're going to demand that people be committed. We're only looking for 10 kids who are going to be committed, but if we get more we'll take them.

"Ten is a strong base to start from and I've already spoken to representatives from the ITTF who are prepared, once we get the league going, to put us on their coaching roster so they will send coaches here on a regular basis to train the kids and assist us in other ways."

Former president Mansfield (Bojangles) Smith is doing his bit to help generate interest among youngsters in the East End aged 16 and under by holding sessions every Saturday evening at the St. George's Cricket Club auditorium from 6-8 p.m.

Added Piper: "We're going to establish a league once we get these players to a certain level. My feelings are if we can get these players to a reasonable level of play within two years it would put them at a level where they can compete in overseas competitions."

Most of the six teams involved in the Bank of Butterfield League were involved in practice sessions on Tuesday nights in preparation of the new season which kicks off tonight with some changes.

For the first time all league matches will be played at one central location - Berkeley Institute - taking the matches out of the clubs, though teams will still be representing clubs.

Being used for the first time is the new, bigger ball (for spectator and television appeal) and rules now call for 11-point games instead of up to 21.

Piper says the bigger balls (40 millimetres instead of 38 millimetres) promote longer rallies and make the games more intense. The balls will also be easier to spot by spectators.

Table tennis in Bermuda, which began in 1982 under founding president Joe Brown, had about 14 teams at its height of competition but has been declining over the last few years as older players moved on.

"Without the league growing and some of the older players starting to drift away as well as some of the younger players like Corey Berkeley, Hasan Durham and Jamal Warren not playing, we feel the youth programme is what we're looking at to revive the league," said Piper.

"The positive thing about table tennis is that young and old, male and female, can all compete against each on equal footing until the elite level. So I think it is probably more of a family sport than any other. As part of the youth programme we're looking to get quite a few girls involved from the schools.

"If we're looking at the under-13s, then we're looking in five years to being able to feed the senior league.

"In almost every country in Europe table tennis is the number one sport, as well as in China and South America. Every country in Europe has a professional league.

"When we went to the World Championships in Japan in April we were the only amateurs there. Even small countries comparable to Bermuda in size had professional players."

Piper feels that the younger the children receive coaching, the quicker they develop.

"Between the ages of 13 and 15 in any athlete's life is when they develop the most, which is why we're trying to get these kids before age 13 and get them to do the basics.

"My aim is to create an elite group of girl and boy players. Table tennis is really exciting to watch if played well. I played soccer and table tennis is more demanding than soccer for the short period and requires a lot more concentration and physical effort.

"The time you have to make a decision is a split second. You have a ball travelling at 100 miles an hour over nine feet which is the length of the table."