Table Hockey Photos

Special Events - 2006 - November 17th, 2006

Father/Son Night at the Oak Ridge School in Palos Hills, IL

We have always had an enthusiastic group of moms running the PTA at Oak Ridge School in Palos Hills, IL. When I approached them about trying something a little different, such as a father-son night using table hockey games, they balked, not sure of what I was talking about. As I persisted they started to catch on: "Oh, the air game on the big table." Or, "Oh, Foosball." I finally brought in pictures of the games. They finally got the picture (literally) and told me to set it up for a two hour tournament.

Given a two hour window and five games (thanks, Jim) I planned a round robin tourney for 16 participants (sons + dads). I only anticipated that 50, at most, would sign up. First come, first served. Well 20 signed up the first day. After 3 weeks it grew to 60 signed up, and I had to bring in extra games for the overflow. The ladies said that they would include some basketball in the gym and serve pizza. Friday morning the final count of 112 came in and I almost had a heart attack.

I moved the games into the hallway so there would be more room for the food and basketball overflow. This cut down on spectators a bit. My son, Matt came to help and he brought an extra game, so we had 5 games for the tourney and 4 more for anyone to use. They were busy the entire night, and the smiles on their faces were enough to reassure me that it was a complete success. The skill levels were low as you might anticipate, but that didn't matter. They were having a blast just playing, watching and learning. I'm still getting feedback about what a great time everyone had. Many fathers are dying to have activities like this to participate in WITH their sons. Planting more seeds. Let's see what grows.

John Medema