Ex-Teacher With A Paddle With Top Facility At Her Disposal, Miller Aims For Senior Nationals

Call the cops to investigate.

There’s a whole lot of noise coming from the Millers’ place on South Raymond Court in the Valley. Sounds like some cockeyed carpenter decided to use stiletto heels to hammer nail, after nail, after nail.

Click, click, click, click, pause. Click, click, stop.

Now, now, neighbor. That’s just Joanne Miller and the boys working up a sweat at their regular Thursday night game of table tennis. Tonight could go as late as 9:30. But, hey, that’s one way Bob Miller keeps his wife at home.

“He kids me,” said Joanne. “He says, `I spent $20,000 to build this, and she invites all the guys over.”’

Welcome to Joanne’s paddle palace, a recreation sanctuary behind the Miller home that’s big enough to fit in three table tennis tables. One table is rigged to the Newgy company’s Robo-Pong 2000, a $595 contraption that spits pingpong balls from slow speeds to the rapid-fire pace preferred by hot shots such as Miller and her pingpong playing pals.

But please, don’t call it pingpong.

“The actual sport is table tennis,” Miller politely corrects. “People think of pingpong as something you play in the basement, a casual sport.”

There’s nothing casual in the way Miller approaches table tennis. The 57-year-old has been playing almost half of her life, taking it up seriously in 1974.

“I just like the game. It’s always fascinated me,” she said. “And as a Senior player, it’s good exercise, good hand-eye coordination and you have to have flexibility.”

At Hutton Elementary School, where she taught fourth-graders for 33 years until retiring in 1997, Miller organized table tennis teams that dominated city tournaments for decades.

At home, the Miller’s family trophy room is loaded with reminders of her accomplishments. Just last year at the national Senior Games in Orlando, Fla., Miller won a bronze medal.

“I was thrilled,” she said. “I actually lost a silver by two points.”

In December, she was one of 600 players at the national table tennis tournament in Las Vegas. Miller entered five divisions and reached the semifinals in one and the quarterfinals in two.

Husband Bob, also a retired teacher, takes up his share of shelf space with trapshooting trophies. She never touches a 12-gauge. He never picks up a paddle. They consider it the formula for a successful marriage.

They will, however, both be involved in the Washington Senior Games, Aug. 10-13 in Spokane. Bob will run the trapshooting contest. Joanne will be the favorite in table tennis in singles and doubles with 60-year-old partner Mary Ann Parker of Richland and mixed doubles with 51-year-old partner Bob Waddle of Spokane.

“In table tennis, you’ve got smashes or slams and the underspin. She’s good on both of those,” Waddle said about his partner. “Her backhand is very much above the average.”

At last year’s Games, both Joanne and her husband won gold medals in their respective sports. This year’s Games, mostly at Spokane Community College, will serve as the state’s only sanctioned event to qualify for the 2001 national Senior Games in Baton Rouge, La. There is no trapshooting at nationals, but the top three finishers in table tennis will qualify.

Table tennis and trapshooting will be among the 22 sports that are expected to attract more than 700 athletes who are 50 years or older. The track and field meet will be held Aug. 5, to avoid a conflict with the national master’s meet the following weekend in Eugene, Ore.

This sidebar appeared with the story:

SIGN UP

Senior Games

It’s not too late to sign up for the Washington State Senior Games for athletes 50 years of age and older.

The Games will be held Aug. 10-13 at Spokane Community College. The event is a qualifier for 2001 national Senior Games.

To register, or for more information, call 465-9043 or write Washington State Seniors Games, P.O. Box 28036, Spokane, WA 99228-8036. E-mail address is safe@soar.com

Registration deadline is July 25.