When he picks up a table tennis paddle, senior Yuvraj Gill envisions the sport’s ability to bring players of all skill levels together. Founded in July 2023, Gill’s nonprofit, TableZen, works to bring that feeling of community to schools around the world.
“Our goal is to provide greater opportunities through sport, to include and uplift as many people as possible,” Gill said. “For me, table tennis does that the best because of how inclusive it is.”
Gill frequently played table tennis in his childhood, competing with family and friends. Yet after playing against relatives with Parkinson’s disease, a neurological disorder that impacts movement and coordination, he realized the accessibility of table tennis for individuals with limited mobility — the start of his journey to spread the sport. After successfully founding the Viking Table Tennis Club at Lynbrook as a freshman, Gill sought to expand his passion beyond the school.
“It’s great to see the community get together in such a way,” senior and Viking Table Tennis Club vice president Akshat Garg said. “Usually you think of Lynbrook as a competitive place, but seeing people having fun and enjoying something that we’ve built is amazing.”
Gill started by reaching out to principals of local high schools, including Cupertino High School and Fremont High School. Through numerous meetings with students and staff, TableZen garnered interest and donations from the community. Gill then worked on starting clubs in high schools across California, collaborating with students and staff to organize regular meetings and events. To raise funds for equipment, Gill negotiated with different brands and manufacturers, allowing TableZen to secure equipment discounts and sponsorships.
Over the past summer, Gill traveled to Zimbabwe, establishing table tennis clubs in schools across the country. In Zimbabwe, drug abuse is a prevalent issue. According to Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care, more than 53% of women and 28% of men use drugs. Partnering with youth leaders, antidrug activists and the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, Gill promoted sports as a method to help students with drug addiction. He visited schools and held a press conference covered by national news outlets like EnterSport News and HealthTimes Zimbabwe.
“Our goal there was to spread more awareness for the sport,” said Gill. “We wanted to show how very simple solutions like playing a sport can also create a big impact.”
TableZen has also significantly impacted Gill’s own life. Traveling internationally, working with different people and experiencing diverse cultures have all shown him the importance of collaboration and elevated his appreciation for global languages and traditions.
“It’s made me learn more about different cultures through the sport, which I didn’t really expect,” said Gill.
Beyond schools, Gill also aims to share table tennis with a wider community by hosting different events, such as meetups in community halls for people to come together to play, relax and connect. In the future, Gill plans to implement more clubs along the East Coast.
“We’ve used table tennis to help people in more ways than one,” said Gill. “When we expanded overseas, I saw that we could enact real social change, give students purpose and introduce them to sport. Through that, table tennis became more than just a place to have fun.”
