It all started innocently enough. Leslie Torresan was just strolling through her local Walmart when a ping-pong table caught her eye. Torresan is the director of recreation at the Normanna Long Term Care Home in Burnaby, just outside of Vancouver, BC. She thought it might be a fun diversion for the seniors at her center, so she just went ahead and bought it. In order to get everyone involved, Torresan and the staff made a few modifications to the traditional game. Most notably, they placed nets along the edge of the table to keep the ball in play. “There was skepticism,” Torresan recalls of the February purchase, “but the residents right away came alive.” Tuesday became ping-pong day. Many residents play doubles in wheelchairs, each player covering half the table. The games were such a hit that Torresan organized a tournament, dividing the residents into two teams, Pink and Blue. Croatian-born Marija Uzelac (pictured), 88, is the MVP of defending champions Team Blue. Uzleac invited her daughter Ann to watch the latest tournament. “I didn’t know she was so good,” said Ann. “She's been through so much in her life – had cancer three times, two strokes, heart attacks and all this kind of stuff – but she's been here 10 years and look at her. She's really a fighter.” Mary Hatch, also 88, is a former dancer who has shared the stage with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. She looks forward to the festivities every Tuesday, dressing up with her best jewelry and flowers in her hair. “I feel like I’m 50,” said Hatch after a game. Torresan says the tournaments, which can see up to 40 residents playing each week, serve to lift the spirits of all involved. “We just thought it's amazing to see the residents come to life when they're playing the ping pong,” said Torresan. “And it doesn't matter if they have a disability or a language barrier (or) cultural barrier – everyone comes together and plays.” While this unassuming Canadian senior center has seemingly found the fountain of youth, it success raises important questions. Will other long-term care facilities notice the popularity of ping-pong Tuesdays at Normanna and start their own ping-pong tournaments? Will the field of gerontology take notice and dedicate the resources necessary to research the most efficacious methodologies for both palliative and preventive recreational therapy? And can Team Pink ever figure out a way to beat Marija Uzelac?

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