Batman Brian

A blog by Brian Carson

11 May 2023

All views in this blog are my own.

My Parkinson’s Table Tennis Adventure continues (Part 1)

I have had a very busy few months where I have taken on some new Parkinson’s responsibilities in addition to my usual physical activity, local volunteering, and playing sport. This has been very rewarding, interesting and challenging and I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given to contribute.

Recent Activities 

I have also been involved in setting up the Scottish Parkinson’s International Table Tennis Open which takes place in August and I will cover this in later blogs.

However, table tennis is my focus for the next couple of weeks and it has been too long since I bored everyone with a blog.

After a week at home following the brilliantly organised and executed Eystrup competition it is great to be back on the road again heading for the Veterans event in Stockholm.

Eystrup

I can never overstate the great experience we had in Eystrup and again I say thanks to Lars Rokitta for his commitment and passion which shone through at that event.

With Lars in Eystrup

Travel

I have written previously about my nervousness travelling with PD and this trip is no exception. I had a recent Facebook discussion about travel with some others who are living with PD and it turns out I am not alone in these feelings. However we all had the same attitude that while travel is not something we enjoy we will continue to do so while we physically are able, as the reasons for travel are not something we want to give up on yet. For me it’s holidays, table tennis events, sightseeing and spending time with friends. Hopefully I am a long way off from having to cease or even reduce these activities.

Today I am heading to Stockholm via Heathrow. A direct flight is easier to manage but recently the destinations involved have the complication of a flight change as direct options have not been possible.

Eystrup was a prime example where a change at Amsterdam was needed but this was made much easier as I met up with Cecilia and Torgny from Sweden in Schipol and we travelled on to Germany together. This proved to be fortunate on the return journey as Torgny was injured during the competition and travelled mostly in a wheelchair. We were able to help him get through Bremen and Schipol airports although I wonder what other passengers made of us as we three PWP shuffled around the airports, one of us in a wheelchair. But we made it by supporting each other and had a few laughs along the way. Torgny definitely should have had Learner plates on his wheelchair.😂

Sweden

So I am en route to Stockholm to play in the second Veterans Open which for the first time has a Parkinson’s classification event included. I am grateful to Pelle Hanglund (aka Py Tagaros) for the invite and for facilitating my registration.

The competition is being held in Tammsvik which is an hours drive  north west of Stockholm and we will move to the area on Friday evening for two days of play Saturday and Sunday. All players are staying at a conference hotel near the venue and we have a dinner planned for Saturday night as as a group. 

The Venue

We have players from Sweden 🇸🇪 Germany 🇩🇪 Portugal 🇵🇹 Norway 🇳🇴 USA 🇺🇸 and Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, and I will say Finland 🇫🇮 (Seppo – Swedish or Finnish? 😂)

My potential singles opponents.

I am playing Parkinson’s singles and doubles and a banded singles for all players ( Vets and Parkinsons)

On Friday we are playing a mixed doubles event at the Sparvagens BTK Table Tennis club in Stockholm where Pelle coaches a weekly Parkinson’s group.

My preparation has not been ideal as I have been resting for a week with a knee injury but that won’t affect the enjoyment I will get from playing and socialising with these fantastic people.

Readers of previous blogs will know, but I will say it anyway, the benefits of this type of activity for PWP are not only physical, there are also social and mental benefits from the non playing activities not to mention the peer support we provide for each other.

What Next

I will remain in Stockholm for a few days after the competition for some sightseeing and socialising.

I will post competition updates on Facebook over the weekend, and next week write a summary of my experiences before I start Part 2 of this adventure. 🏓💪

End