By RENE TORRES
Pington was not an ancient sport played by the Greek and/or by kings and queens, but rather a game that had its roots in Mexico.
The father of the game is not known, but what is known is that the game was being played in Mexico in the 1950s. The question is how this net game crossed the border and instantly found a welcoming home at Texas Southmost College in Brownsville.
As the 1959 TSC basketball team traveled into Mexico, then Coach Werner Steinbach noticed that a group of youngsters were playing this unusual game and while doing so, having a blast. The kids were hitting a wad of paper over a net with ping pong paddles; the action was fast and akin to badminton. It was not before long that once in Brownsville, Steinbach introduced the game to his physical education classes. In doing so, he adapted part of the game by using a badminton bird instead of a wad of paper.
But as the game evolved, the sport took on a new name; “Pington” and the ping pong paddles eventually gave way to a unique, locally designed wooden paddle. The origin of the name, according to Jim Lemons, stemmed from the funny sound of the paddle hitting the bird in flight.
Pington is a combination of badminton, ping pong and tennis that, up to 1970, was mainly played at the college gymnasium. While the sport flourished in the physical education classes, as an intramural sport and among Brownsville and Matamoros businessmen, little was done to spread the game outside the confines of the TSC gym.
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