THE GAME CALLED PINGTON~A NET GAME THAT TRAVELED FROM MEXICO TO TEXAS SOUTHMOST COLLEGE

by Rene Torres 

Pington was not an ancient sport played by the Greek and/or by kings and queens, but rather a game, the father of which is unknown, that had its roots in Mexico, played since the 1950's. 

The question is how this net game crossed the border and instantly found a welcoming home at Texas Southmost College.

When the '59 TSC basketball team traveled into Mexico, then Coach Steinbach noticed a group of youngsters having a blast playing this unusual game hitting a wad of paper over a net with ping pong paddles with fast action like badminton. 

It was not long before Steinbach introduced the game to his physical education classes in Brownsville replacing the paper wad with a badminton bird. 

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.

Former TSC student and player of the game, Lucy Tijerina Torres, recently stated that the game was so popular among local businessmen that they formed the Brownsville Men’s Pington Club. 

“Their devotion to the game was evident every afternoon at 4:00 p.m,” said Lucy.

By 1992, after playing the game for many years, Jim Lemons and Judy Walton, both UTB/TSC physical education instructors at the time, decided to a write a book about the game, one, to help spread the knowledge of the sport and secondly, to set-up a scholarship fund in honor of Werner Steinbach,the stepfather of the game.

Beyond the book, Lemons often conducted demonstration workshops to expand the interest of the game. “It’s a great conditioning sport. 

"It’s easy to play and it’s inexpensive,” Lemons said.

Jim not only talked a good game, but he backed it up by demonstrating skills that few could better.

Lemons wrote, “One of the theories of learning is that anything you succeed at you like.

That’s one of the reasons the kids like the game so much—they are successful at it.”

The dream of Lemons and Walton was that pington would spread throughout the United States and the world, but they were content if the game would spread to the local school districts and some colleges.

Both have retired, leaving behind footprints of the game. 

Unfortunately, the game today is part of Texas Southmost College history.

I’d be remiss If I did not mention the person who managed the gym’s equipment room, an icon who, for decades ran things like a drill sergeant, known on campus as the "Sgt."

Photo: Former Kinesiology faculty member Jim Lemons presents his textbook on Pington to UT-B/TSC President Dr. Juliet Garcia

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