The history of table tennis in Volkovce dates back to 1956, when several enthusiasts-Koloman Drahoš, Juraj Brandt, Ladislav Kéry, Jozef Brieška, Karol Bóga, Cyril Mlynka and others purchased a table tennis table for the village hall and effectively began to write the history of table tennis in Volkovce. Within a short period of time, table tennis became the second most popular sport in the village, football being the first.
From 1958 the Volkovce team started to participate in a regular competition, The Zlaté Moravce County Championship. As the game became more popular, so did the game and the quality of its players improve. Naturally, this meant that team moved up in the league table and in 1970 they played in a regional level competition. The team stayed at this level for two years.
Due to financial reasons, in 1972, the entire team had to be re-registered under the team TJ Calex Zlaté Moravce. The team now played under the name TJ CALEX Zlaté Moravce „B" using the Grammar School in Volkovce as its base. The existing team was joined by local players Klement Tesársky, Štefan Kobes, Jozef Kozolka, Ignác Frajka, Ján Horňák and also by players who were not originally from the village Ivan Chovan and Ján Baláž. This team continued to play in regional competitions and also in the National State Competition until 1977, when for various reasons this team dissolved. This was the end of the primary phase of table tennis in Volkovce.
The rebirth of table tennis can be accredited to our current mayor Ondrej Kozolka. When Mr Kozolka returned from compulsory military service in 1981, he was the Director of Sports Activities in the village. He asked two of the initiators of table tennis club from 1956, Mr Juraj Brandt and Mr Daniel Lackovič (who moved into Volkovce in 1974), to consider restarting the activities. These three men were then joined by two younger players, Ľudovít Kozolka (Ondrej's brother) and Ľudovít Kozolka jr. (no relation to the mayor), who revived the table tennis team now called TJ Inovec Volkovce.
This team took part in various county competitions (the Nitra County) until 1987. Along with the above-named players, there were others taking part, namely: Ignác Frajka, Štefan Kobes, Jozef Kozolka, Klement Tesársky, Koloman Drahoš, senior and younger players, Ivan Haspra, Jozef Krajči, Koloman Drahoš jr. , Marian Kováč and Emil Hollý. The grammar school's premises were the training ground for the team. The school's management was very supportive; this eventually led to a table tennis club for pupils (led by Mr Daniel Lackovič) being set up.
Later, however, the team's activities had to be temporarily suspended again. This was due to problems with training premises and also personal reasons. This suspension lasted 7 years.
Zlaté Moravce county championships
individuals - 2013/2014
The third phase in the history of table tennis began in 1995 after Judr. Ondrej Kozolka was elected Mayor for the village. A tournament between Volkovce and the neighbouring village of Čierne Kľačany was organised, where approximately 40 competitors took part. The winner was Viliam Nagy, second place Daniel Lackovič and Ondrej Kozolka came third, all from Volkovce. This success kick started the resurrection of table tennis and in the1996/97 season, TJ INOVEC Volkovce took part in the regional county competition with two other teams. The “A” team came in fifth place (in I.A category) and the “B” team came in third place (in II. B category). Daniel Lackovič became the team leader and newest members were Peter Tolok from Volkovce and Marián Laca from the village of Prílepy.
In 1997, Volkovce were approached by the Western Slovakia Table Tennis Association to organise a conference to set up a “Regional Table Tennis Association”. The conference took place on 3rd May 1997 in the conference room of the Mayor's office in Volkovce. During this conference acting committee members were elected (OSTZZM); Daniel Lackovič became the head of the committee. This was the official confirmation that Volkovce became the organising hub for the newly set up Regional Table Tennis Association for Zlate Moravce County. Daniel Lackovič also became the acting member of the “Regional Table Tennis Association” for the Nitra region.
TJ INOVEC Volkovce organised a historic 1st championship in table tennis on a county level for the entire Slovak Republic. The first winners for the doubles were brothers Ján and Jozer Červený from the CALEX team.
In the following season (1997/98), Ján and Jozer Červený joined the team as CALEX was dissolved; another new addition was František Mášik from the team TATRANA Topoľčianky (team TATRANA, was the leader in the region). These transfers significantly improved the game level, which was reflected in the results when the “A” team came third in class “I.A” and the “B” team won their II.B class in regional competition in Nitra. The individual player's competition took place in Čierne Kľačany, where the singles winner was František Mášik and the doubles winners were Viliam Nagy a Ján Červený.
In 1998 there was a reshuffle of table tennis competitions based on the new land registry restructure. The “A” and “B” teams were given the opportunity to play in the fifth league during the season of 1998/99, which is regional level, whilst the “C” and “D” teams were playing in the sixth league, the county level.
After the village hall was reconstructed in 1998 the conditions for table tennis training improved greatly. The “A” team only just missed the opportunity to move into the fourth league (it finished in third place), whilst the “B” team stayed in the fifth league (finishing 13th out of 19 competitors). The “C” team won the sixth league and “D” team finished third. The third Annual Zlaté Moravce County Championship took place in Volkovce again; all winning places were players from the Volkovce team. Ján Červený also won gold in singles and Štefan Kobes and Karolom Bokrošom in doubles.
To this date, the team plays a dominant role in the county and the region and it also successfully represents the region in West Country competitions.
In 2006 the team was joined by a father and son team of Mr Kováč, this again strengthened the team. Peter Kováč jnr. left the team to play 1st league for UKF Nitra and was very successful there. He returned to the team for the season of 2008/2009.
Since 2004 the team has regular friendly tournaments with players from the Austrian town of Tulln, alternating between meeting in Austria and Slovakia. This twinning was made possible by Mr Janko Ráchela from Psiare who works in Austria and also plays table tennis there. Thanks to this opportunity the team were able to compare their performance on an international level, as well as get to know a different culture and make friends. The team hopes this sporting relationship will continue for many years to come.
For the next season the key players on the team are the Červený brothers, Marián Laca, Fero Mášik, Vilo Nagy, Dano Lackovič, Luboš Bobok, Rasťo Chren, Peťo Komárek, Ivan Kuťka, Jožko Jurík and others. The team has been playing third, fourth, fifth and sixth league in the Nitra region and Zlaté Moravce county. In the season of 2014/2015 the team will only be playing fourth and fifth league as several players have left and the youngsters are not interested in the sport.
Daniel Lackovič
the head of table tennis
TJ INOVEC Volkovce
Austrian team from Tulln visiting Slovakia
For current results and standings please go to www.pinec.info
