Meet Paralympian Jenson Van Emburgh 🏅
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Season 2: Episode 81 Description
The Ten News Gets Extra: 🏅 Ten News head writer Ryan Willard sits down with Jenson Van Emburgh to talk about his experience as a Paralympic champion. ✔️ Fun Fact Check: these were the first materials used in the first game of table tennis ever played. And, test your Paralympian knowledge on today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅
Sources
History of Table Tennis (tripod.com)
Links
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TRANSCRIPT:
Ryan Willard 0:02
Whoa, Bethany great shot. You're good at this.
Bethany Van Delft 0:05
Hi. Thank you, Ryan. You're not so bad yourself. Hey, what's up Tessa?
Tessa Flannery 0:10
Oh, are you guys playing ping pong?
Ryan Willard 0:11
You can call it ping pong, but we are playing table tennis. And that's game, Bethany!
Tessa Flannery 0:19
Wait, what's the difference between ping pong and table tennis?
Bethany Van Delft 0:22
I'm so happy you asked Tessa. We've got a Paralympic table tennis bronze medalist stopping by today, and he can explain it to you. I'm Bethany Van Delft. It's Saturday, March 5th, and this is the Ten News Gets Extra.
Sound Bit 0:36
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bethany Van Delft 0:44
Let me ask you, did you know that in the United States, all kids, regardless of ability, are entitled to free public education. This right is guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, also known as IDEA. During the COVID 19 pandemic, many schools weren't providing the services that helped make education accessible for students with disabilities and special needs. So federal education officials have been reminding schools that all students have a right to education. Regardless of the challenges schools faced during the pandemic, the Department of Education sent out reminders to schools to provide compensatory services, which means anything that a student needs in order to regain lost skills and make progress in learning. So this could mean more time with a speech or a physical therapist or extra tutoring in subjects like math and reading. And the good news in New York State. Governor Holcomb just announced big investments into education and resources for kids with disabilities and their families. More funding means more and better services. So hopefully other states will follow New York's example. Kudos New York. Now let's head to our interview with Paralympian Jenson Van Emburgh. Jenson sat down with Ten News head writer Ryan Willard, take it away Ryan.
Ryan Willard 2:12
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, humans of all ages, races, and genders. Hailing from San Antonio, Texas, and representing the United States Paralympic team. He won the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Please welcome, Jenson Van Emburgh.
Jenson Van Emburgh 2:33
Thank you so much for having me. Really. It was an honor. Appreciate it.
Ryan Willard 2:39
Of course, Jensen. Welcome. Welcome, my friend. So first of all, can you tell us who you are, where you're from? And what do you do?
Jenson Van Emburgh 2:47
Well, my name is Jensen, America. I'm now from San Antonio, Texas training full-time. And I play table tennis for the US and travel internationally.
Ryan Willard 3:00
And so you are the bronze medal winner at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games? That's correct?
Jenson Van Emburgh 3:06
Yes. Yes.
Ryan Willard 3:07
That's first of all amazing. Can you tell us about your disability and how it affects your life?
Jenson Van Emburgh 3:13
So my disability is spinal cord injury, which means that I'm injured from my armpits down. So I can't walk. I've trouble, things with the bathroom. And of course, I use a wheelchair for my everyday life instead of walking on my feet.
Ryan Willard 3:33
And can you tell us other proper words to use when describing disabilities for people? And why should we use them?
Jenson Van Emburgh 3:41
I think we should just use them to create more awareness and kind of educate people to have a better understanding that everybody is different in every disability is the same as the other person even though we both have spinal cord injury, we both probably have different things that we struggle with, or have to deal with, to overcome every day.
Ryan Willard 4:11
What's the difference between table tennis and ping pong? And how did you get into the sport?
Jenson Van Emburgh 4:17
I guess the big difference is the training every day, the equipment that you use, I mean, I trained about three to four hours almost every day with my coach, two sessions each day and it's just a lot of hard work. I feel like ping pong is more you kind of do it for recreation in your basement or in your garage.
Ryan Willard 4:38
So Table Tennis is like the high-level professional, Olympic Paralympic sport of it. Yeah. And how did you go from being just regular Jensen Van Emburgh, a regular player to being one of the best in the world and representing the US at the Paralympics?
Jenson Van Emburgh 4:57
I think the main thing was me Just working really hard every day leading up to Tokyo I have a new coach named Vlad Farkas. He is probably the best coach I've worked with. He's taken my game to another level and we just really just worked every single day except the weekends because I need you to know, rest so I don't hurt my body. But I mean, we worked so much a whole year before the Paralympics and really just improved my game and worked on things that I knew I could improve.
Ryan Willard 5:34
Jenson, I've never been to anything with the letters "lympic" in it. I've never competed in them. I've never gotten to watch them. What are the Paralympics like to attend and also to compete in?
Jenson Van Emburgh 5:47
the Olympics and the Paralympics are just just a different level of, of like competing in a sport, like the level and the stage and everything. Everybody has their eyes on that. So it's a lot of pressure, but it's also a really a big honor to be able to represent my own country at such a high stage.
Ryan Willard 6:10
How does the competition in the Paralympics work with something like table tennis, right? So if you have your disability and you do you go up against people with similar disabilities? Or is it broken up into classes or ranks? How does that work?
Jenson Van Emburgh 6:26
So they break it up into wheelchairs, they break it up into five disability classes. So I'm class three, so I'm kind of in the middle. And they what they do is kind of just sort everyone that is similar to your disability, even though there still is a really pretty big range between, you know, the top-class three in the bottom class three, but it's still, I mean, it's never going to be perfect. But it's, they just try to get as close as possible. So you're not playing somebody that is way less disabled than you
Ryan Willard 7:06
Got it. So you would never play someone like Toa Leibowitz, right, since a wheelchair, it's only wheelchair people that you're competing against. Got it. Okay. Thank you for clarifying that action. Never knew that.
Jenson Van Emburgh 7:19
And I would have no chance against all anyway. So I'm happy. It's like that. So.
Ryan Willard 7:24
What's the best part of being at the Paralympics as a competitor?
Jenson Van Emburgh 7:27
I think the best part is that I'm there representing my country. You know, the United States of America?
Ryan Willard 7:34
Well, you've already been to the Paralympics, you've won a bronze. What are your next goals? And how do you plan on achieving them?
Jenson Van Emburgh 7:42
So my next goal is I'm leaving to the Spanish open next month, actually, one month from today, for a tournament and then also later in the year is my biggest goal, which is the World Championships that I will be participating in. And that will also take place in Spain in November. So that's what I really have my eyes on this year.
Ryan Willard 8:05
That's very exciting. I'm going to wish you the best of luck, and I'll be following the watch and see how you do I'm cheering you on. Now, here at the 10 news, we do something where we talk about what we call groundbreakers. They're the people that paved the way for you to do what you do today. Do you have any people that have inspired you or that you feel paved the way for you to be who you are today?
Jenson Van Emburgh 8:28
I think I have a few athletes that inspire me, of course, my favorite athlete of all time Rafael Nadal tennis player. I mean, I take so much from him, from his hard work to his determination, to never giving up but even when you get injured, or you have, you know, a setback, always to overcome it. So, I also look up to Mike Dempsey, he's one of the greatest table tennis, Paralympic table tennis players of all time. And I've been told that when I was younger, that I looked a lot like him when I was starting out playing and they actually had two photos and compare them and it was a really big similarity. So the family really appreciated that as you know, Mike Dempsey passed away many, many years ago, and I actually played my first tournament at the Mike Dempsey Memorial. So that is, who else I also looked up to from USA table tennis.
Ryan Willard 9:27
So we are going to jump into a little segment that I call serious and not so serious questions. This is about as intense as probably your last match at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Just so you know. And you want to answer as fast as you can. If you get any answers wrong. Or if you hesitate. I will send you a four-pound bag of glitter inside your next birthday card. Do you understand?
Jenson Van Emburgh 9:53
Okay, I understand.
Ryan Willard 9:54
Yeah. Glitter gets everywhere. Just say no. Okay, Alright, seriously not so serious questions with Jensen. First question besides table tennis, what are you better at than most people?
Jenson Van Emburgh 10:07
Video games.
Ryan Willard 10:08
What games?
Jenson Van Emburgh 10:10
Fortnight.
Ryan Willard 10:11
Oh, would you rather be stuck in a closet that smelled like dog farts or in a closet? That sounded like cat screams?
Jenson Van Emburgh 10:20
Dog farts.
Ryan Willard 10:21
Whoo. Okay. Pancakes or waffles?
Jenson Van Emburgh 10:26
Waffles.
Ryan Willard 10:27
What celebrity? Would you like to play table tennis with?
Jenson Van Emburgh 10:31
Rafael Nadal
Ryan Willard 10:33
What's your favorite movie?
Jenson Van Emburgh 10:35
Fast and Furious Seven.
Ryan Willard 10:36
Who is your favorite summer Paralympian?
Jenson Van Emburgh 10:38
Summer Paralympian? I would say? Tao Lebowitz.
Ryan Willard 10:43
Totally, the guy's a legend? Okay, what came first? The ping pong paddle or the ping pong ball?
Jenson Van Emburgh 10:50
Paddle.
Ryan Willard 10:51
Are you sure? Yes. Okay, I think that's correct. I can't verify cuz no one actually knows. Do you wear your bronze medal when you compete in table tennis matches?
Jenson Van Emburgh 11:03
Oh, no way. It's way too heavy. I don't want to sound cocky or anything, but it is way too heavy to be able to play it. Doing table tennis, no way.
Ryan Willard 11:15
What's the weirdest place that you've ever worn your bronze medal?
Jenson Van Emburgh 11:19
I mean, when I first got it, I wore it everywhere. I went to Tokyo. So literally, everyone saw that I passed by so I guess that was kind of weird because I kind of wanted the attention for once.
Ryan Willard 11:34
It's not weird at all. If you That's all I'd say is if you got the bronze medal. Jenson, you got to be wearing it, bro. Like, you know, scary that would be to be facing someone who's literally wearing a medal around their neck. It's intimidation, my friend. You should think about this last question. Why do you always beat me in table tennis?
Jenson Van Emburgh 11:50
Maybe because I train a lot and I play almost every day. I think that kind of helps me be pretty good at table tennis and to beat you.
Ryan Willard 12:02
Yes, you beat me every single time we play, but apparently, it's because you train harder and you probably are much more talented than I am. Jenson. Thank you so much for stopping by the Ten News. You were an absolute legend. Thank you so much for sharing everything you did today. Anytime my friend Bethany, we're gonna go back to you.
Bethany Van Delft 12:24
Thanks for joining us, Jenson, and good luck on your journey to the 2024 Paralympics. And Ryan, good luck crushing this snack table. You know you want to. Did you know that the first table tennis paddles were the backs of cigar boxes? And the balls were champagne corks? And the net was just some books piled up on a table how industrious while the Victorian English people played an indoor version of tennis using whatever they had around until it became so popular that manufacturers started making special game equipment. Have you ever created any games out of stuff around your house? You know, we want to hear about it. Visit thetennews.com/contact and let us know. We want to play. Next up, it's time for...
Sound Bit 13:18
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 13:21
Trivia on the Ten. The most successful Paralympian of all time is US athlete Trischa Zorn. She has 46 medals in total and competed from 1980 to 2004. Can you guess her sport? Is it a) swimming b)running? or c) skiing? Did you guess it? The answer is a) swimming. Trischa Zorn has won 32 gold medals, 9 silver medals, and 5 bronze medals. She was born blind and was the first visually impaired athlete to win a division I scholarship in 1988. She was nominated for Sports Illustrated Woman of the Year and she went on to teach in inclusive education meaning differently-abled students and typically developing students are in classrooms alongside one another, celebrating and learning from each other's differences. I mean, that's how it should be. That's all we've got for today. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to the Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a coproduction of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is in a heated table tennis tournament and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Ryan Willard, Tessa Flannery, and Natalie Alonso. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft, and thanks for listening to the Ten News. Now I'm gonna go grab a plate and an avocado pit and see if I can't get a table tennis game going. Want to serve Ryan?
