Jim Beckford
2014
Jim Beckford began coaching table tennis players with disabilities in 1973 with just three athletes at the Bulova School in New York. Over the next several decades, his influence would help shape the sport in the United States and beyond. He went on to coach seven Hall of Fame table tennis players — Ken Brooks, Ruth Rosenbaum, Rich Rosenbaum, Tyler Kaus, Bart McNichol, Jennifer Johnson, and Sebastian DeFrancesco — as well as virtually every national and international Team USA player since that time. Jim was not only a coach but also an event organizer, head coach, and International Technical Classifier. His dedication extended beyond elite competition — he ran training camps for disabled veterans and organized clinics at both local and national events, including the Dwarf Athletic Association National Games.
Later in 1973, Jim was appointed Tournament Director of the National Wheelchair Games’ table tennis events in New York. That same year, he began coaching Team USA, which included notable players such as Michael Dempsey, Gary Kerr, and John Gray. Jim served as Head Coach for the U.S. Table Tennis Team at the 1980 Paralympic Games in Arnhem, Holland. In 1982, he coached Team USA at the World Championships at the Stoke Mandeville Games. Two years later, in 1984, he again led Team USA’s table tennis athletes at both the Paralympic Games in England and the ISOD Games in Long Island, New York.
Jim continued to represent Team USA internationally, serving as coach at the Austrian Open Table Tennis Championships in Vienna in 1985 and joining the New Jersey Wheelchair Athletic Association as a coach for both junior and adult programs in 1986.
In 1987, he coached a 24-athlete Team USA delegation at the World Wheelchair Table Tennis Championships in Brisbane, Australia. The following year, he led Team USA at the 1988 Paralympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. In 1990, he returned to Europe to coach at the World Championships in Assen, Holland, and in subsequent years served as coach for the Pan American Table Tennis Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta. In 1999, he coached Team USA at the Pan American Games in Mexico City.
Following his distinguished coaching career, Jim became a Table Tennis Classifier, working multiple tournaments, including the Costa Rica Open and the Pan American Table Tennis Championships in San Juan, Costa Rica.
Jim Beckford’s contributions to the development, professionalism, and accessibility of wheelchair table tennis were immeasurable. His lifelong dedication helped establish Team USA as a global force in the sport and created opportunities for generations of athletes with disabilities to thrive.