You could say it started as an underground movement. Millions of people worldwide do it, but Americans rarely dare to in public. Then a couple of celebrities owned up to the habit, and enthusiasts nationwide took up the call.

Have you heard? Table tennis is bouncing out of the basement.

In June, Bud Light sponsored the Hardbat Classic, a three-day tournament and publicity blitz celebrating the sport as played with old-school hardbat paddles. ESPN will air the tournament this September; organizers have expressed hope the sport is "the next poker."

Jonathan Bricklin, Bill Mack and Franck Raharinosy, organizers of the Naked Ping Pong parties that took New York's TriBeCa neighborhood by storm in 2007, have opened SPiN New York, a Manhattan club dedicated solely to table tennis. The venture drew celebrity backer Susan Sarandon and was designed with contributions from the actress and designer Todd Oldham. It also boasts a VIP lounge dedicated to fashion and tennis icon Fred Perry.

How did this family rec-room game get so cool?

Mitchell Seidenfeld, program director of Table Tennis Minnesota, said he thinks the geeky sport's resurgence has to do with a trend he's noticed over the past 20 years or so: Acting uncool inevitably becomes kind of, well, cool.

SPiN draws celebrity players such as Matthew Broderick, Ed Norton and Judah Friedlander -- all actors who are cool for embracing their oddball ways.

Expect to be defeated

In the past five years, Minnesota has been experiencing its own table tennis renaissance. The state boasts several highly ranked table tennis players, including Seidenfeld, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist and member of the U.S. Paralympic team. (He also earned a spot at the Hardbat Classic.) He's noticed heightened interest over the past five years, particularly among younger players.

Last March, 14 teams competed in the fourth-annual Minnesota State High School Table Tennis Tournament, the biggest turnout since competition started.

Seidenfeld runs several weekly games, including Saturday tournaments at Lifetime Fitness in Fridley, which regularly draw 50 to 60 hard-core players. Seidenfeld recommends his weekday leagues for recreational players -- if you come on a weekend, expect defeat. One player, Preston Bush, drives in regularly from Fargo, N.D., to participate in the friendly but competitive games. At a recent Saturday tournament, there were several younger players, including Anh Ngo, 28; Gina Lin, 18; and Michael Tran, 7, who comes up from Rochester for the games.

Lin, one of the sport's few female players, has progressed from playing with her dad at home to the Junior Olympics, and is now a member of the University of Wisconsin-Madison table tennis team. She estimated that only 20 percent of players are female.

John Pieri, table tennis coach at Lakeville South High School, said he has no problem finding boys and girls to fill teams for the state tournament. "The kids look forward to it every year," he said, adding that he always has at least 60 kids try out for the school's state championship team.

Hip and accessible

The Hardbat Classic's promoters tried to tap into a younger demographic by playing up the sport's campy cool, and offering a whopping $100,000 grand prize. Meanwhile, SPiN's ultra-hip vibe has earned it articles in Vogue and New York magazine. Even without their kitchen or liquor license, Mack said, the club's been full every night. It's just a hip place to see and be seen.

"It's not all about table tennis," Mack said. "It's also about an aesthetic style. There's a whole fashion angle to it, as well."

As a game that focuses more on skills and technique than brute strength, it has appeal for athletes and nonathletes alike. Seidenfeld said former Minnesota Twins player Corey Koskie and hockey pros Stéphane Veilleux and Pierre-Marc Bouchard play it as a supplementary sport to improve focus and reaction time, and Pieri said his team roster regularly includes football and hockey stars, art students and those too shy to go out for other sports.

Bob Fox, a Metro State University professor and lawyer who has been the Olympic administrative leader and chaperone for four table-tennis delegations, said it's also one of the few sports where the top male, female, able-bodied and handicapped players can all compete together.

"Wheelchair vs. able-bodied, male vs. female, it doesn't matter," he said. "It's a sport where you can compete at any age and any level."

Seidenfeld said he certainly has no problem in finding new players. He'll restart the community leagues in mid-September, and anticipates more participation as people get excited about playing outside their homes.

Will the sport's popularity continue to grow? It's your serve, Minnesota.

Hayley Tsukayama • 612-673-7415