It has been played for over a hundred years in basements and game rooms across the world and now it has made its way to WS.
Seniors Daniel Wimmer, Troy Chaplin and Ryland Mortlock founded the WS Ping Pong Club after coming up with the idea over the summer. The plan was to create a club and environment for WS students to enjoy the game that the three have grown to love. Through hours of play they grew a strong friendship, and they hope to spread that comradery to the WS community.
“We play all the time,” said Chaplin. “We saw [the club] as a way to incorporate more people,”
The trio held their first meet November 17 in the cafeteria. Though they were all excited for the club’s maiden voyage, they were taken aback by the large turnout of the first meeting. With only one table available to begin the club meeting, large crowds gathered to watch intense matches.
“We are going to need more tables and better organization” said Wimmer.
By advertising around the school with a promise of pizza and drinks, as well as the power of word of mouth and social media (the Twitter account @WSVPP posts updates on meetings), the club garnered a crowd of over 70 students, all looking for some ping pong fun.
The club welcomes players of all skill levels to come improve their ping pong prowess while also having fun enjoying the sport. From the most inexperienced newcomer to the most seasoned competitor, the club can act as a training ground for players to hone their game against others with a similar skill set.
“[The club] is a good time,” said senior Ben Lowry “it helps the advancement of my skills and maturing of my game,”
Plans for tournaments are in the works as well in order to see who is the best in the club are in the works as well. Ping Pong is naturally a very competitive sport, crafted by hours and hours of ball handling, so a tournament to validate your hard work and skills would be welcome among players.
“I want to see how my game stands up to the competition,” said senior Andre Sobert.
Mortlock, Chaplin and Wimmer would also like to play open tournaments to other students who aren’t part of the club to test their skills, as well as playing other schools from around the area. As of now, there aren’t any schools up for the challenge, but the three are hoping to play some games soon
The captivating sport of Ping-Pong has captured the interest of many students at WS, some may even argue it’s the perfect sport.
“It’s a perfect marriage of passion and skill” said senior Sam Brown.