“Balls of Fury” took on a whole new meaning in the high school thanks to a few bored students and a Latin teacher.
Say hello to an all-new pingpong club.
In early December, 25 eager students gathered in the cafeteria to play the tabletop “sport,” junior and co-founder Eliot Fowler said.
Latin teacher Dr. Alan Corn, advisor of the new club, agrees that pingpong should be considered a sport.
“The way it’s played at the top levels around the world, it is incredibly demanding,” Corn said, adding that it’s “crazy” how talented the Chinese players are.
Fowler, who started playing pingpong when he was 6 years old, said that he plays a few times a week in cofounder and junior Brian Seckel’s basement. Fowler agrees that pingpong should be considered a sport, to such an extent that he is willing to argue the matter with anyone who disagrees.
Corn said that before the establishment of the club, Seckel would play “desktop pingpong” with sophomore club member Brian Yost using Latin books as paddles. When asked to be the advisor for the new club, Corn was happy to do it.
“I’ll just show up and watch for a little bit,” he said.
Corn said he did pretty well against Yost when they played at the meeting.
“I was focused,” Corn said. “As long as somebody can run after the pingpong ball, I can play. I need a pingpong caddy.”
Corn said that he began playing pingpong when he was 10 years old at a recreation center in Illinois. However, it was not until he was in high school that his dad bought him a table.
At the first club meeting, three tables were rolled into the cafeteria, Fowler said. He added that the scene was very hectic, and that games were played to 11 points. Yost said that the setup was informal and that people rotated between tables.
“This year, I think it’s just going to be a leisure club,” Fowler said, but also noted that they may be able to compete in future years.
Corn said that the club is not official by school standards. If the students become serious about it, they could actually create a team, he said.
First there would be intramural competition within the club, and then they could attempt to have meets against other schools, Corn said.
He added that he couldn’t seem to figure out what a “coach” would do as the leader of the pingpong team.
“I don’t think you lift weights,” Corn said. “You don’t run.”
Corn considers himself good at the sport, noting that good reflexes and anticipation are essential. He added that despite this, he’s still not as good as the Chinese.
Yost said that a good serve is important to being skilled at pingpong.
“The ability to develop spin is very important,” he added. Junior Rachel Tyroler recalls playing pingpong once and said that she’d join the new club if only she didn’t lack coordination.
“I almost broke my finger,” she said. “It was scary.”
Tyroler likes the idea of having a Bexley pingpong club.
“I didn’t know there were that many people interested in playing pingpong,” she said. “It’s really cool.”
Sophomore Jesse Vogel has played pingpong in the past,
“but not at the same level of excellence as the pingpong club,” he said.
Vogel said it’s good that people are making clubs for activities beyond the normal ones. He said he would consider joining the club, adding that it might be fun to try something new.
Junior Sam Brock, a member of the club, said that a meeting was held Jan. 9 to try to find a more permanent location.
Brock also said that club members will be e-mailing other schools regarding potential competitive play.
“It would be really cool to play with people we don’t usually play with,” he said.
Fowler said that most people like to play pingpong for leisure and to socialize.
He recommends joining the club to anyone who enjoys pingpong or who has some free time on their hands.
Yost recommends joining to those who can play at least decently.
“I guess I would consider it a sport, because it’s in the Olympics,” Yost said. “If curling’s a sport, then pingpong’s a sport.”