New Ping Pong Club at North Finds Success

Ping pong, or table tennis, as it is commonly known, is a fast growing sport accessible to people of all ages and athletic abilities. This year, Parkway North is joining this craze by starting its first Ping Pong club in December.

The idea of the club has been in the works by its founders for the past three years. However, according to physical education teacher Jessica Wheeler, co-sponsor of the club,  students have tried starting the club several times over the past 10 years.

Junior Roger Moses, who founded the club along with Joe Bao, Thanaphat Chananukul, and Harry Levin said, “We generated interest by talking with friends, advertising on social media, and putting posters up around the school. The last part was the hardest – finding tables.”

Eventually the group was successful in getting tables, as Parkway North now owns six ping pong tables, available for use by the club and in North’s PE classes.

“After enough bugging, [the St. Louis Table Tennis Club] finally…decided that they’d donate to us two of their older tables…we then did some simple math and decided that the entry fee for the club for the numbers we were expecting was $25. Finally, after some discussion with Mrs. Wheeler, she chipped in with the PE budget and we were able to afford three more tables, leaving us with six,” said Moses.

Now that the club has begun, it has amassed a steady following with 15 to 20 members consistently showing up to every meeting.

“Right now, we’ve got students that aren’t in season athletes, but any sport that incorporates hand eye coordination, they do well. Right now, we’ve got some soccer players, a couple baseball players, and a lot of tennis guys. There’s a lot of variety,” said Wheeler.

Moses said that the competition level of the club is casual and welcomes new members. They meet every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in the commons after school.

“It’s an easy game to pick up and you can play it until you’re 90,” said Moses.

By: Chaney Cooper  Sports Editor