During quarantine of last year, the long days flew by with the help of an unlikely addition: a ping-pong table. It was a spur of the moment eBay purchase by my dad, who doted on his childhood in Taiwan, where ping-pong is a popular pastime. My family started out as complete beginners, unsure of the paddle grip or even how the game is scored. After devouring hours of Adam Bobrow’s videos, we emerged as experienced beginners, dabbling in the world of spin-serves and decent backhands.

It was during one of our many back-and-forth rallies that my dad joked, “I think you’re good enough to try out for a team!”
I paused for a moment and realized… Arcadia High School (AHS) doesn’t have a table tennis team.

Our school devotes plenty of resources into other racket sports such as badminton and tennis, but for some reason, table tennis is not an option given to students. Creating an intramural team of semi-serious students should at least be considered. Forming a team has its benefits and drawbacks. For one, finding players who are interested wouldn’t be too hard. Given that ping-pong is commonly played for fun, many students would probably be willing to try their hand at it competitively.

The only real purchases needed for table tennis would be tables, paddles, and balls. Each of those items can be purchased relatively easily, with only tournament-grade tables being of any significant cost. The true question here would be where the money would come from?

Assistant Principal Mr. Keith Kerney said that funding for a team would most likely “depend on the situation.” Newer teams are typically supported with a school start-up fund. From there, it becomes up to the team members to fundraise for anything out of their budget.

Mr. Kerney also noted that teams can request funding from “the Booster Club, the Athletic Department, and even the school site.” The Booster Club is completely parent run and the money that they are budgeted to allocate comes from donations. Past graduating classes have “donated money for different projects”, so class of 2022, if you’re reading this…

But table tennis is also unique in that a match can be played in a small area. Unlike the full length court for basketball or the 100 yard football field, ping-pong players are easily satisfied with any indoor space. This means games have the flexibility of location, whether it be in the gym or the CTE. Multiple games can also be run concurrently since several tables can be set up in a single large space.

Another wonderful aspect of table tennis worth mentioning is that players are always social-distanced. Always! The long edge of a standard table is over eight feet, so no matter what position players stand in, they will be abiding by COVID safety rules.

Sophomore Petra Youssef got into table tennis over Thanksgiving break. She has a foldable table at home, and is open to the idea of a table tennis team.

“Ping-pong is a competitive sport so it’s fun to engage with your friends,” she said. “Because it’s competitive, you’re able to create bonds with your friends as you play.”

Youssef also doted on how AHS is very centered around tennis, which is a far more difficult sport to learn and play competitively.

In comparison, “table tennis is simpler to learn and you can play as long as you have a net and a table. Lots of people already play tennis, so learning [table tennis] wouldn’t be too difficult.”

Now, there are also drawbacks to adding a new team. Since no schools in the nearby area have table tennis teams, a theoretical AHS team would only be able to run school-wide games. By this definition, the team would be more like a serious club than a school-backed team. Though individual players could arrange to attend state/local tournaments, there are typically entrance fees charged per participant.

Another drawback would be limits to available tables. Unfortunately, table tennis is a sport that is best played atop a physical table. Unless AHS invests in a grandiose number of the tables, having to wait for a turn will be inevitable. If all surfaces are occupied, players may have to wait their turn until a spot opens up for them to practice. Dribbling against a wall or on the floor is doable, but not ideal.

In spite of this debate, ping-pong still remains a commonly played sport around the world. Adding it to the roster of AHS sports remains a question for a future date.

Photo courtesy of FREEPIK.COM