Due to Covid-19, social activities are harder than usual to come by this semester, so I thought it would be worth putting our game room to good use by starting ping pong tournaments.
Ping pong is perfect for these times of social distancing, as it requires only two people at a time with plenty of space in between them. There have been two tournaments so far and both were big hits among the residents who were able to get in before the spots filled up. We run a double-elimination style bracket, with matches to eleven points, where players still have a chance to make the finals even if they lose early. The tournament's final match is played to twenty-one points, so there is no mistake in who was the best player that day. The game room provides the ideal place for a ping pong tournament because there is also a pool table, music and plenty of places for people to sit and watch while they aren’t playing. Luckily for us, our program director Sophie was able to distribute the much-needed funds to resupply our ping pong ball and paddle stock. The older items had taken a beating over the months and years previous, so it was great to get some quality equipment before putting on a competition like this. The next steps to make these events even better would include acquiring a prize for the winner and making the tournament happen every month. I’m still holding out hope that I’ll win one of these eventually, but after losing in the finals to two-time champion Ian, it’s clear that it’ll be difficult. One of these days, someone else will claim the crown of best ping pong player in Bowles Hall, but for now, this title belongs to Ian.
- Jacob