As spring dawns on Haverford’s campus, students are meeting in the basement of the Dining Center to celebrate their love for a common game. Haverpong, the school’s new ping pong club, was newly founded this semester to provide students with a place to unwind, relax, and enjoy a game of ping pong, all while following health and safety protocols. They meet in the Dining Center basement every Wednesday and Saturday night, from 7 to 10 p.m.
“During club meetings, we casually play games, and when we have a lot of people–since we only have two tables to play on right now–we play King of the Court,” said Luke Mandel ‘24, a Haverpong co-head along with Aby Isakov ‘24. “There are also two pool tables in the DC basement that members play on when all the tables are full. We are open to the entire community, including Bryn Mawr students!”
Though right now, the group doesn’t plan to host any larger campus wide events due to the pandemic, in the future they hope to engage in some competitions, particularly with Bryn Mawr’s own team.
After becoming a club, Haverpong has additionally become an option for physical education credit in the year’s fourth quarter, thanks to the aid of Dean Mike Elias and Athletics Administrative Assistant Susan McCabe.
“Participating students have to play for three hours a week, either with a partner–that they could request, otherwise we pair them up by experience level–at the club meetings, at training sessions with one of the five of us in leadership, or a combination of any of these,” Mandel said. “The structure of the class may change once COVID is not an issue. We may even look into going varsity, but that is a ways off.”
The club is posting informational content to their Instagram account, which also includes videos of their matches and an active GroupMe link.
Anyone from the Bi-Co of any experience level is welcome to join Haverpong! Interested students can check out the club’s page on Engage, or contact Luke Mandel ‘24 or Aby Isakov ‘24. Meetings are on Wednesday and Saturday nights in the Dining Center Basement from 7 to 10 p.m.