Orono has introduced a new club sport, table tennis. This is the first year of the sport at Orono. Schools like Wayzata, Bloomington Jefferson, Breck, and Benilde St. Margaret have already had table tennis teams and more schools are introducing it each year.

According to allabouttabletennis.com, table tennis became an Olympic sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Yoo Nam Kyu from Korea won gold in the 1988 Summer Olympics. No American has medaled in table tennis dating back to 1988.

At the 2012 London Summer Olympics, Zhang Jike from China won the gold medal in the Men’s Singles and Li Xiaozia, as from China, won the gold in the Women’s Singles. China has dominated the Olympics, winning the last two team gold medals.

Getting table tennis as a sport here was quite easy according to junior Dan Lensing, “ I asked permission from community ed and when they approved we started.”

The team consists of mostly juniors, seniors and one sophomore, 30 in total, but only 14 play in the matches. “You play for your rank in practice” said junior Alex Greenagel.

The table tennis team practices on Monday and Wednesday from 3:15 to 4:30 pm at the Orono Middle School.“We pretty just play each other or challenge each other,” said sophomore Nick Bacon.

Challenging is when someone challenges a player of a higher rank to elevate their own. “Challenges have to be approved by Mrs. Lensing,” said junior David Krolczyk. “She looks to see if you are good enough to play the next rank and to make sure it’s not their [challenger] fourth time or something like that.”

Mrs. Lensing, Dan Lensing’s mom, is not the coach of the team but more of a “supervisor” or manager. “She calls other teams’ managers and schedules matches and tournaments for our team.”

The team had their first match on Nov. 27 at Orono Middle School against Wayzata. They lost 7-9 but said they learned a lot out of the match and are ready for matches to come. “We were close but they were pretty good,” Bacon said. Orono plays their home matches at OMS in the common area on the first floor by the gym and cafeteria.

The table tennis team plays a little different then one would play with family or friends. According to pongworld.com, players play best three out of five, up to eleven for each game, alternate every two serves, and the “ball must be six inches in the air when serving. It’s kind of weird but that’s the rule.” said Greenagel. Scoring for the team’s overall score is quite simple. Each win earns one point to the team score.

The boys have matches coming up this weekend at Benilde St. Margaret. “We are looking for fans” Greenagel said.

To join the team next year, one can go to the community ed page on the Orono School District website and find the sign up there.

“It’s a lot fun. You can hang out with your friends, play some ping pong and it’s not too competitive if you are just in it for fun” Bacon said. “I would recommend it.”

According to Lensing, “Pong is about having fun and playing the great game. I highly recommend it to anyone who doesn’t do a winter sport.”

Pete Makarov is the Sports Editor for The Spartan Speaks