Last Thursday the program recreation class hosted a campus-wide Ping-Pong tournament for all levels of expertise in the Fieldhouse Lobby. The three divisions were recreational, intermediate and advanced, with the first, second and third place winners of each division winning a gift card to Chipotle Mexican Grill bought with the budget provided by their program recreation course for their on-campus projects.

The competition drew 65 participants, including not only on and off-campus students, but several professors, alumni and current seminar students as well.

“We wanted to create a fun and social event that would engage students and let anyone get involved,” said Brianne VanBuren, one of the hosts of the Ping-Pong tournament. “Our goal was to find a way to introduce students to each other and find an activity that was competitive but also casual enough to be a social event simultaneously.”

VanBuren, along with Carly Ackerman and Natalie Medic, hosted the project as part of an on-campus project for their program recreation course. “We were nervous at first, but once more students signed up and people began to show interest in the tournament, we became really excited about the event,” Medic said.

The Calvin College Fieldhouse provided the 6 Ping-Pong tables needed to run the tournament. All of the tables were occupied from start to finish, whether it was actual games or friendly matches being played on the side. “The actual event ran from 7:30-9:30p.m., but we arrived 2 hours early to set up and see if any students passing by wanted to do a last-minute sign-up,” explained VanBuren. “We had about 10 extras join in right before the tournament began.”

Each student was responsible for signing up in the division that he or she thought their skill level fit best in to. The hosts had a giant white board set up for the most competitive class to display the rankings. “Some of the students were really good at Ping-Pong. We had no clue it would get as competitive as it did. They even brought their own paddles,” said VanBuren.

For those who hope to be a part of this the next time around, keep following along with what the program recreation class is up to around campus.