Starting a sports club at Weber State University runs in Jackson Bolos’ family. The Weber State University table tennis club is the third club started by a Bolos family member.
Bolos’ sister started the women’s lacrosse club, and his brother-in-law started the tennis club at WSU.
“I love ping-pong, and they had the knowledge to help me get it up and going,” said Bolos, table tennis club president. “The process of starting the club took three months and a lot of dedication.”
The sports club council approved the club on Oct. 11, making table tennis WSU’s newest sports club. The team will compete in the National College Table Tennis Association’s (NCTTA) Rocky Mountain division and will meet at 8 a.m. on Saturday mornings in the Wildcat Center gym.
“Because of how the process goes, it was tempting to quit halfway through it. With how many people wanted to play, it made it easier. I was doing it for them,” said Bolos.
The first practice as an official WSU club took place on the morning of Oct. 26 at the Wildcat Center in Ogden.
The club is open to anyone who has a desire to come and play for fun as recreation and also for anyone who wants to compete in tournaments, said Bolos.
Places to play ping-pong, or table tennis in Ogden are limited, said Bruce Majors, WSU table tennis coach.
With the club being a competitive and recreational club, it gives each member the choice coming to play for fun or practice and get better and compete against other schools.
“It’s a lot of fun to come out. You can get better quickly by learning techniques on how to hold the paddle and where to spot the ball on the table,” said Majors. “I’ve seen people that were pretty bad get decent by adjusting to proper form.”
Majors, two-time Utah summer games winner, helped start the table tennis club at the University of Utah in 2009 and has competed in the United States national tournament throughout his career.
Members of the club leadership participated in WSU’s block party at the beginning of the semester to attract the attention of students. At the block party, Colin Otteson, a student, saw the club with a table set up and signed up to join.
“I enjoy playing ping-pong, and I saw the table at block party and decided to see what it was about,” Otteson said. “I got a text about the practice and thought it would be fun.”
All members of the organization must pay dues: $60 for students and $120 for non-students to participate. The money received through membership dues and fundraisers will go toward new equipment.
A ping-pong tournament will be sponsored by the table tennis club at WSU for students to participate in. It will be a tournament where there will be a $5 registration fee. The winner will win a grand prize. Information will be made available when it’s available.
Bolos and Majors encourage anyone interested in table tennis to come have fun and learn a little more about how to play.
For more information about the table tennis club check them out on Facebook and at weber.edu/sportsclub.
