The Colorado Mesa University (CMU) club table tennis is a fun and inclusive team that anyone can join. The club is one of the least expensive sports on campus; each player only has to pay a $100 fee that goes towards uniforms, registration and for tables.
“It’s highly, highly competitive and everyone is trying to better each other with our skills. It’s always super fun, and no one ever leaves feeling bad about themselves or about how they played that day. It’s always a good time, and I always look forward to going to [practice],” junior environmental science major Claire Strickland said.
Some players have used the skills they gained to stir up long-time family rivalries.
“My dad used to beat up on me and my brother all the time growing up. It was the second week of school my freshman year, and I saw a flyer for the table tennis club. I had this great idea to play with the club the whole semester, and not tell my brother or anyone until we got home for Christmas and played. I beat them up a little bit, so that was pretty fun ,” senior exercise science major and team captain Rowyn Carmichael said.
Table tennis is unique in that it is mostly egalitarian. While men and women play in separate brackets, there are no physical advantages to being stronger or bigger, and both sexes can play competitively.
“You don’t have to be a traditional athlete. It really emphasizes quickness, speed and movement. People who may not excel at basketball or football can really excel at table tennis, because they are small and quick. It’s a great game for all ages and abilities,” head coach Mike Meens said.
The club is a member of the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) which is a governing body similar to the NCAA, but is exclusively for table tennis.
The team just completed their fall Rocky Mountain West Divisional tournament against the University of Utah and Weber State College. NCTTA member schools compete in fall and spring tournaments to determine who will qualify for the regional and national tournament. The school who performs best during both league tournaments gets the regional bid, as well as individuals who excelled.
Carmichael finished the tournament with an impressive 5-1 record. Sophomore biochemistry major Ashley Kellams and Strickland both went 3-3 respectfully.
Last spring, however, two CMU players made the regional tournament. Strickland and sophomore biochemistry major Ashley Kellams qualified after they finished in first and second place, respectively, in the spring divisional tournament. Strickland and Kellam got a chance to hone their skills against the best of the best.
“The best schools are in California, and they have players there who have been Olympians and play at extremely high levels. We had two girls who went to regionals because they were the best two who competed here. They played Angela Guan [from the University of California, Berkeley] who was a US National Team member,” Meens said.
Like most club sports, the table tennis team has to be proactive with recruiting, since they are not able to give out scholarships.
“We take advantage of the tables at The Point, so if we see some good players over there, we might invite them to come out and practice with the team in advance. We also put out flyers and recruit through word-of-mouth,”Meens said.
The team has limited space to practice, however. They are currently cramped to three tables in the Hamilton Recreational center, which has the same dimensions as just one table in competition.
The team looks forward to the completion of the Maverick Pavilion construction. The project will give them enough space to move around adequately, which will help improve their skills.
Their next tournament is penciled to be next spring where they will get one more chance to qualify for the 2023 NCTTA West Regionals.