Table tennis club thrives at UW-Madison

When talking with Andrew Knips, team captain and coach of the UW–Madison Table Tennis Club, try not to confuse the sport of with the mere game of “pingpong.”

“‘Pingpong’ is what people play in their basements,” he says. “Hearing those words make me cringe. It makes table tennis sound like a game and not a sport.”

“I was interested in UW because I knew there was a club table tennis team nearby,” Knips adds. He started playing the “pingpong” version of the game at age 13, and is interested in giving others the opportunity to pursue their table tennis interests.

The sport is wildly popular worldwide, with an estimated 40 million participants. It has been featured in the Olympics since 1998. And it is definitely growing at UW–Madison.

Knips and other founders of club sports may have never guessed that in its third year, the team would be able to sustain three active teams with 60 members, and that tryouts drew 150 for a limited number of slots.

The UW–Madison table tennis club has three teams: two co-ed teams and one women’s team that regularly compete in local and regional competitions. The club will send a co-ed and a women’s team to the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association national tournament in Rochester, Minn., this weekend. Both teams that will be competing are ranked in the top 10 nationally.

“Few [schools] have recruited so much to have a women’s team,” Knips says. “We have enough players to fill all of the teams that the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association allows.”

The team used to play in a small space, with only three tables. Recently, it moved to an off-campus location at Blessed Sacrament Parish, 2116 Hollister Ave. in Madison, and uses a large gym with eight tables to play and practice on.

The goal is to continue to build interest and awareness of the sport and, one day, raise enough money to offer a scholarship to skilled players.

Despite the popularity, there is still a long way to go. Many people don’t know how to react when they hear about the UW–Madison table tennis team and all of its competitions, amount of practice and training, he says.

“The initial reaction is surprise and confusion,” he says. “Most people don’t know anything about it.”