A ping pong tournament in the Student Activities Center provided a welcome distraction for students heading into finals.
“I think it gives everyone time to relax, not worry about anything, and a chance to come out and play,” tournament participant Evan Johnston said.
“Even though it is a bit stressful at times with everyone watching because of just one table, it’s a great time to take your mind off things and compete.”
The recent tournament was the first sports event organized by the newly formed Student Athletic Advisory Committee and was run by committee member Hanna Anderson.
“S.A.A.C. is a student-athlete organization that has two representatives from each athletic team,” Anderson said.
“The goal is to bring issues we find within athletics to our administrators, as well as organizing events for the community and school.”
The event was also involved with the committee’s annual canned food drive, requiring $2 or a canned food item as entry fee.
“We really want to get our numbers up for the food drive this year, because it’s a competition between the ASUN schools in our conference,” Anderson said.
“We want to win this food drive just as much as we do our individual sports, because it goes to such a good cause with the Second Harvest Food Bank, so it takes a lot of planning to pull an event like this off.”
Student participants in the tournament were also appreciative of the fact that a less popular sport such as ping pong was able to be played in a tournament setting.
“It may not get as much money as the more popular sports, but it really brings a special crowd,” tournament participant Tucker Campbell said.
“For those of us who don’t play a ton of basketball and other intramural sports, it makes us feel welcome, and in a Division I school, it’s awesome to see the smaller sports represented.”
Most importantly, participants felt the tournament accomplished its goal of helping students during a stressful time of the year while also benefiting the larger Nashville community.
“It’s all about coming out, competing, and having fun with the other players out here,” Johnston said.
“It’s great hanging out with friends, and whoever wins gets the opportunity for bragging rights until the next one happens.”