Focused and alert, Sophomore Matthew Luczkowski studies and watches intently as Junior Aiden Fraser smashes the little white ball across the table. Luczkowski is self-taught when it comes to ping pong. He learned all his techniques through watching others play. Now, sitting as one of the best players in the ping pong club, he proves himself worthy of club president.
The ping pong, or table tennis, club was just recently approved and set up earlier this September, and with it comes new opportunities to find community and competition at FHC. When trying to start a new club, there are quite a few challenges, but to these driven and passionate people, the challenge is nothing when it presents the chance to bond with others while doing something they love.
Their passion started here at FHC, where Aiden Fraser first started playing ping pong regularly in the mornings, and it came from a desire to hang out with some friends and have a great time.
“It was all my friends. Every single morning I would come into the library, me and my friends would hang out and play some ping pong,” Fraser said. “I came in here every single day freshman year.”
And so, with this foundation, Fraser decided to form a club. However, there are some unexpected struggles to starting something new; the same applies to making a brand new club.
“I was forced to make it by myself,” Fraser said. “The longest part was waiting for the student council to interview. There are [also] some requirements for a club, like you have to have at least 10 members sign. You have to have a sponsor, in this place it was Mrs. Flores, one of our beloved librarians.”
Whatever the challenge, Fraser had succeeded in creating a community—a community that thrives and inspires growth, pushing each member to be the best they can be. At the end of the year, they get to see if all their work paid off as they all battle for the title of the best, and for the presidency of the club for the next year.
“Every year, we start a competition to see who the new owner [of the ping pong club] will be,” Luczkowski said. “This is the first year of the ping pong club, so I have no idea how it will go.”
The creation of the ping pong club perfectly represents the clubs at FHC as a whole. Driven, dedicated people are making spaces for others just like them, making friends and rivalries that will stand the test of time. No matter what someone’s interest may be, they will always have a place at FHC.
