Club of the Month: Ping Pong Posse

By Jason Sun

The USC Table Tennis club calls themselves the Ping Pong Posse ... and they have the shirts to prove it.  This college club began in 2002 when senior theatre major and current actor Adam Bobrow and his friend, Angad Singh, decided that it was time that the University of Southern California have a place where table tennis enthusiasts of all levels can conglomerate and test their skills against one another.  It was a huge hit and the club had over 400 people on its interest/contact list.  Unfortunately, the school only had to offer two old, worn Kettler tables with saggy nets and only a small carpeted area in which to play.  After Bobrow’s graduation, freshman Jason Sun and Hugh Nguyen took over as presidents of the club. 

Being the business majors that they were, Jason and Hugh took a business approach to building the club.  After investing a few thousands of dollars into new tables and offering instruction to its members in lieu of a massive campus advertising and recruiting campaign, the club grew its membership base and started really taking off. 

Hugh has since retired from a management position in the club, but under the leadership of Jason Sun and his current cabinet of officers (Jordan, Chloe, Connie, Dennis, Jaydi, Vega and Imran), the club now has collegiate men’s and women’s teams which are ranked second and sixth in the nation respectively. The club now has twelve Killerspin tables (the club/team sponsor).  They have since moved out of the little carpeted area and into a full-sized gym.  The new USC Ping Pong Posse league plays every Thursday with cash prizes for the winners. 

The Ping Pong Posse is one of the hippest collegiate clubs in Southern California with a fun, welcoming environment and cool apparel for its members including “booty” shorts and “Ping Pong Princess” shirts for its female members.  You’ll often see the posse bring 10, 15, 20 players to major tournaments, all sporting their USC Ping Pong Posse shirts and shorts.  Are you part of the Posse?  The Posse is open to the public and they have a website at www.pingpongposse.com.  High school students who are avid players of competitive table tennis should email posse@usc.edu if they would like to be considered to be recruited to the school team, getting a boost for their college application to USC.  Look for scholarships within the next five years!