Propped up on its hind legs behind the B building, the table tennis table attracts a group of around five to six people. Despite the cold, drizzling weather, the club still finds time to meet almost every other Friday at lunch, hauling their table tennis board out of the Biology supply closet to set up behind B108.

With the smaller club size of this year, where the most people that have showed up to a meeting was around 11, it comes as a bit of a shock that a few years ago, the club was much bigger — with four tables. The officers aren’t sure what exactly happened to the tables, citing ideas that someone could’ve robbed them or the rain could’ve destroyed them — but all they know for sure is that their four tables have diminished in number to one.

But this year, even 11 members showing up for one game can get complicated, as public relations officer junior Victor Ho explained. With only one table, the club can’t support the chaos of having many members come to each of their meetings, waiting for their turn to play. But, despite the possibility for chaos, Ho still tries to grab everyone he can on his way through the hallways between his fifth period and the backside of the B building.

“If I see someone that looks like they’re not doing anything during lunch I say, ‘Hey, there’s a table tennis meeting today. Want to come? It’s just playing during lunch,’” Ho said. “Somehow we get more people just by saying that there’s something to do during lunch.”

He remembers the times he first came to the club. He was invited by one of the previous officers of the club in his sophomore year, when the officer found him sitting alone eating his lunch and not really doing much else. When the officer prompted him, he eventually joined the club and became a regular member.

But that’s not the case for the club’s president junior Spencer Zou, who sought out the club his freshman year at school as per his sister’s recommendation, since he enjoyed sports. Now, as president, he enjoys watching the members play and have fun amongst themselves, reminiscing his own memories with the club.

On Halloween, Zou brought a bag of candy to give to the members, giving each of the winners one at the end of a game. But as the bell rang to signify the end of lunch, Zou put down the bag of candy and turned around to begin cleaning.

When he turned back, it was to a somewhat betrayed surprise. All of the candy was gone.

The officer team has had their fair share with problems with the club. For one, the entire team is comprised of juniors, and with the weight of their coursework and extracurricular activities, it has been difficult for them coordinate with each other.

But they have a lot of memories with the club — for the two officers, the best part of the club is what it has to offer for them. To Ho, table tennis gives him a time to feel calm and relaxed because he gets a chance to laugh around the table with others — a stress reliever from the rest of the day.

“At no point in that are we thinking like oh my god I have a test next period,” Ho said. “It’s just a place for me relax and calm down after some hectic school day.”

For others, the sport offers a chance at trying something different. Public Relations officer sophomore Amit Palekar finds the sport as a chance to interact with other people and play a sport where practice can lead to mastery, even without much athletic ability.

He played the sport in India in fifth grade, playing for the state tournament at his school — a tournament where many different schools met up to compete for table tennis. Although he had a bit of a struggle joining the club, as the officers of that year misspelled his name, he finds himself at the club meetings, enjoying the sport.

With that, the two continue trying to improve the club. With enough money in their budget to buy another board, Zou sees that as a future step to increase the amount of members that the club could have.