East’s table tennis club has grown rapidly since its creation in 2008 and is planning for even more activity this year

For a kid whose resume contains titles like, “varsity soccer three-year starter,” “National Merit Semifinalist,” and “Student Body President,” there’s a lot to be brought to the table when it comes to college applications. In senior Joe Craig’s case, all of those plus one other are in play— he’s the president and founder of the Shawnee Mission East Table Tennis Coalition of Champions (SMETTCOC).

In his mind, that leadership role was more than worthy to be the focus of the admissions essay he would send off to universities around the country.

Yes, this is just table tennis, but for Craig it’s more. After creating the club last year with junior Jeff Lefko, SMETTCOC grew to a size neither expected, with the picture in the 2008-09 yearbook being a testament to that statement. This year, though, the club has obtained three tables for on-campus use and has plans to grow in size and popularity even more.

All of this is at the hands of Craig and Lefko.

“Obviously the new tables have gotten kids really excited for how much more we can do this year,” Craig said. “We didn’t lose more than about five seniors from last year and we have a lot of new freshmen this year so it’s definitely growing in every aspect.”

One such way is through the introduction of tournaments at either East on the new tables Lefko acquired with funding from club t-shirt sales or at the Overland Park Racquet Club depending on the number of players signed up. According to Lefko, the club’s “ladder”— a list of rankings for every player— was up to 80 last year and is expected to be at 100 within the next month. On that ladder the higher ranked players could have more opportunities for competition.

“Last year some other schools toyed with starting table tennis clubs, but we know for a fact this year there will be a few, so that can provide some outside competition,” Craig explained of the tournaments him and Lefko hope to organize. “Different things could happen with that; we could put our top five against their top five and have a team match or we could just meet and have open table competition. Anything to get people more involved.”

That, Craig feels, is what SMETTCOC is all about. If kids just want the t-shirt, he’s cool with it. If kids just want to come to the meetings and hang out with a bunch of people hitting a lightweight ball over a net, he’s cool with it. If they’ve only played the sport once or twice in their life but think it sounds like something they want to be a part of, he’s cool with it. In his mind there’s no way you could say no to anyone wanting to participate.

The top of the ladder sees competition from the likes of seniors Jason Bates, Peter Chow and Jack Walker but the lower half consists of some of those players who simply enjoy the environment.

“I think I take a more social role in the group. I’m not as good as these guys but I still like to play,” senior Brooks Anthony said of his involvement. “It’s just the attraction of playing table tennis with some of my good friends regardless of whether I lose or not that keeps me coming back.”

Anthony, who currently plays football, is in the same boat as Craig in that a fall sport has gotten in the way of how much they would have liked to contribute so far. Starting this month SMETTCOC will be having meetings every Thursday to keep players moving up and down the ladder based off their wins and losses and to promote awareness of the club’s activities.

“-For at least an hour after school, the tables will be out, it’s open play,” Lefko said. “You just write your name down and you can start playing.”

The next two weeks will be “ladder play” in which anybody can go to play to receive their rank on the ladder. Based off their positioning, they may be invited to a tournament to kick off the year that Jeff and Joe hope to host at the Overland Park Racquet Club.

“It will be an all weekend kind of thing, kind of like the NCAA tournament,” Lefko said.  “This is one of the biggest things we’re planning so 64 people in the club will get invited to compete.”

With an amount of players as high as that, it’s hard not to consider it a team. But according to Craig, he’s happy with just the “club” status rather than “club sport” title. Plus a team has to make cuts, and SMETTCOC prides itself on welcoming involvement from anyone in the school.

Being STUCO executive president, Craig has a vision to possibly have a fundraiser where anyone in the school could come and play a match in the hall during seminar. Donations could be accepted and contributed towards a good cause that only furthers the club’s hope to welcome more members. After all those new members will one year be the Lefko or Craig of the club.

“I make sure that there are a lot of people in it in every grade, Lefko said of his hope for its continuation after he’s graduated in 2011. “I just want it to be that there are people that really love ping pong and want to be in the program.”

After all, when the junior-senior tandem started the group with Mr. Ogdon last school year, they were new to it, too. They’re experienced now, though, and sit near the top of the ladder so far. Despite that, they’re just two more students in the mass of many who have found SMETTCOC as a growing club they can connect with.

Whether or not they connect with it so much they decide to write their college application essays on it, though, that’s a different story.