A sport – not just a hobby - Lösnummer

A sport – not just a hobby

18 oktober, 2014, 14:48 Föreningsliv, International Lämna en kommentar

Chris is highly concentrated focusing on the plastic cup in front of him. One second he is not moving and standing still like a statue. Suddenly the ping pong ball in his hand flies over the table.
– No, he screams loudly and extended as the ball misses the plastic cup and Sophie and Michal from the opponent team tease him.
– When I play Beer pong I take it very serious, the 20-year-old Canadian explains.

Beer pong is a game played in coupled teams with the goal to throw a ping pong ball into one of the ten plastic cups of the opponent team. If one team scores, the losing team has to drink the beer in the plastic cup contains. The longer the tournament lasts the harder it gets to score, due to the alcohol consumption.

Nowadays, beer pong is well known among students all over the world. But the rules differ a bit from country to country. Which means when an international group of people is playing, the rules need to be set first.
– In Canada, for instance, it is allowed to take out the ball again, if it didn´t touch the beer yet. But girls have to take it out by blowing, guys with their fingers, Chris mentions and smiles mischievously.

From being just a hobby, a group of people at Örebro University achieved to be its own student society since fall 2012.
– We started as a part of Corax sexmästeri in October 2012, explains Nils Larsson, 25, chairman of the Beer pong Society and currently studying Digital Media design at Örebro University. We have almost 600 members in our Facebook-group. But we also have 71 paying members who support the society in many great ways, as well.

With the increase of the members, also the focus of the Beer pong Society shifted.
– Nowadays it’s not only about playing the noble college sport of beer pong, but about meeting people you might never have met, making new friends and hanging out with other students from different sections or classes. We want to be a meeting place for the students of Örebro University, says Nils.

At the moment, there are no international students or exchange students in the Beer pong society, but when one asks Chris from Canada, Sophie from Germany or Michel from Luxembourg, if they want to join the Beerpong Society, they all answer with the same passion and enthusiasm “Yes, definitely!”

/ Luise Röpke
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