Fill Your Cups

2 October 2020Jensa NG, Mackenzie ‘23; Photo by Sophie H, Hope '21

As the final wafts of wildfire smoke slipped soundlessly away and glints of sunlight streamed back onto the campus, students prepared themselves for the 2020 Brentwood College Water Pong Tournament of Champions.

Dressed in their most shocking attire, just under two-hundred Brentwood students enthusiastically made their way down to the Campbell Common. Perched on the Mack House balcony, I peered down on my fellow pong players, judging their costumes. From Jacob H & Tommy M’s scandalous Dragon and Nighthawk costumes, to Yudi A & Amy P’s cowgirl and horse-fit, it appeared the real reason for the shockingly high number of participants was the costume contest and a promise of pizza for the best attire. “I thought this was a really great way to get to meet new people while enjoying ourselves” said Lilli SE, Mack ‘23.

Don’t let the costumes fool you though, dear reader, the main event was actually the beloved tradition practiced by so many university students worldwide – beer, ahem, make that, water pong. Unlike those raucous, beer-guzzling age-of-majority university students, we at Brentwood are much more civilized and our object of the game is to knock our opponents out of the tournament by shooting a ping pong ball into all of their 6 cups of water.

Campbell Commons had been divided into four separate quarters, one for each brother-sister House cohort. Everyone was there, from top-level pong players such as Oscar L who insists he is “unbeatable”, to the less involved Erik L, who never left the corner where Ellis and Hope Houses met. Before long, the pong stadium was roaring. Games got intense, wagers were won and lost, and the poor RFAs became weary, by virtue of the plethora of games they refereed.

As winners climbed the ladder to pong stardom, only the best of the best remain, and are preparing to face off in the final games that will take place this coming Saturday. Mrs McLean encourages the school to “Come cheer on your favourite team”. Despite a disputed call or two that needed to be settled by VAR, at the end of the day, everyone walked home with a smile on their faces – even Evan M and Colten M, after they were upset by the underdogs – Oscar L and yours truly.

Rest your arms, fill your cups, and get ready for the big showdown. See you all on Saturday.

Jensa NG, Mackenzie ‘23

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