The Rhode Island High School Table Tennis Championships were held in Manville and Bishop Hendricken would go on to repeat as champions.

The Hawks finished the regular season with an 11-0 record and would go 5-0 at the tournament, beating Toll Gate in the final, 3-0. 

Hendricken’s Alex Hopkins took a 2-0 (11-5, 11-4) win over Toll Gate’s Luke Goodine to give the Hawks the early advantage. Braiden Sawyer then took a 2-1 (11-3, 10-12, 11-9) victory over Toll Gate’s Will Goodine. Hendricken’s Alex Roberts came from behind to win 2-1 (13-15, 11-8, 11-6) over Parker Weldy to clinch the championship.

The team table tennis championships have been taking place in Rhode Island since 2016 but have expanded in recent years to also include teams from Massachusetts and Connecticut. 

Rhode Island has a rich table tennis history, with the Rhode Island Table Tennis Association having champions listed all the way back to 1937. Brown University has one of the most competitive collegiate programs in the country, while more high school teams than ever are competing. Hendricken has 50 players in its program.

Hendricken coach Steve Hopkins has been a key figure in the sport’s expansion in Rhode Island in the past decade and has hopes of one day bringing it to the varsity level in local high schools. Hopkins believes the appeal is that it’s relatively cheap to field table tennis teams and it’s a sport that can be played by people of all abilities. The RI Table Tennis Association also has a 501 (c)3 that rehomes tables to schools searching for them.

“My goal is to eventually get this inexpensive, highly accessible, Olympic sport into our schools as a varsity sport, like it is in New York City where all of their schools have table tennis. Table tennis is the perfect school sport, it’s one that big kids and small kids can play, there are rules for para players. It’s co-ed and if you’re disabled, there are ways that you can play,” said Hopkins. “It has that concept of being able to get a college scholarship, we have professional players, teams on the amateur side in the country as well.”

Although there is still work to be done in raising it to the varsity level, including the need for 50 percent of high schools to offer teams, Hopkins has been encouraged by the growth in recent years as nine RI schools competed at states.