The night of January 13 was marked by a series of friendly competitions at RM as students put their water pong skills to the test in Pong for Patients. The purpose of this event was not only for students to have fun after a long day at school, but also to raise money for charity through Pennies for Patients.

A double elimination tournament, the competition consisted of a winner’s and loser’s bracket with 17 teams of RM students from all grade levels. The rules were simple: teams who lost once were not immediately eliminated, preventing them from being easily discouraged.

Although participants had to pay $10 for tickets, there were several opportunities for students to win tempting prizes. These prizes consisted of Amazon and Starbucks gift cards given to the team that had the Best Costume and, of course, the winning team. Teams avidly took up the challenge in the costume competition, dressing up in a variety of different costumes, including basketball players, Mario, Princess Peach, and Toad.

Throughout the games, a DJ played upbeat music in the background to fire up all the participants, and soon everyone was on their feet and dancing. According to schoolwide SGA President Sofia Bhalwani, “During the costume competition, the DJ played different music for every pair based on their costumes, and it was so funny. Since I dressed up as Mario, the DJ played a Mario theme song and everyone danced to it.”

Moreover, in addition to its exciting, competitive aspect, Pongs for Patients raises money for Pennies for Patients, an organization that promotes a nationwide fundraiser to help the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

As Bhalwani noted, “We’re trying to reach our goal of raising $8000 for Pennies for Patients, which is our highest goal of the past year so far. We have a whole cohesive plan, including a bunch of car washes and bake sales. Pongs for Patients was a part of our fundraising plan.”

Seniors Gaby Philips and Alec Hall were the winning team of both the pong competition as well as the costume competition. In the pong game, they held the best record of 4-0, allowing them to advance to championships. However, the water pong competition came with an exception; a loophole called “redemptions” allowed the losing team one final chance to score a shot after all cups had been knocked down. Nonetheless, this rule did not hinder Philips and Hall from winning the tournament.

“We made it to the finals where we played a team we had beaten before. So, they had to beat us twice to win. They won the first round, so we were tied. The second round was extremely close, but we eventually beat them to get the title,” said Philips.

“The event was just so awesome and it was cool to play against so many teams. Winning was cool but we didn’t go into the event expecting to. Gaby and I both received Amazon gift cards, which were both greatly appreciated!” Hall said.

Although this year’s Pongs for Patients event has already passed, both the SGA members as well as past competitors encourage students to participate in next year’s event. Although turnout slightly dipped this year compared to last year’s competition, the event was both action-packed and invigorating.

“The competition was really fun because everyone was really good-spirited. I encourage more people to come next year,” Bhalwani said.

“I definitely think that more people should come to Pongs for Patients next year so there are more teams to compete against. This event will truly be a beneficial experience to everyone because you get to play pong, dance to music, and donate to charity while having fun,” junior Esika Savsani added.