Today we’d like to introduce you to Tripp Roche
Hi Tripp, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started playing table tennis in my garage against my dad during the COVID-19 pandemic. It got really competitive and I eventually found myself visiting a local Table Tennis club. Over the next few years, I fell in love with the sport of Table Tennis, otherwise known as ping-pong. The reason I started this venture is because I ended up not getting into my dream school, the university of South Carolina. Therefore, I was not eligible to play for their Table Tennis club team. In June 2024 decided to open up my own club and give back to the local Table Tennis community. I called it Carolina Pong. It’s gone incredibly successful as of yet. We’ve grown it to over 50 active members. We’ve recently launched a Board of Directors and are hosting the South Carolina state championships on February 8th, which is monumental because it’s the first time in over 30 years that South Carolina is hosting a state championships for Table Tennis. Outside of that we meet once a week at Saint Andrews Park in Columbia, South Carolina. I also lobbied with the city of Columbia to install a outdoor ping-pong table on Main Street, which enhances the quality of life. Club players play on the outdoor table every Saturday morning during the soda city market. We also do many other events around the city to promote the sport. We have been on the news or featured in articles over 10 times since June for our work in the community. Our next initiative is to get into the health sector, as Table Tennis is the number one brain sport in the world. Our goal is to host a Alzheimer’s tournament towards the end of the year we’re all profits will go towards charitable organizations related to Alzheimer’s research.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I definitely wouldn’t call it smooth. There’s been a lot of learning curves with it being my first business. What I have learned is after bringing people in on the board to help me navigate, it’s been much smoother. One thing that I have been grateful for though is all of the fundraising that the club members have done for the equipment.
As you know, we’re big fans of Carolina Pong. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Carolina Pong is a local Table Tennis club that aims to elevate the sport in the Columbia South Carolina area. We are an all-inclusive club that’s open to all players of all levels. We take a growth mindset approach to things at Carolina Pong, always thinking of things we can do to grow and move forward. I’m most proud about how all of our players are bought into this organization. We offered tournaments, leagues, private lessons, and other fun related table tennis activities!
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Well the reason I named it Carolina Pong is for the hope of expansion. We hope to branch out to other surrounding cities, and then North Carolina hopefully. This will be far down the road though, right now we’re just focused on growing the sport in the Columbia area.
Pricing:
- $5 per visit at the club
- $45 for a private lesson
- $20 for a half hour private lesson
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolinapong?igsh=Zmh4bHB0aTVyZTVk&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/161zbofsTh/?mibextid=wwXIfr
