![At the bottom of the third inning, the Lions are still scoreless. Rowe stands at home plate, preparing to bat, while Vandenbrink stands off to the side as the next batter up. Despite having the bases loaded, the team was unable to score any runs. “It’s just the beginning of the season. We’re just going to be playing out best by June, [and] that’s where champions are,” Rowe said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_3077-1200x900.jpg)
![All smiles. The group poses for a photo with last year’s book, “This is Our House,” along with their award for third Best in Show. Meikle, who was an Editor-in-Chief for the yearbook last year as well, holds both and stands at the center of the group. “That was an amazing feeling, going and grabbing the third place award,” Meikle said. “All of it paid off. I cried so much over that book, being able to receive [the award] was one of the highlights of my high school career, it was like the coolest thing ever.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/8bookpose_philly-1200x800.jpg)
![Game, set, and match. Corbin Atchley, sophomore, high fives Sanam Sidhu, freshman, after a rally with other club members. “I just joined [the club],” Sidhu said. “[I heard about it] on Instagram, they always post about it, I’ve been wanting to come. My parents used to play [net sports] too and they taught us, and then I learned from my brother.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/MG_7715-2-1200x800.jpg)
Net Sports is the name of a new school club, created after the start of the second semester by Anwesha Chowdhury and Sarah Yuk, sophomores, and Grayson Zhang, freshman. The club focuses on sports such as badminton, ping pong, and pickleball.
Although the Court Sports class is available at the school, there are no extracurricular options for students who want to play badminton or pickleball through the school, and they are not recognized by the Oregon Student Activities Association (OSAA).
“When we first started talking about the club, it was originally because [Chowdhury and I] really like badminton, and it wasn’t an OSAA sport,” Yuk said.
Because of this, the Net Sports club brings the supplies from their adviser’s room and plays inside the school at porch 1E, but for them, it is not the most ideal situation.
“We usually bring some equipment from [Juliette] Weston’s room, like ping pong tables and rackets,” Chowdhury said. “We set up there and try to have decent rallies but it’s hard because the ceiling is pretty low. Recently, we actually were able to book some gym space and it’s been a nice shift and we have been able to accommodate [our club].”
Going forward, the club will continue to meet on Wednesdays after school, but in the gyms instead. The founders aim to make their club a place to socialize and enjoy unique sports.
“[We created it to give] people the opportunity to actually play other sports that may be affected by the weather, or they don’t have the ability to play, and have some after-school sessions they might not get in a P.E. class or other sports,” Zhang said.
In the future, they hope to expand the network of their club and even plan events with other net sports clubs at schools like Westview High School.
Students interested in the Net Sports club can email any of the three founders and Juliette Weston, adviser, or join the Google Classroom with the code: efkhyhh. More updates can be found on their Instagram account, @wlhsnetsportsclub.
