Spring Break
Beer Pong tour comes to Poughkeepsie
Stephanie Espina
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
As they unloaded their official World Pong Tour van in the parking lot of Mahoney's Irish Pub and decorated walls with their sponsors' logos, there was anticipation for the night's beer pong tournament.
The event attracted over one hundred people. Class of '05 Marist graduate Sam Pines predicted before the tournament, "It's going to be a crazy night."
The first New York Beer Pong Tournament launched in October 2006, but the desire to take beer pong to the next level is nothing new for Pines. "When I was a senior at Marist I actually had a weekly beer pong league that my friends and I put together," said Pines. "Then when I graduated I had the idea of doing a tour of New York and managed to get sponsors. A bunch said no, but we started last fall and since then we've been getting bigger."
Pines' business and beer pong partner, Peter Alchoz, has also witnessed the progression of the tour. "We've come a long way with the tour. We started a year ago with six cities. It was really nothing. Our first event we had eight teams including me and Sam," said Alchoz. "We turned it into 64 teams at each event we do. We're in the beginning of a movement." When they are not running the beer pong tournaments, they are busy promoting their events and recruiting people to participate in the competitions.
The success of the tournaments depends on the number of teams that are registered. A prepaid fee of 40 dollars is required per team. With the entrance fee players receive a teammate t-shirt, cups to play beer pong and a chance at winning the grand prize.
First prize winners from the Poughkeepsie tournament walked away with a seven day spring break vacation package to Cancun, Mexico, courtesy of Red Eye Breaks, one of the sponsors for the event. According to the official website, WorldPongTour.com, the tour has given away a total of 18 vacation packages to Cancun at 9 New York tournaments.
To be able to participate in the event, those playing must be 21 years of age or older and a release form must be signed prior to playing. The release form is for safety purposes and reminds players that they are responsible for their actions. "People can play with water at our events," says Alchoz. "We are trying to promote the sport of beer pong, and not [trying to promote] unhealthy drinking." Alchoz stressed that a limited amount of beer is provided for players and that drinking is 100% optional. According to Alchoz and Pines, they have not experienced any safety problems in their past events.
Cities on their NY Beer Pong Tour include Albany, Syracuse, Manhattan, White Plains and Buffalo just to name a few and since their first tour they have had to double their team capacity due to such high demand. The NY Beer Pong Tournament has been featured in a number of college publications and The Wall Street Journal. Alchoz and Pines see a strong future for their tournaments and hope to one day expand their audience base in the tri-state area.
"A lot of people are against beer pong," said Pines. "They think it promotes binge drinking but we're here promoting good activity and fun entertainment. It's a good way to meet new people and it's a great time." Pines and Alchoz will be preparing for their tour on Thursday, November 8th at McGilicuddy's in New Paltz.
The event attracted over one hundred people. Class of '05 Marist graduate Sam Pines predicted before the tournament, "It's going to be a crazy night."
The first New York Beer Pong Tournament launched in October 2006, but the desire to take beer pong to the next level is nothing new for Pines. "When I was a senior at Marist I actually had a weekly beer pong league that my friends and I put together," said Pines. "Then when I graduated I had the idea of doing a tour of New York and managed to get sponsors. A bunch said no, but we started last fall and since then we've been getting bigger."
Pines' business and beer pong partner, Peter Alchoz, has also witnessed the progression of the tour. "We've come a long way with the tour. We started a year ago with six cities. It was really nothing. Our first event we had eight teams including me and Sam," said Alchoz. "We turned it into 64 teams at each event we do. We're in the beginning of a movement." When they are not running the beer pong tournaments, they are busy promoting their events and recruiting people to participate in the competitions.
The success of the tournaments depends on the number of teams that are registered. A prepaid fee of 40 dollars is required per team. With the entrance fee players receive a teammate t-shirt, cups to play beer pong and a chance at winning the grand prize.
First prize winners from the Poughkeepsie tournament walked away with a seven day spring break vacation package to Cancun, Mexico, courtesy of Red Eye Breaks, one of the sponsors for the event. According to the official website, WorldPongTour.com, the tour has given away a total of 18 vacation packages to Cancun at 9 New York tournaments.
To be able to participate in the event, those playing must be 21 years of age or older and a release form must be signed prior to playing. The release form is for safety purposes and reminds players that they are responsible for their actions. "People can play with water at our events," says Alchoz. "We are trying to promote the sport of beer pong, and not [trying to promote] unhealthy drinking." Alchoz stressed that a limited amount of beer is provided for players and that drinking is 100% optional. According to Alchoz and Pines, they have not experienced any safety problems in their past events.
Cities on their NY Beer Pong Tour include Albany, Syracuse, Manhattan, White Plains and Buffalo just to name a few and since their first tour they have had to double their team capacity due to such high demand. The NY Beer Pong Tournament has been featured in a number of college publications and The Wall Street Journal. Alchoz and Pines see a strong future for their tournaments and hope to one day expand their audience base in the tri-state area.
"A lot of people are against beer pong," said Pines. "They think it promotes binge drinking but we're here promoting good activity and fun entertainment. It's a good way to meet new people and it's a great time." Pines and Alchoz will be preparing for their tour on Thursday, November 8th at McGilicuddy's in New Paltz.
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