Faith Fest is upon Cathedral once again next week which means one thing, it is time for the famous Golden Paddle ping pong tournament. Where class rivalries come out and players battle for the ultimate walk out and trophy of table tennis superiority. 

The Golden Paddle tournament has been a Cathedral staple for years. It’s gone through different formats over time, but has remained as a constant fixture during this time of year for students to compete in.

The tournament was started by Mr. Anthony Ernst, Director of Student Activities, over 15 years ago. “This may be the 16th or 17th year of the Golden Paddle, and I just started it on a whim. I said to our Director of Student Life, wouldn’t it be fun to have a ping pong tournament where all the students could compete against each other and we’ve gone from there. The tournament now looks different from when it started but at its core the competition has stayed the same,” Ernst said.

Golden Paddle now takes place before school in the couple of weeks leading up to Faith Fest. The tournament starts with four class brackets, one for freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Once each class has crowned a champion, there is the semifinals. This is where the top freshman plays the top senior and the junior champion plays the winner of the sophomore bracket.

Then the tournament gets down to two where the championship is contested in front of the whole school during the Faith Fest assembly. Ernst said, “The anticipation for and the final match in front of the whole school is my favorite part of the tournament. You can tell how into it everyone is and the atmosphere is awesome.” 

One of the contestants in the Senior bracket this year is Tyler Carlos ‘26. “I’ve played in the tournament all four years at Cathedral and never have made it to the class championship. It’s do or die time now this year,” said Carlos.

Carlos lost to eventual class champion Braden Mann last year. Mann elected not to play in the tournament this year after losing in the championship match last year. He said, “I feel like I’ve left everything out there and I’ll be pulling for whoever the senior champion is.”

This leaves a wide open tournament as Mann was the class of 2026’s champion since his freshman year. The 2026 installment of Cathedral’s Golden Paddle Invitational looks to be an all timer. Ernst said, “We don’t have a returning champion, the field is wide open. I look forward to seeing who comes out on top this year.”