By Michael Reff
NCTTA Press Committee Chair

As NCTTA players and alumni, we all know that participating in team table tennis is one of the most fulfilling, exciting, and sociable ways to play our favorite sport. And now there’s a new league by one of our sponsors, PongSpace, that has a new spin on the team format.

PongSpace, run by Thomas Hu of AYTTO, started their George Braithwaite League (named in honor of the famous ambassador of USA table tennis) at the beginning of this year. According to Hu, their goal is to make table tennis a “more accessible activity.” As of this inaugural season, there were 38 teams and 20 clubs that played in the league, predominately in the Northeast. They’re looking to expand later this year to the Midwest, Chicago, Milwaukee, and South Texas.

Those wanting to play are not restricted by any age, as anyone can play in a team of up to 5 players. Some of the enticing qualities of this league are that there are home and away games. Additionally, Hu believes that the NCTTA “B” teams that don’t get as much playing time as the “A” teams will be able to take advantage of this league to participate more.

Hu’s goal is for PongSpace “to connect all the demographics” be they from his very own AYTTO youth, NCTTA alumni or current college students, and everyone in between. He says the “team environment” is “more fun.”

The first league started in January of this year and ended in May. There is a goal to have a divisions, regions, and national tournament, very similar to the NCTTA format. However, the structure of the team setup is slightly different, with a mandatory double’s match (compared to the tiebreaking NCTTA doubles matches) sandwiched between two singles matches before and after.

NCTTA looks forward to seeing our friends at PongSpace grow their George Braithwaite league. Their success is a success for all of table tennis!

To sign up go here: https://pongspace.com/clubleague/