By Shaquila Sarapao
NCTTA Press Committee

Apply to volunteer: https://forms.gle/mQX8JGVgMeKB3cYU8

’Tis the time of year for jolly good fellows

To be on the lookout for the hearty bellows

Of one of the most spirited events of the year

That brings out the merry and the cheers.

The stadium lights shine bright from above

Showcasing the glory, winners, and love

For the sport that brought these people together

That keeps us bound by an unimaginable tether.

Year after year, we’re willing to come back (Featured above are Leah and

To help set up and break our old backs, Jarol Duerksen, our super

To see the athletes grow vigorously intense, volunteers!)

To watch the games, filled with suspense.

Now, for this year once again,

We’re looking for volunteers to begin.

You’ll fly out to Eau Claire

If you dare.

A few days worth of fighting spirit

And balls bouncing back, hit after hit.

Meet the players, professionals and all

Maybe you’ve seen them on screen, if you recall.

So don’t be scared to come out

Send an email, give us a shout

To fly sky high to Eau Claire

If you dare.

(Photo Credit: Yukong Zhang)

By Michael Reff
NCTTA Press Chair

Angela Guan has been an invaluable contributor to NCTTA, not only through her stellar
performances when she was an scintillating chopper University of California, Berkeley (2022
NCTTA women’s single’s champion in Round Rock, TX and 2019 Double’s Champion with
Ying Wang in Greensboro, NC), but also as a current co-DD.

Furthermore, she has now helped NCTTA financially via her company. Throughout October she
has been playing in a continuous tournament where she plays other winners, and she says it has
successfully “raised a total of $1192” that, according to Guan, her company will equal this full
amount and donate it to NCTTA. “It's my pleasure to share what I love with others and give back
to NCTTA in small ways,” she says.

Angela perfected the delicate balance of being a student athlete, as well as successfully
transitioning into the working world while still being able to use her skill and passion for table
tennis.

In addition to her work for NCTTA and day job, she is currently an ambassador for PongSpace (https://pongspace.com/) as
well as a player for MLTT's, Princeton Revolution: (https://mltt.com/princeton-revolution/)

NCTTA would like to thank Angela from the bottom of our hearts for going above and beyond to
assist NCTTA as well as the promotion of table tennis as a whole!

Hello NCTTA member schools, Joola our new table tennis sponsor has a great deal on tables used only once for NCTTA schools! 650 dollars including shipping (to 48 states) for the Joola World Cup 25-S. See picture for what the table looks like

They will however be shipped from Maryland on Monday November 27th to a location of your desire. Act now to get this great deal! Please contact Steven Chan schan@joola.com to discuss.

Let's support our new sponsor, Joola!

PS. Remember NCTTA member schools you have a significant % off of Joola balls, rubbers, blades, etc. on https://joolausa.com/table-tennis/ (each school has a discount code), contact your Division Director for that information if you don't already have it!

By Michael Reff
NCTTA Press Committee Chair

September is the start of many things in college table tennis. It is the beginning of Fall, a new season with respite from extreme heat. This also marks the start of another school year where new and old players alike come to practice again in their respective facilities. This is the essence of NCTTA: the promotion of collegiate table tennis across the continent.

Consequently, for this promotion to work, NCTTA relies on external stakeholders to generously contribute time and resources. Thus, September also ushers in an important partnership with major table tennis supplier JOOLA.

JOOLA’s marketing specialist Matt Hetherington conveyed the popular table tennis brand’s enthusiasm regarding their blossoming collaboration with NCTTA:

“JOOLA are thrilled to be partnering with NCTTA as both organizations continue to work promoting the sport in the USA. We feel many common lines between both our teams - goals, passions and work ethic. We are proud to do our part to contribute to the growth of college table tennis and look forward to a long and sustainable team effort with NCTTA into the future.”

With this partnership, NCTTA member schools will get a discount off equipment (excluding tables) on joolausa.com. More information on this to come later!

Additionally JOOLA will supply their very own JOOLA prime ball for our Divisionals, Regionals, and Champs events.

NCTTA President Willy is ecstatic. “I am very pleased that this agreement was successfully signed between our two organizations; college table tennis is better off for it!”

New season, new players, new partners. Kudos to Team JOOLA and Team NCTTA for making this happen!

Ever wondered how to get involved in NCTTA? Or how all of these events work?

Well, wonder no more: we are looking for:

· an NCTTA Alum,
· a Coach, OR
· even a player looking to get more involved in a grassroots organization like NCTTA.

Minnesota Division Director is available now and is in charge of a division that covers Minnesota, Iowa and Idaho.

Pacific Northwest Division Director is available now and is in charge of a division that covers Washington State, Oregon and Vancouver.

SoCal West Division Director is also available as well, covering parts of Southern California and Arizona.

Northern Florida Division Director is also available and covers all of Florida.

Upstate New York West is also available, and this area covers parts of Upstate NY near Buffalo, Rochester, and Ithaca

NCTTA Recruitment Director is also available, and this person is in charge of a committee that recruits new schools to NCTTA.

Contact hr@nctta.org to get involved!

World University Games Chengdu; 2023 Summary by guest writer, Team USA Collegiate Player and team leader, Angela Guan

Three is a special number. My 3rd World University Games, our team’s 3rd attempt to compete in the Games, bringing home 3rd place medals for USA.

The 31st World University Games concluded on August 8th in Chengdu, China and truly felt like a dream. The 12-day event brought together over 9500 university athletes across 18 sports from 113 countries. The US delegation had over 250 athletes, including the table tennis team with 10 NCTTA players representing 8 colleges. We experienced Chengdu’s hospitality and culture, the highest level of college sports competition, and spirit of the Games. It was an honor to represent Team USA at the 2nd largest sporting event in the world!

Previously, I attended the Games in 2017 and 2019. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2021 Games were postponed. Subsequently in 2022, our university team was canceled. Finishing first in the University Games trials in 2020, I stepped up to be team manager and coach for this World University Games, so the third time was a charm. From all Games registration to flights to getting competition uniforms and a coach, our team was 100% self-funded.

In the table tennis competition, we made the Top 16 in both men’s and women’s teams. For women’s doubles, Amy Wang and Rachel Sung won a bronze medal for USA - the 1st time US medaled for the World University Games table tennis event. Seeing the US flag raised and represented on the podium was so special! Other highlights were the opening ceremony, athletes’ village, (almost) 24 hour dining hall, cultural activities and tours to see giant pandas, exchange of pins, team uniforms, and friendships with international players, and team spirit of being part of the US team.

On behalf of the team, we’d like to extend our gratitude to Major League Table Tennis and LifeSign PBM for the uniforms! Despite lack of resources for this University Games, we hope USATT and NCTTA can support the growing college table tennis scene and future games. We appreciate USA Team, organizing committee and countless volunteers in Chengdu, and FISU (International University Sports Federation) for making the 2023 World University Games a success!

Team USA Collegiate was represented by these student-athletes featured in this picture.
Josh Mak, Yuxiang Jin, Tom Feng, Jonathan Li, Eliel Sosis, Steven Gong
Crystal Wang, Amy Wang, Lavanya Maruthapandian, Rachel Sung, Angela Guan

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/

NCTTA’s goal for this summer’s fundraising campaign is NCTTA Video Production which now has a Go Fund Me page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/mission-possiblenctta-video-production-help

Since 2008, NCTTA has been a pioneer in bringing College Table Tennis Championships and now Regionals to life via youtube to those that couldn’t attend and family members and friends around the globe.

NCTTA was the FIRST major table tennis organization to bring live streaming of Table Tennis back in the day.

NCTTA is still an all volunteer led organization so your donation would be incredibly helpful!
Video Production isn’t cheap so any help is always appreciated!
#fundraising #videoproduction #livestreaming #give2day

Pictured above are last year's winners, who will win this year in 2023?

Nominate someone today for the NCTTA Superlatives!
The deadline is May 15th

TO NOMINATE SOMEONE
-Message us on instagram the person or team and why by the deadline
OR
-Email your nomination and WHY to info@nctta.org by the deadline.

Categories are here
Male Athlete of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year
Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year
Rookie Team
Division Director of the Year, Regional Director of the Year

*Rookie Teams are school teams that have never participated in the NCTTA (Subject to NCTTA historical records)

*Rookie of the year are players new to College Table Tennis (they can be any year Freshman/sophomore/junior/senior/graduate student) also subject to NCTTA historical records

*Division and Regional Directors must be current to 2022-2023 competition year

Winners are awarded a gift card!

Thanks!

NCTTA

Photo of 2023 NCTTA Men's Singles Champ Nikhil Kumar of UC Berkeley. Photo Credit to NCTTA

By Michael Reff
NCTTA Media Committee

Bigger and Better, Loudnproud,
Round Rock brought the fighting crowd,
Fans and players let it out,
The shouts of motivation.

New winners crowned, some were repeats,
Gravity defying feats,
Competition turned up the heat,
Ended with jubilation!

Play by play live commentary,
Points were close, some downright scary,
Clash of styles, the more the merry.
Pips, choppers, and Jpen.

Explosive footwork, screams of Cho!
Many cheers including “jiayou”!
Volunteers from years ago,
Could you ask for more, just say when!

About 2023 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Round Rock CVB. Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams. The event is sponsored by Double Happiness, PongSpace, Major League Table Tennis.
Watch the event on live stream starting Friday April 14th on champs.nctta.org

About NCTTA

The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively for promoting the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org