By Sushant Lebaka
Press Committee Member

For Jeff Nguyen, table tennis has been a way to compete, travel, and build friendships for more than 20 years. An alumni of UT Austin, Nguyen first got involved as a volunteer coach at UT Austin and later helped players at UTSA and UT Rio Grande Valley.

Those early years took him across Texas for tournaments and visits to local clubs. The friendships he made became one of the reasons he stayed in the sport. “You always end up bumping into them years down the road when you least expect it,” Nguyen says.

Nguyen served as NCTTA’s South Texas Division Director during the 2015–16 season and has recently returned to the role. He has continued to be involved in the community and helped at the control desk at the 2022, 2023, and 2024 NCTTA Nationals, enjoying the chance to be in the midst of the action.

Still an active player, Nguyen has traveled around the country to compete and train at clubs including Lily Yip Table Tennis Club, Atlanta International Table Tennis Academy, and Table Tennis America. Along the way, he has made friends and trained with Olympians and coaches from other countries.

Nguyen returned to the Division Director role because of the talent and energy he sees in South Texas. He wants to give players a welcoming place to compete, improve, and make friends—the same experiences that have kept him involved for two decades.

He is also encouraged by NCTTA’s partnership with Lonestar Table Tennis Academy, a new Austin club working to develop young players in the city and across Texas. Nguyen sees its rapid growth as a promising sign for the local table tennis community.

In the South Region, Anup Gopalakrishnan is our new Georgia director, and we are excited to see what they both do in the coming years!

(Featured in photo is South Texas Division Director Jeff Nguyen)

By Sushant Lebaka
Press Committee Member

For Asif Ud-Doula, table tennis has long been more than a game. Alongside a career in astrophysics, he has spent years playing, coaching, umpiring, and helping collegiate table tennis grow.

Dr. Ud-Doula is a tenured full professor of physics at Penn State Scranton. He remains active in astrophysics research and travels internationally for conferences and collaborations. This summer, he was granted a Fulbright Specialist Program grant from the U.S. Department of State and visited Dong Thap University in southern Vietnam for a 40-day project.

With a USATT rating of approximately 2100, Ud-Doula is a veteran player in the Tri-State area and enjoys playing when visiting new countries, including on his recent trip through Central Europe. At home, he coaches the Penn State Scranton Table Tennis Club.

Ud-Doula’s contributions extend beyond playing and coaching. As an international umpire, he has officiated at the U.S. Nationals and, most recently, USA Smash 2026, where he umpired some of the world’s best players. He is also the current division director in Pennsylvania.

Several years ago, Ud-Doula was invited to apply for a board position but declined because of academic commitments. With more flexibility in his schedule, he has now accepted the role of League Representative, formerly filled by the exemplary Jay Lu. The position has its own set of challenges, one being the late-night meetings to accommodate time zone differences. However, he enjoys the opportunity to make a difference in a community so dear to him.

From campus clubs to international events, Ud-Doula has experienced table tennis from nearly every side of the table. His new role gives him another way to support the collegiate game he has championed for years.

(Featured above is Dr. Ud-Doula in his element; photo credit to Yukong Zhang)

Don't delay, NCTTA Registration for the 2026-2027 season is open!

The next question may be "How do I register?"

Go to play.nctta.org and follow instructions and register your school team or teams for NCTTA competition.

The deadline is October 6th!
Register today!

By Michael Reff (with testimony from NCTTA President Willy Leparulo)
Press Committee Chair

Hailing from Boston,
No-nonsense accountant,
When costs get accosting,
He’s their no. 1 assailant,
NCTTA board member who served as the league rep,
A transportation guru at champs he earned respect.
Happy trails to Jay Lu,
He served NCTTA true,
We send him off with style,
A board member worthwhile!

(Photo of Jay Lu; photo credit to Dennis Yanga)

You’ve worn the jersey, felt the pressure of a deciding match and made the friendships on and off the table that only NCTTA creates.

Now, you are on the other side of your college career with your playing days behind you, and you ask, “Now what”?

Volunteering with NCTTA is the answer to "Now what". Your experience matters.

Don’t let NCTTA be “something you used to do”

Stay in the game and help build what comes next. NCTTA opportunities are Here.

NCTTA is expanding its footprint in the exciting world of VR Table Tennis, and we’re looking for passionate people to help make it happen!

The new NCTTA VR Committee will help explore opportunities, promote VR table tennis, develop programming, connect with the VR community, and find innovative ways to bring collegiate table tennis into the virtual world.

You don’t have to be a VR expert—just bring your ideas, enthusiasm, and willingness to help grow the sport.

Interested in being part of this new initiative? Join the NCTTA VR Committee and help us shape the future of collegiate table tennis—both on the table and in the virtual world!

Help us take NCTTA into the VR Table Tennis world!

Interested in joining? Contact NCTTA at info@nctta.org

NCTTA AI Software Innovation Volunteer
Full job description is here

Target Audience: Tech & CS Students looking for real-world production experience

Why You Should Apply
Ditch the practice exercises and build software that thousands of athletes and tournament directors will actually use. We power collegiate table tennis across 150–200 universities, and we’re modernizing our entire platform using AI-assisted engineering.

-Major Resume Boost: Ship production code, own features end-to-end, and solve real architectural problems for a national non-profit.

-Free AI Toolkit: Get access to an official Claude Enterprise license and leverage tools like Cursor, Windsurf, Copilot, or ChatGPT to build faster.

-Freedom to Innovate: Work directly with the platform lead with room to propose better workflows, UI, and system designs.

What You’ll Build
Automated Tournament Systems: Build rules-engine engines to manage live college tournaments.

Digital Eligibility Platforms: Replace paper-based administrative workflows with sleek, automated web verification.

AI-Driven Automation: Redesign existing backend systems and refactor legacy workflows for speed and scalability.

Tech Stack
Backend: C# / .NET Core
Frontend: JavaScript (MVC)
Database: SQL Server
Workflow: Git, Automatic CI/CD, Claude Enterprise

Who We’re Looking For
A college student with enough bandwidth to contribute throughout the year.

Someone who uses AI as an engineering partner to design better code—not just copy-paste solutions.

Problem-solvers who care about user experience, maintainability, and building real features.

How to Apply
Send us a brief intro to info@nctta.org, links to your GitHub / projects, and a quick note on why you’re excited to build with us.

A new name for NCTTA Registration and more:
Play.NCTTA.org as your go-to for all things College Table Tennis!

NCTTA has pivoted to a new landing place called Play.NCTTA.org where it functions similarly as your one-stop shop for all things Registration, Roster, etc.

All your previous information has been saved and brought over and in essence, much will look the same as in previous years!

NCTTA 2026-2027 Membership Registration will open up in September after Labor Day on Play.NCTTA.org

Many thanks for the NCTTA Tech Committee that worked tirelessly to make the change a reality!

NCTTA’s National Table Tennis Scholarship Program has been developed to give deserving table tennis athletes the opportunity for financial support while pursuing a college education. With the original generous support from NEWGY Industries and the current fabulous support from The HSING FAMILY FOUNDATION, NCTTA can award a limited number of scholarships to male and female student-athletes, based on the criteria described on this site.

Recipients are expected to practice with and compete for their school's table tennis team in NCTTA league competition (i.e. Divisional, Regional, or Championship tournaments).
Application deadline is June 30, 2026, click here for more information and for the application.