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CONTACT: Andy Kanengiser PHONE: (800) 581-6770 EMAIL: publicrelations@nctta.org |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 6, 2012
Walter
Alomar of Puerto Rico Makes Final Close of College Table Tennis Career is Bittersweet for UPR Standout
When Walter Alomar boards a plane to Texas in April, it will mark his final trip to the NCTTA’s college table tennis national championships as a standout player for the University of Puerto Rico.
It wasn’t too long ago that Alomar was part of a contingent of stellar teams from the school. The powerful UPR team finished in 3rd place at the NCTTA’s 2008 nationals in Rochester, Minnesota. UPR returned a year later to the championships in the same city known worldwide for the Mayo Clinic. With snow sticking on the ground in Rochester, UPR recorded an even stronger second-place performance, one notch below perennial champ Texas Wesleyan.
In 2009, the Rochester newspaper featured a story on the talented team from Puerto Rico, and included pictures of its star players on the front page of the sports section. Coming from an island where the average low temperature is in the 70s, the team was unaccustomed to the snow flurries and freezing conditions outside the gymnasium in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes, but it didn’t hurt their fast-paced indoors game one bit.
In 2012, things will be different in Texas for the smaller delegation of visitors from the US territory.
This time, Alomar is playing solo in the NCTTA’s singles competition. While his former UPR teammates won’t be there to cheer him on in the Lone Star State, look for Alomar to put on quite a show in Plano. “It will be emotional since it will be my last tournament,” he says. “So I have to leave everything on the table.”
Alomar punched his ticket to the nationals with recent solid outings in singles play at the Florida division competition in Tampa and again at the NCTTA’s South regionals in Atlanta. He noticed the level of competition has stepped up from what it was just a few years ago and is delighted to see growth in the level of play, and the number of schools participating, from the USA to Canada.
In the South regional, Alomar was seeded 11th. He was up against a potent group of outstanding players from Texas Wesleyan and Mississippi College during the March games in Georgia.
Win or lose, Alomar will soon be ending his collegiate career with a great deal of pride in his heart.
“I feel it is a great honor and I play with pride (representing) the University of Puerto Rico,” he said. “This will be my last time to play for UPR.”
It’s not all about paddles, great spins and table tennis at UPR. It is home to a School of Pharmacy, a School of Medicine, and a School of Dentistry, among other things. Academics matters at the school amid beautiful scenery in a warm climate.
Alomar, who speaks Spanish and English (he’s better at Spanish), isn’t just a table tennis star. He’s a bright guy who’s kept up his interest in table tennis, despite his work in graduate studies, says NCTTA President Willy Leparulo.
The NCTTA leader also loves the passion with which Alomar plays his favorite sport, whether it’s at practice or at tournaments like the annual championship games.
A Florida State University staff member, and once a top-notch FSU table tennis team player, Leparulo remembers when Florida State consistently failed to reach the collegiate championships. Simply put, that was because the Seminoles typically lost to Puerto Rico in divisional play. Blame it on players like Alomar.
Leparulo, whose involvement in NCTTA leadership positions goes back more than a decade, has known Walter Alomar since 2007. And the multi-lingual Tallahassee resident will be happy to welcome his friend from Puerto Rico to the Nationals in Texas.
“Walter is an exciting player to watch on the court and a great individual off the court,” Leparulo said.
Before the tournament runs its course from April 13-15, Willy Leparulo’s got at least one post-game wish. He’s hoping Walter Alomar and other soon-to-be NCTTA “graduates” will stay involved with the table tennis organization after their collegiate playing days are over.
A 25-year-old graduate student, Alomar is in his 4th year of a six-year program that combines medicine and law. He received his undergraduate degree in natural science and chemistry.
Alomar is also well-connected in the sports world. Walter’s first sport was baseball, and he is the cousin of Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar.
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 intercollegiate competition throughout North America. www.nctta.org
About USA Table Tennis Headquartered in Colorado Springs, USATT is the national organizing body for table tennis in the United States, serving 9,000+ members and nearly 300 clubs. USATT sanctions 200+ events a year including the US Open and US Nationals. USATT is affiliated with the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), as well as the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). www.usatt.org & tabletennis.teamusa.org
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