Lillian Yu Named NCTTA Division Director of the Year
An NCTTA Feature - May 2011

By Andy Kanengiser and Willy Leparulo
NCTTA Media Relations Committee

Eastern Canada’s rapid rise to the top tier of collegiate table tennis circles in North America is well-documented.

With four of the division’s seven teams ranked in the NCTTA Top 25, the division is perhaps the strongest in the land. The division’s top powerhouse is the University of Ottawa with its third-place finish in the men’s/coed team event at the 2011 Championships.

All this success didn’t happen by accident. At NCTTA headquarters, we believe Lillian Yu, the director of the Eastern Canadian Division, deserves much of the credit for making her region among the very best. She’s worked hard and moved mountains since the division’s birth a little more than a year ago.

“Lillian is one of those exciting individuals who just loves collegiate table tennis,” says NCTTA President Willy Leparulo. “There’s no denying she’s good at what she does.”

Colleges in Eastern Canada used to be part of the Upstate New York Division, but became a separate entity with Lillian Yu at the helm. Now an auditor in Canada, Lillian was a star player in NCTTA competition, including the 2009 Championships, during her days as a student-athlete. “I knew that having an alum like her in a new division was going to be a great asset for the organization,” Leparulo said. “We love our Canadian neighbors!”

Lillian has done much with little financial support from schools in Canada.

“All the teams in this division live on limited funding (of a few hundred dollars) as school clubs,” she said. Most schools in the division have limited space for practice and not enough good tables. Still, Lillian sees a great deal of progress over the past year and the future looks bright. This year, a new club opened in Ontario in an impressive facility. Ottawa’s team was greatly boosted by Pierre-Luc Hinse, a current National Canadian team member who was recently named NCTTA’s Male Athlete of the Year.

Recruiting is strong throughout the Eastern Canadian Division. “We are keeping the junior players attached to the sport by allowing them to continue to play after graduating from high school,” Yu said. The more seasoned ex-provincial or national players who put down their paddles for a few years are encouraged to get back in the game and join Eastern Canadian teams in the NCTTA circuit, Lillian says.

It’s all good in Canada, and Lillian is right in the thick of the action. “It is very rewarding to see how much energy the players bring to every tournament,” Yu says. “I’m not sure if teams in other divisions bring clappers to the meets, but our tournaments are definitely always very loud.”

While she’s always a loud voice for her Eastern Canadian teams, Lillian also displays a quiet side. She puts in long hours poring over pages of numbers as a top-notch accountant. At the Toronto Chinese Baptist Church, Lillian plays piano for the church worship team and is involved in most of its music-related events. “Being in this country without any family and pulling long working hours on a regular basis could get lonely,” Lillian says. But the Christian added: “My religion and passion for table tennis keep me going.”

As for the future, Lillian wants to obtain her public accounting license. The University of Toronto graduate also hopes to attend a rigorous table tennis training camp in China or take time off to go on a church mission trip.

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