NCTTA Newsletter
November 2014 |
| | | Sponsor Corner | Thanks to our sponsors... NCTTA would like to thank TMS International for their support of college table tennis. TMS is the title sponsor for divisional and regional competitions, as well as the TMS 2015 College Table Tennis Championships.  NCTTA welcomes Double Fish as the official ball sponsor of NCTTA competitions for the next three years. Also, special thanks to NEWGY Industries, for its continued support of college table tennis Newgy offers a great way to fund-raise for your club and help out our sponsor as well by signing up and participating in their Newgy Robo Pong Affiliate Program. |
| | Dear Member, | NCTTA College Table Tennis play is in full swing in November. Come read about NCTTA's early division tournaments, a brand new sponsor to the NCTTA family, as well as scrimmages galore and much more! |
NCTTA Welcomes Newest Sponsor PepPod | By Andy Kanengiser  NCTTA Media Committee Chair
Customers across the USA are raving about the energy drink PepPod these days. One PepPod user describes it as a great product for people needing a nice pick me up. Another one, in an on-line review, trumpets PepPod as a super product without all the sugar. "It made me very alert and energized for hours," a third customer wrote. National Collegiate Table Tennis Association leaders are also singing the praises of PepPod this fall. The NCTTA is welcoming the Colorado-based company as one of the organization's newest Championship sponsors. The NCTTA oversees more than 150 college table tennis teams in the USA and Canada. PepPod is a small, individually packaged effervescent tablet that combines over 75 vitamins and minerals with 80 mg of caffeine - about the same amount contained in a cup of coffee. The instructions are simple: Just dissolve a tablet in a cup of water, and it's ready to drink. For active collegiate table tennis players who are constantly burning energy and need a little boost, PepPod is a product that will, no doubt, provide a lift, company leaders say. It's a product that appeals to active people no matter what sport they play. "PepPod is both sourced and produced in the USA and made with only top quality ingredients which is one of the ways we stand out," says company executive Weston Trapp. "People are regularly trading in energy drinks, coffee and other vitamin supplements for PepPod after trying it once." Skip the french press or the brew at your neighborhood coffee shop one day, and give PepPod a shot. "PepPod really just makes you feel and function better for whatever you do," Trapp says. Employees at the Colorado-based company already have a love affair with table tennis. The new agreement being hammered out with NCTTA officials just takes things to a whole new level. "Everyone in our office plays table tennis," Trapp says. It's a lively Olympic sport, he says, that appeals to many people all over the world. PepPod leaders reached out to loads of people at companies and clubs engaged in table tennis competition. The company even created their own fun social table tennis game called Table Tennis KungFU (go to ttkungfu.com). In addition, PepPod has busted its tail sponsoring and engaging with traditional table tennis clubs in Colorado. The company reached out to Sky High Table Tennis in the Mile High City of Denver, and is also sponsoring the new Colorado University Table Tennis Club. In a nutshell, PepPod employees are simply crazy about table tennis. Their passion for the game is felt at NCTTA headquarters. "We believe the company's new connection to the NCTTA is the start of a solid partnership we predict will continue for years," says NCTTA President Willy Leparulo. "We welcome PepPod aboard to our list of all-star sponsors." Using PepPod a few times won't transform a brand new table tennis player into a champion overnight. Trapp, who was a longtime morning coffee drinker, now gets his days started with PepPod. It's a product that, when dissolved in water, has a citrus tang flavor to it. Weston Trapp recently played in his first USATT tournament and reports that he finished second to last. But he's not giving up on table tennis. Weston will put paddle firmly in hand and use the old-fashioned approach to get better. "Needless to say, I'm practicing as much as possible." For more information on PepPod, go to PepPod.com or contact Weston Trapp at weston@peppod.com PepPod on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PepPod PepPodpic on Instagram: http://instagram.com/PepPodpic |
| | | Practice Makes Perfect | The old adage that practice makes perfect is alive and well in college table tennis this semester as NCTTA member schools face off against each other before their official divisional meets.
Schools from the Ohio, Michigan, Texas, Northern Florida, and New Jersey divisions participated in friendly matches this fall. We would like to highlight some schools and teams that got together in the past month!
First up was the 2nd annual Halloween Table Tennis Team tournament at the Austin club. This was the 2nd year in a row and the following schools participated: UT Austin, UNT, Texas A&M, and UT Dallas.
Judy Chen from UT Austin Table Tennis tells us about it: "Last year, I came up with the idea of hosting another collegiate-like tournament after divisionals primarily for our B and C team players because they don't really get to play much tournament after divisionals."
USA Table Tennis tournaments are too expensive for NCTTA college schools and most are unwilling if they just started playing, says Judy. Judy isn't a one woman machine; she had the help of former NCTTA board member, Scott Ryan, to assist with tournament management and officiating.
Judy now understands a bit about what it takes to run events, "To set up the whole tournament took up about 2 months of communicating back and forth and about 50 people came in the end!" We at NCTTA are totally thankful for Judy and Scott's efforts, and those of everyone else involved!
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Next we go to Michigan Division, where Central Michigan University's table tennis program is coordinated by one of its students; Wei Li. Wei invited NCTTA newcomers Grand Valley State University for a scrimmage. Wei says, "I actually got the information from the Grand Valley State University Club Sports Coordinator Eric when I met him at MIRSA Workshop conference at our school a couple weeks ago."
Wei turned a fresh contact into a tournament event for both her school and GVSU! Wei says, "We have established a good relationship with the GVSU TTC, and hopefully we will have more tournaments going on in the near future."
Wei Li is a mover and shaker at the CMU campus and has the club hosting a couple of events, "In the upcoming month, we will host November Open on-campus, and an invitation will be sent to campus table tennis clubs around Michigan."
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Continuing in the Michigan Division, Ohio State University, fresh off of their friendly match with the University of Michigan, was challenged to a match with the University of Toledo! Po-Hsu "Allen" Chen of Ohio State Table Tennis tells us how it all went down: "Toledo contacted us in August and said they were interested in playing the friendly match. This time they traveled to Columbus with 8 players. Thus, we played two team competitions based on NCTTA rules." 
Allen says the Friendship cup may expand to include other teams as well. Friendship matches are taking off! Kudos to the OSU and University of Toledo Table Tennis teams for making this happen!
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Across to the east coast, Rowan University which is a new Table Tennis club to NCTTA's New Jersey division got the ball rolling with long time NCTTA member school Stockton College. Alex Bates of Rowan Table Tennis tells us how it happened, "I had contacted their former president who's on a leave of absence this year (Gordon Smith) and he put me in contact with Rash." They will be playing the NCTTA format to prepare for the New Jersey tournament on November 9th and then just play friendly matches after.
Finally down south in Florida we have Florida State University which is home to several different city clubs including the Northeast Tallahassee Table Tennis Society (NETTS), a local club run out of the home of a retired FSU professor, Dr. Hal Fletcher. Dr. Fletcher opened up his home with 3 tables and had the NETTS club face off against the FSU team in an NCTTA-like atmosphere. NETTS came out on top but this served as a good warm-up for the Noles.
Let NCTTA know if you are having a friendly match in your area, we would love to showcase it! |
Singles, NCTTA Style | NCTTA Singles play IS HAPPENING in the fall semester 2014. Six brave divisions have decided to host their divisional singles qualifier in the fall semester.
This is another great way to qualify into the NCTTA post season - Regionals and Nationals.
Carolina Division Director, Spencer Ip tells us why Carolina opted for the fall semester: "Facility location is one of the best in the region." Ip is talking about the newly created Triangle Table Tennis club in North Carolina. Ip goes on to say something that other Division Directors echo, "I think spring will get fewer singles participants since everyone is amped to play this year."
Spring/Winter semester is pretty packed in the college table tennis schedule as well. Just ask New Jersey Division Director, Paulo Tanious, and DC Division Director, Brandon Lawrence, who both concurred with similar statements about the timing of singles, "Lots of stuff going on in the spring, just makes better sense to hold it in the Fall semester."
To sign up for singles, go to:
www.nctta.org/singles
These are the divisions that ran singles this semester:
- November 1st @ Florida State University (Northern Florida Division)
- November 8th @ Triangle Table Tennis Center (Carolina Division)
- November 8th @ University of Maryland-College Park (DC/ Division)
- November 9th @ Broward Table Tennis Club (South Florida Division)
- November 9th @ Lily Yip Table Tennis Center (Jersey Division)
- November 15th@ Boston University (Lower New England Division)
Check here for spring 2015 Singles dates! http://www.nctta.org/schedule  | Emil Santos (Texas Wesleyan University)
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Get Ready for 2015 Tournaments | 2014 isn't even over and we are already talking about 2015, but we aren't that far away as spring semester NCTTA tournaments are already being set including NCTTA Regional competitions.
Remember, to qualify for the post season you go through NCTTA Divisional Singles or NCTTA Divisional Team play.
Also, ACUI Table Tennis offers a championship tournament in May/June for anyone who doesn't get invited to the NCTTA Championships in 2015, almost like a 2nd chance kind of tournament, so keep that in mind!
Some regional tournaments that have already been decided:
NCTTA South Regional Championships will be on the weekend of March 7th/8th in Ft. Worth, Texas at the home of the 2014 Champions, Texas Wesleyan!
NCTTA Midwest Regional Championships according to Midwest Regional Director, Kevin Li, will be held in Rockford, Illinois in February; more details to come later.
The other regions directors (Great Lakes, Mid Atlantic, West and Northeast) are busy at work trying to finalize dates and locations, but be aware that all NCTTA Regional Championship tournaments must be conducted between February 20th and March 9th, so start making your plans now!
http://www.nctta.org/schedule
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Penn State Nittany Lions Win Divisional Tournament | By Andy Kanengiser
NCTTA Media Committee Chair
In the Happy Valley, people are talking about Penn State's football game against Big Ten rival Ohio State.
The fan base may not compare with Nittany Lions football, but supporters of the Penn State table tennis team are also excited about their favorite squad on the University Park campus.
At the fall NCTTA divisional tournament, Penn State's team was simply awesome. The Lions won every contest they played on October 11. A newcomer from India, Jineet Lilani showed star power during his matches to lead the Nittany Lions to knock off three other rivals in the Keystone State.
When all was said and done, Penn State defeated the University of Pennsylvania, Shippensburg University, and DeSales. The action that Saturday took place at PSU's newly renovated Intramural Building. Penn finished in second place with its coed squad. The newcomers from Shippensburg gave the Ivy League crew from Philadelphia quite a scare, but finished third.
Post-game, people are still chatting about PSU's standout Jineet Lilani. He's rated about 2100, but table tennis fans believe he's far better. "He's a promising prospect who could make it quite far into singles events," says Dr. Asif ud-Doula, director of the NCTTA's Pennsylvania Division.
Since Penn's women's team didn't make the trip to Central Pennsylvania, Penn State's women's team played scrimmage games against all the visiting teams. The Lady Lions defeated DeSales, but narrowly lost to Shippensburg.
This fall, Penn State football fans are encouraged about their chances of getting selected for a post-season bowl game with stars like quarterback Christian Hackenberg and rusher Zack Zwinak leading the way. People in Happy Valley also believe their PSU table tennis team has the talent to make big strides, too, during the 2014-15 season.
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Team Table Tennis is the Most Fun | We here at NCTTA are all about TEAM PLAY! We love team table tennis competition, and obviously so as the organization was founded on the concept of club teams first and foremost!
This Thanksgiving break there will be three exciting team tournaments that we wanted to highlight to the college table tennis populace:
The Fremont Table Tennis Club will host a new event on the west coast: http://fremonttabletennis.com
Butterfly presents the Butterfly Teams tournament in Indiana, click here for more information: http://butterflyteams.com/
North American Table Tennis is running their annual team event in Maryland, click here for more information: http://www.joolateams.com/
We at NCTTA encourage you to take part in one of these tournaments because, as stated before, we love team table tennis and we imagine you all do too. So get your teams together!
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West Florida Takes 2nd Place Behind Mississippi College at Dixie Division Tournament | By Andy Kanengiser
NCTTA Media Committee Chair
Pensacola, Florida is well-known for its fantastic beaches, the National Aviation Museum, the Blue Wahoos baseball team, Pensacola Lighthouse, and other fabulous attractions.
The Florida Panhandle tourist spot is also home to a thriving Pensacola Table Tennis Club. It's a 13-table USATT sanctioned club since 1996 largely thanks to the splendid leadership of L.A. Johnston. Over the years, collegiate players at the University of West Florida in Pensacola have often been regulars at the club based at the Fricker Community Center.
So it was really no surprise that UWF players finished a solid second in the coed team standings at the NCTTA Dixie Division tournament hosted by Mississippi College this fall.
As expected, the powerful Mississippi College team led by 2014 men's singles champion Cheng Li grabbed first place at the event at the Baptist-affiliated university's 2014 Homecoming.
The October 18 games at Alumni Gym attracted MC graduates from across the USA. They were also in Clinton for a parade, Choctaws football game, class reunions and lots of delicious tailgating on the Quad.
Credit the UWF team for making the five-hour drive to Clinton, Mississippi and immediately bringing their "A" game to the table. UWF's Steven Yang and Leonel Garcia both notched impressive 4-1 records in singles play that Saturday. Yang and Garcia were successful doubles partners who scored victories over the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
Colby Ferraro and Mia Morales, the lone female player, rounded out the West Florida team roster.
West Florida players received kudos from Dixie Division co-director Drew Ogden.
"I feel like they (West Florida) were the stronger team this semester," Ogden said. Last year, the No- 2-ranked team in the Dixie Division was Tulane in New Orleans. But this fall, many of Tulane's top players were out of the country, says Ogden, who will soon move to Huntsville, Alabama.
Besides UWF, Mississippi College and its talented team dominated by five players from China, other schools taking part in the Dixie Division action included the University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi State University, Tulane, and UAB. While they didn't win the tournament, Mississippi State table tennis players were pumped about the MSU Bulldogs football team being rated No. 1 in America!
The University of Alabama at Huntsville and Alabama may return to action at the spring 2015 Dixie Division tournament at Mississippi College on February 7. Xavier University in New Orleans may field a new team in the spring and join the NCTTA division.
At the October 18 tournament, Mississippi College introduced its first female player of the new season, Xiaojin Lin. Zijie Zheng, an MBA graduate student, is the other newcomer on the MC squad. Ranked the No. 2 coed team in North America the past three seasons, MC's returning veterans include Yichi Zhang, Zesheng "Leo" Huang and Cheng Li, who's serving as coach and team captain. Yichi Zhang finished last season rated the nation's No. 2 collegiate player in the men's division.
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What a Difference a Year Makes, UCF Back on Top |  The UCF table tennis team was in disarray last year with no team unity or passion. This year they have a new lease on life. Enter new recruit and Portuguese international, Miguel Fernandes; new transfer from University of Florida, Naifan Zhuang; and new President, Brielle Perlingieri. With these new additions the team found happiness and passion!
The NCTTA Northern Florida divisional tournament was held at Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL. The competition on November 1st featured 6 schools: University of Central Florida, South Florida, North Florida, Florida, Florida State, and newcomer Santa Fe College. All of the schools were evenly matched, but UCF had something to prove and did they ever prove it!
UCF went undefeated, beating every opponent 4-0 with the exception of FSU 3-1. FSU managed the only point against the UCF machine. In addition to their team success, Miguel Fernandes has clinched a trip to the NCTTA South Regionals with his win in the divisional singles tournament that morning.
The fight for 2nd place went to the University of Florida as they squeaked by the University of South Florida in doubles. South Florida played 2 graduating seniors, Romanian international Ciprian "Chip" Romonti and Peter Salib. In addition, the FSU women's team participated, along with several B teams.
It was a great tournament and we look forward to next semester's matches!
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Around the College Table Tennis World | NCTTA's Northern California division, led by division director Mark Wei, played their tournament at the Swan Ping Pong club. UC Berkeley won both Coed and Womens, led by Olympian Lily Zhang. However, it was not always smooth sailing. Aditi Chodri from UC Davis made a surprising 3-2 upset against Lily, showing that on any given day, anything can happen in college table tennis!
NCTTA's Georgia Division tournament was held at the Atlanta Table Tennis Association's club on November 2nd. Georgia Tech, the division's reigning champs for almost a decade, ran into their first potential danger as they lost to University of Georgia 3-2. But don't count the Tech team out, as they are always ready for battle. Georgia division probably had the fastest recorded division meet in NCTTA history by utilizing Atlanta's 18 tables and completing the competition in a mere 3 hours!
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Collegiate Table Tennis Hall of Fame Under Discussion by NCTTA | By Andy Kanengiser
NCTTA Media Committee Chair
Sports legends like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
There are halls of fame for just about every sport - from golf to football, and from basketball to trapshooting. It's not just sports. To name a couple more, there's an Alabama Business Hall of Fame and a Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame to showcase performers like Neil Diamond and the Beatles.
In addition, there's a U.S. Table Tennis Hall of Fame honoring extraordinary players and contributors like Ruth Aarons and Dick Miles. The newest Hall of Fame inductees are invited to an induction banquet in Las Vegas on December 17 in connection with the U.S. National Championships.
Established in 1993, the International Table Tennis Hall of Fame and museum includes stellar players from countries like England, Sweden, China, Hungary, Japan, and Czechoslovakia.
This fall, NCTTA leaders began initial discussions to consider steps needed to launch a Collegiate Table Tennis Hall of Fame. It would be a superb way to salute the outstanding players, coaches, administrators and other supporters of this Olympic sport now played at over 150 colleges across the USA and Canada, NCTTA leaders say.
"A Collegiate Table Tennis Hall of Fame would be a great way to recognize our student-athletes, volunteers, NCTTA staff and supporters that have helped build college table tennis along the way," said NCTTA President Willy Leparulo. "We wouldn't be here today had it not been for our rich past."
NCTTA Media Committee Chair, Andy Kanengiser, agreed to team with longtime NCTTA leader Fede Bassetti, to begin talks to develop a plan to launch a Collegiate Hall of Fame for their favorite sport.
They plan to see what's working at other halls of fame that are sports-related, including procedures to nominate and select new members.
It's not something this two-man team can hammer out in a couple of weeks. But they hope to go to work on the initiative later this season.
"At this stage, nobody's talking about spending millions of dollars for a beautiful facility to house the Collegiate Hall of Fame," Kanengiser said. "But we do want to do something more to recognize the shining stars of our sport and other contributors over the years. We hope to trumpet their achievements on our NCTTA website and at our annual banquet at the TMS College Championships."
Kanengiser and Bassetti will seek input from other members of the NCTTA family as talk of a proposed Hall of Fame moves along. A USATT official and table tennis instructor at Northern Illinois University, Fede will be a valuable asset as the process moves along, he said.
In October, the NCTTA board approved a request by Kanengiser to take steps to pursue a proposed Collegiate Table Tennis Hall of Fame.
At NCTTA headquarters, we value your suggestions about launching a Collegiate Table Tennis Hall of Fame. So send us your thoughts via e-mail to info@nctta.org.  |
New Jersey Table Tennis Club Welcomes Collegians | By Andy Kanengiser
NCTTA Media Committee Chair
New Jersey is the home of rock icon Bruce Springsteen, glitzy Atlantic City casinos, the Garden State Parkway, and much more.
These days, table tennis is also getting noticed as a piece of Jersey's landscape. And much of the action is taking place at the fabulous New Jersey Table Tennis Club.
Located in Westfield, across the street from the city's train station, the popular club is open seven days a week, 365 days a year to table tennis players. It appeals to people of all ages who are passionate about this Olympic sport.
It's home turf for David Zhuang, the six-time U.S. National Table Tennis Champ, who serves as the facility's No. 1 coach. David's star pupils have included Eric Finkelstein, Pan Lin, Alden Fan, and former Rutgers University standout Adam Formal.
At age 15, Adam and his family moved to Westfield, New Jersey. He played table tennis with his father quite a bit in the Formal basement at their home.
Before long, Adam found his way to the New Jersey Table Tennis Club that's hosted state tournaments for decades.
"It's one of the oldest clubs in the United States,'' says member Adam Formal. Recalling one of his first visits years ago as a teenager, he said, "The people were all very nice and seemed like table tennis gods."
Attending high school in Morristown, Adams traveled with Larry Bavly to the N.J. Table Tennis Club 1-2 days each week to upgrade their game. Adam also practiced with the Rutgers Table Tennis Team on weekends on the New Brunswick campus.
The NJTTC holds "a special place in my heart," says Formal, a Rutgers graduate pursuing a doctorate.
Many people are saying the same thing. Sporting eight top-notch tables, excellent lighting and wooden floors, the NJTTC has over 200 members. Affiliated with the USATT, the club in Westfield attracts "a lot of great junior programs and players," he said.
The Jersey club also enjoys a good reputation across the nation.
The NJTTC, said NCTTA President Willy Leparulo, "is home to many former college table tennis players."
In the heavily populated Garden State, table tennis is booming. There have been at least three new clubs springing up in New Jersey the past few years.
New Jersey schools like Rutgers and Princeton are loaded with some of the most talented collegiate table tennis players in North America. For instance, US National Team members Ariel Hsing and Erica Wu are stars at Princeton University.
For more information on the New Jersey Table Tennis Club, call 908-654-9009 or go to http://njttc.org |
Interested In Journalism? Write For NCTTA's Publications! | ANY JOURNALISM majors or better yet JOURNALISM, ENGLISH graduates out there want a great volunteer  gig? NCTTA is looking for an EDITOR and WRITERS for its website and newsletters: http://www.nctta.org/newsletters/ This is a great opportunity for anyone looking to get their work released to different media outlets and help NCTTA with Blogging, Newsletters, Twitter, etc. Click here to get involved with this committee or others. |
USATT Membership Discounts For NCTTA Graduates | NCTTA has recently teamed with USA Table Tennis to create a special opportunity where recent NCTTA grads can take advantage of a 2-year USATT membership for 62 percent off of the regular price. Yes, you read that right 62% off. USATT membership is the best way to stay involved with table tennis after graduation. So take advantage of this great deal! Read all about it at: nctta.org/alumni NCTTA takes care of its alumni hoping that they then will return the favor to their collegiate clubs by donating their time or money or both to keep programs and teams alive. Keep involved! Got an idea for a future story or newsletter topic? Email the NCTTA Media Committee Chair. |
| Stay tuned for more exciting NCTTA news next month. Don't forget to click on the link below (Update Profile/Email Address). Sincerely, |
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