Photo Credit: Dennis Yanga, representing playing for one’s team and what it means.

Willy Leparulo, Guest Writer
NCTTA Media

Year after year, NCTTA has been a home to former and current elite Junior/National team athletes from the USA, Canada and other countries. Representing one’s country while being in college is not an easy feat and one that takes coordination, support and true grit. Trailblazers like NCTTA Alumni Lily Zhang (UC Berkeley) and others have paved the way for the new group to step into the light.

We spoke with Joola’s Matt Hetherington, a former NCTTA athlete from Pillar College, to share his insight with NCTTA on the “vibe” of the NCTTA Championships,

“I think many (elite) college players just enjoy the fact that they can stay in the sport and be involved in some level of competition with more freedom and less stress attached”.

Many elite athletes are here at the NCTTA Championships from not only USA and Canada, but other countries like Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, India and New Zealand to name a few, all sharing similar previous training and experiences.

One thing is certain: the NCTTA Championships provide a unique table tennis moment, one that isn’t readily available. Hetherington states, “The (NCTTA) team aspect is definitely unique, you get a sense that you are representing something more than yourself. When you achieve something in college, your school is proud, your team is proud, and your friends from outside of the sport at the school make a deal out of it.”

Loud and Proud is NCTTA’s favorite hashtag, so come check out these athletes as they represent their schools!

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

By Michael Reff
NCTTA Media Committee

A special treat awaited NCTTA participants and the public on Thursday March 30 at 10pm in a Zoom call. For the first time in NCTTA history, live draws were made to determine who plays whom in the first rounds of the tourney throughout Women’s and Coed’s Teams matches. According to live draw host and Rating Committee Chair Kagin Lee, the decision to carry out the draw this way was to promote transparency.

“Besides the ceremonial aspect, performing a public draw is important to demonstrate the fairness of the draw,” Lee said. “This way there can be no question about why any given team is in one position rather than another; everyone witnessed how it happened, and it was done out in the open rather than secretly in a back room.”

There were specific criteria that the live draw followed, ranging in order of priority level from seeding placement to geographic location, with the goals of creating as much a randomized environment of choices as possible.

The criteria as well as the results of the draw can be found in the link below:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/166PisAss-Ft27gO2Oon6X5wO00xBw0sq....

The live draw boasted an engaging crowd and Lee expertly explained the process and patiently answered questions. He noted, “one person even corrected me when [I] made an error.” This demonstrated further the transparency of the entire public approach to the draw.

Kagin observed that because the draws are finished already and out in the public, “teams can design their ordered rosters specifically for the opponents they expect to face”, saying it is another “strategic element” that was not found in the previous method.

Kudos to Kagin and the rest of the NCTTA crew for being more forward thinking and ushering in a new era of fairness and transparency!

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

Picture of Ning Cheng and Steve Claflin

By Willy Leparulo, Guest Writer

NCTTA President, Willy Leparulo reached out to fellow table tennis event owner, Steve Claflin, Chairman of WE R Table Tennis and architect and owner of AMIBO for assistance when coordinating help for the NCTTA Championships. Claflin, the director of the Classic Hardbat Championships, knows a little bit about who to connect with in Texas, so he linked NCTTA up with the amazing Ning Cheng.

According to Claflin, Ning is a regional umpire, great player and volunteer to ALL things table tennis related and a GREAT friend. Ning was a player back in the day representing the University of Houston in 1997 at the Collegiates. She has competed as a player in various tournaments and as an umpire in even more. Ning has a group of enthusiastic volunteers from the Houston area to turn to. NCTTA is very excited to meet everyone.

Ning states so eloquently, “This small 40+mm white ball connects many of us together and I would love to promote table tennis anywhere I go. Table tennis is the sport I love, this is the sport which brings happiness, health and friendship.”

Here’s to happiness, health and friendship for the 2023 NCTTA Championships!

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

By Willy Leparulo, Guest writer

NCTTA Media

Double Happiness, known as DHS, is the 2023 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships ball sponsor. DHS has been the official ball and table supplier for many international events including the Olympics and the Table Tennis World Championships.

Now DHS is on board with the College Table Tennis Championships providing the newer high quality DHS DJ40+ ball (white) for our wonderful event. A big thank you to Double Happiness for their sponsorship and support of these NCTTA Championships.

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

Photo Credit to George Thomas

By Willy Leparulo; guest writer
NCTTA Media Committee

NCTTA has made Round Rock, the Sports Capital of the world, a mainstay. The 2023 NCTTA Championships sponsored by DHS, PongSpace and Major League Table Tennis are in Round Rock, Texas for a record 4th time! There is no denying the love NCTTA has for the City of Round Rock and specifically for Nancy Yawn and the Round Rock CVB. NCTTA Vice President, Joseph Wells states, “We have been incredibly fortunate to be able to work with Nancy and her staff year after year.”

NCTTA was in Round Rock in 2016, 2018 and slated for 2020 and 2021, both canceled by COVID, but then sprung back in 2022 and again for 2023!

Round Rock Sports Center is truly a gem of a venue with spacious courts and located within walking distance of so many different areas of enjoyment. Restaurants and hotels are all just a stroll away, a great setup for any event owner!

Round Rock is the place to be in 2023 for NCTTA and College Table Tennis!

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

By Willy Leparulo; guest writer
NCTTA Media Committee

I want to take a journey through the numerical nuances that exist and live in our current edition of the NCTTA Championships here in 2023:

52 Colleges and Universities

81 Men’s Singles

40 Women’s Singles

24 Men’s/Coed Teams

16 Women’s Teams

32 Men’s Doubles

16 Women’s Doubles

261 Student Athletes and Coaches

103 Volunteers

23 Countries

The NCTTA is a veritable mini United Nations just within this Championship event. We have male and female athletes from all over the globe. From China to Canada, Brazil to Thailand, and of course, the USA is also well represented!

NCTTA, a National Organization in USA Table Tennis for the past 14 years, is also the governing body of College Table Tennis, and is excited to bring to Round Rock the plethora of international and domestic young collegiate stars on April 14-16th.

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

By Michael Reff
NCTTA Media

Picture this: by day an academic advisor at his alma mater of FSU; by night, embracing his true alter ego as the man with the plan, the webinar wizard who is formidably organized, brutally honest, and a multiple hat wearer: Willy Leparulo, the NCTTA President.

President Leparulo has been doing the night owl NCTTA grind for way too long, but through his sheer passion and vision, he has managed to sustain and visibly raise this humble organization of college table tennis in the USA and Canada to new heights.

And finally, due to his recent nomination for the USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame, he will get much deserved plaudits amongst other amazing USA table tennis HOF nominees.

Those that will be inducted alongside him during this summer are Coach Richard McAfee (Coach McAfee will be receiving the Mark Matthews Lifetime Achievement Award and he also helped NCTTA create the Coaches’ Certification program), Ashu Jain (A high level player who used to compete for University of Michigan during the ACUI tourney days), Dennis Davis (assisted NCTTA in earlier times with their relentless goal of achieving NCAA status one day) and Ken Brooks.

A worthy honor for the hardest working college table tennis president on the planet!

And so, in his native Italian I wish him “Auguri!”
https://ustthof.projecttabletennis.com/

Looking for a resume booster? Look no further!

NCTTA Tech Team is looking for help from talented and driven software developers to join our dynamic Tech committee at NCTTA.

Do you have a passion for coding and a knack for problem-solving? Are you a table tennis fan and enjoy working on innovative projects and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible? If so, we want to hear from you!

We’re looking for someone who:
-Has experience in software development and programming languages such as C# and .NET (or .NET Core)
-Has a strong understanding of software design patterns, algorithms, and data structures
-Is capable of working with MySQL and database design
-Is comfortable working in an agile environment
-Has excellent communication and collaboration skills
-Bonus if you know JavaScript, CSS or React

In return, we offer:
-An opportunity to work on the NCTTA app project and make a real impact for future NCTTA players
-Opportunities for personal growth and learning about our internal and external applications
#resumebuilders

So, what are you waiting for? If you’re ready to take on the challenge, we’d love to talk with you. Reach out and let’s build something great together at NCTTA! info@nctta.org

From January 2023 Newsletter--

By Erica Tran
NCTTA Media Committee

For the 2023 NCTTA National Championships this spring, there will be a new format for the Coed and Women’s Teams events. In short, the team competitions will be progressive knockouts, replacing the previous system where we had a round robin stage followed by a single elimination stage.

Check out diagrams of the format here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WsJNQmJkAGTdjQzeSuU1GkA4W5SyEvJj...

Within that file, the tabs “2022 WT” and “2022 CT” illustrate the format we used at last year’s championships, and “2023 WT” and “2023 CT” show the new format we will use this year.

In the old format, teams played in round robin groups of four teams. The top two finishers from each group advanced to the championship elimination bracket, and the remaining teams would move to a second or third bracket where they would compete for a lower level of placement.

The new format does not have a preliminary stage; all teams start directly in the knockout bracket. This format is called a progressive knockout. It is similar to a single elimination, except when a team loses, they are not eliminated – they instead move to another section of the bracket where they continue to play for a lower position. After each match, both the winner and the loser continue to play until the end of the tournament. Every team plays for a final position; not only will there be a match to determine who places 1st or 2nd, but also matches to see who will place 3rd or 4th, 5th or 6th, etc.

One clear advantage of this format is that it’s easy to follow, for both competitors and spectators. When live streaming our championships on YouTube, it was difficult to show round robin group matches because we don’t necessarily know what the importance of the match is – the winner might advance to the championship bracket, or they might not. The match might not matter at all.

In the progressive knockout format, every match is consequential. The winner of every match will advance further in the tournament, with no ambiguity. There will be no meaningless matches played at this tournament.

In this new format, teams will need to make some adjustments. Because every match is consequential, teams need to be ready to go from the start. There are no warmup matches – hopefully everyone had enough warmup in their divisional and regional events. This will be the first time we’re using this format. After the tournament we will review the results and consider what further adjustments should be made.

This format change will only apply to teams. We expect the singles and doubles event formats will be similar to last year.

PongSpace and NCTTA have been working together unofficially since last summer, but today both organizations announce their official relationship to the world! PongSpace and NCTTA's missions and goals align perfectly with the sport of table tennis. Both organizations are excited to combine resources to reach those goals.

PongSpace’s primary goal is to inform fellow "pongers" of resources, be it clubs, leagues, events and competitions. NCTTA is a national organization and governing body for college table tennis in North America with goals to promote college table tennis through their league system, coaching education and tournaments.

PongSpace is currently sponsoring AYTTO, a partner of NCTTA's, and thus the next logical conclusion was the PongSpace and NCTTA relationship. Last summer, PongSpace helped NCTTA by providing access to its registration software for the SPIN NCTTA Alumni events held all over the country. These Alumni events will continue this summer as well as other shared events. In addition, NCTTA member schools will be able to utilize the PongSpace server for more promotion and publicity of their respective clubs.

About PongSpace:
Pongspace is a for profit organization connecting table tennis enthusiasts and table tennis resources together. The company strives to promote the sport by incubating new entrants to the sport while assisting existing entities to increase activities and revenue. Pongspace is the “glue” connecting all spaces of the sport. Whether you are a table tennis toddler or retired senior, there is always a space for you at Pongspace. Pongspace.com

About NCTTA:
NCTTA is a National Organization and non for profit 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, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org