NCTTA Newsletter
June 2011

In this month's newsletter we've got the scoop on great scholarship opportunities, some profiles of students in the class of 2011, a table tennis podcast featuring college table tennis, plus all the details on the upcoming US Open.

Read on for all this and more ...

NCTTA Scholarship Program Enters 4th Year
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

FREE MONEY for collegiate table tennis players!!

Did we get your attention? That’s the idea. With the price of everything from gas to college textbooks skyrocketing, NCTTA wants to put some money in your pocket. All you got to do is love the game of table tennis, make good grades, write an essay and apply.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it. For the last three years, thanks to some generous support from Newgy Industries, the NCTTA Scholarship Program has been rewarding stellar student athletes for their work both in the classroom and on the table. The NCTTA scholarship committee measures players in terms of their skills at the game, academic performance, their essays and financial need.

Think you’ve got what it takes? Better hurry, the application deadline is August 15, 2011.

2010-2011 scholarship recipients included Yuliang "Bill" Cai (Miss. College), Nancy Chen (Harvard), Ye Hu (Wisconsin), and Stephanie Shih (Columbia). We look forward to announcing the 2011-2012 winners in September. And we want to thank Newgy Industries for teaming up with the NCTTA to make the scholarship program a success year after year.

At the same time, we want to make a pitch to folks around the USA and Canada to make contributions to the scholarship fund. Such gifts are tax deductible and are a great way to promote college table tennis. With your support we can expand our scholarship offerings and help ensure the long-term viability of the program. So make a donation today!

NCTTA Filling Key Committee Slots
Interested volunteers needed to fill 13 different committees

NCTTA is looking for people with a passion for table tennis who want to lend us a hand. If you like to write, help us with marketing efforts, work with the athletes with disabilities or do other things to make our sport grow, we want to hear from you this summer.

We have about a dozen committees where we can put your talents to good use. In recent weeks, we’ve been hearing from a number of folks who want to serve. Abe Benham, who heads our Virginia Division, is now signed up to lead our Disabled Athletes Committee. Another division leader, this one on the West Coast, wants to step up what he’s doing for the NCTTA. Kevin Li, the director of the Northern California Division, wants to step up his NCTTA involvement by joining with the organization’s Media Committee.

There are more names that have come to our attention recently. Sam Hart, a player on the Dordt College team in Iowa, wants to help with our marketing efforts. Nicholas Poku is interested in assisting with media and marketing.

That’s a good start, but it’s not nearly enough. With lots of committees to fill, and a growing organization adding new divisions and regions, we need all the help we can get. We are also seeking to add more folks to NCTTA leadership posts, including new regional directors, so please let us know what you can bring to the table.

So if you have a few hours to spare, the energy and talent to help collegiate table tennis grow, take a look at the list of committees, and drop us an email to let us know which you might be able to help with:

• Media Relations Committee
• Marketing Committee
• Financial Committee
• Championships Committee
• Women’s Committee
• Rules and Audit Committee
• Coaching Committee
• Disabled Athletes Committee
• Recruitment Committee
• Ratings Committee
• Website Development Committee
• Eligibility Committee
• Alumni Relations Committee

We look forward to hearing from you and making our future even brighter!

Table Tennis Podcast on iTunes
NCTTA alum hosts table tennis-themed podcast

NCTTA is on iTunes!

Don't miss The Pongcast, a table tennis-focused a podcast covering a variety of table tennis news and topics. The Pongcast was created by Jason Liem, former NCTTA player from the University of Florida. The first week's show includes an interview with NCTTA President, Willy Leparulo. Check it out!

Congrats to NCTTA Class of 2011
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

All the hard work playing table tennis and the long hours hitting the books are paying dividends. Now it’s off to graduate school or joining the workforce for many members of the Class of 2011.

At NCTTA headquarters we want to say congrats for getting those college degrees, while playing your favorite sport on the planet. Some of the newly minted college graduates are really going places. Starting with the June newsletter, we want to profile a few of the new grads and NCTTA alumni who are taking a different road. One of them is Florida State University graduate Jon Valdez a.k.a. Jon the Penholder.

A native of Lutz, Florida near Tampa, Lutz is now living in China. It’s the huge country in Asia where table tennis is the national sport, a land where table tennis training camps are common and where great players are practically born with paddles in their tiny hands. For four years, Jon played on the FSU Seminoles table tennis team. In 2009-2010, the FSU team was recognized as the most improved team in NCTTA ranks, and he was a part of that superb squad in Tallahassee.

As an FSU freshman, Jon switched from the shakehand grip to the penhold version. As the Chinese, who invented the grip, were abandoning it in droves, Jon decided to embrace it. Guess you could say he’s not afraid to buck the trends. After all he is a Florida guy who loves Asian culture, society and sports.

Read more ...

Sponsor Corner
Please support our sponsors, they make college table tennis possible!

NCTTA would like to thank Killerspin for its support of college table tennis. As the 2011 Championships equipment sponsor, Killerspin provided balls, nets and tables for the event. NCTTA member schools just need to fill out the Killerspin Premium Membership Program Application to receive phenomenal discounts. Browse all your favorite Killerspin equipment in the online Killerspin store.

Also, special thanks to NEWGY Industries, for its continued support of college table tennis. Newgy is a long-time supporter of college scholarships through the NCTTA Scholarship Program (see more information, including how to apply in above story).

USATT Offers Graduating Students Membership Discounts
By Andy Kanengiser, NCTTA Media Relations Chair

Fast-food chain restaurants around the USA offer $1 value meal items. Senior citizen discounts abound. And it’s cheaper for movie fans to hit the theaters in the afternoon.

Likewise, the USATT has a deal for graduating NCTTA players. It’s basically two year membership that works out to about 50 percent off regular membership rates. And these days, with rising food and fuel prices and costs, this is a good deal you want to check out.

“The 50 percent off pricing means that it’s a great introductory deal for students that have never joined USATT,” says David Del Vecchio, an NCTTA board member. And with only about 17% of college table tennis players having played in a USATT tournament before entering college, we’re pretty sure that’s a lot of you. “It’s even a good deal for existing college members. With mountains of college debt and entry-level salaries, graduating students understandably tend to be very cost conscious,” observes Del Vecchio.

Let’s boil it down to dollars and cents. Instead of paying what would be $74 for a two-year USATT membership, the price is chopped to $37, only for graduating students from any NCTTA member school. And there are about 150 NCTTA schools in the USA and Canada.

So what do you get for your USATT membership? Member benefits include a subscription to a bi-monthly USATT magazine, participation in tournaments nationwide, and a national ranking/rating. Members also get to vote in USATT elections, and receive a copy of the official laws of table tennis. And you get to be a card-carrying member of a pretty neat organization. USATT is the national governing body of table tennis.

“After college, for players that want to continue playing organized table tennis, membership in USA Table Tennis is the best opportunity to do this,” says Del Vecchio, a University of Virginia alumnus.

Pensacola Tourney Attracts College Players
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

Mississippi College’s No. 1 player Yang Yu knocked off Carlos Ko from Albany, Georgia in the finals of the Pensacola tournament just a few miles from the sparkling white beaches of the Florida Panhandle.

In an amazing match, the highly rated Yu lost game one, but the native of China rallied to win three straight at the June 11 event. The 25-year-old MBA student from MC took care of business and headed back to the Magnolia State with a nice trophy. Yu, who hails from Meizhou, China, has played the game for 18 seasons. Standing 6’3”, Yu is one of the main reasons why Mississippi College landed in 5th place at the 2011 Championships in April.

Players from colleges in Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama were among those making the trip to Pensacola for the Saturday tournament sponsored by the Pensacola Table Tennis Club and its ever gracious host, club president L.A. Johnston.

Top-notch collegiate players from NCTTA schools like MC, West Florida, Florida State, and Southern Miss have often attended Johnston’s tourneys in recent years. A couple of months ago, players from Valdosta State University in Georgia made the long journey to Pensacola with paddles in hand. VSU even came to the event decked out in new uniforms.

Read more ...

Table Tennis Lands Businessweek Coverage
By Andy Kanengiser

Earlier this month, 24 million hoops fans tuned into to the NBA Finals to see Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks defeat LeBron James and the Miami Heat in 6 games. Ratings for the finals were up with fans spending big bucks on their favorite sport. They’re buying team jerseys, tickets and other stuff to make the NBA a huge business year after year.

Table tennis may not quite be at that level yet, but it’s getting there.

To read up on the latest on the tends, check out the May 9-May 15, 2011 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek. It’s loaded with info that speaks to the table tennis renaissance. The two-page magazine story says there are an estimated 19.45 million recreational players in the USA, a 53 percent increase over the last decade. The magazine gets the figure from the Silver Spring, Maryland-based Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA). And according to the SGMA survey, more than half have annual incomes exceeding $75,000.

President Obama likes to play table tennis. So does businessman Warren Buffet, and Susan Sarandon, the actress whose table tennis franchises operate in New York, Milwaukee and Toronto.

The magazine also states that the game is a great way to build lasting connections in the corporate world. Combine that with a college education from some of the country’s best universities and college table tennis alumni should be poised to take the business world by storm.

US Open in Milwaukee Attracts Table Tennis Fans
By Andy Kanengiser, NCTTA Media Relations Chair

You’re a superb table tennis player or fan of the Olympic sport and want to have a great time this summer. The perfect solution is to jump into a car or hop a plane to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the 2011 US Open. It’s not a bad way to spend a few vacation days if you have the time and a few bucks to spare.

The June 30 - July 4 event at the Frontier Airlines Center will attract 700 top-notch table tennis players from 25 nations, including Belarus, Brazil, Germany, South Korea, Ireland, Israel, the USA, and, of course, China. The titans of table tennis will be playing on more than 100 tables as they show off their spins and slams.

There are some key NCTTA connections to all of this. Linda Leaf, the fabulous director of the NCTTA’s Upper Midwest Division, is serving as the contact person on the US Open Milwaukee Local Organizing Committee. For more information on this major event, Linda is the one to reach.

For table tennis lovers, the US Open is akin to paradise. Also held alongside the event is the 2011 US Para Table Tennis Open from July 1-3, so check that out, too. The table tennis club SPiN Milwaukee is one of the US Open’s major sponsors.

Ok after seeing so much table tennis, you want to get out and experience some fun stuff to do in Milwaukee. There’s much on the plate away from the nets. Check out the Harley-Davidson Museum if you love motorcycles. There’s also Summerfest, the world’s largest music festival that’s seen star performers like Tom Petty and Tim McGraw on stage in recent years. Or if you’re into art, the place to see is the Milwaukee Art Museum with a neat exhibit on China this summer. The museum will also be host to a Ping Pong Diplomacy 40th Anniversary exhibition and dinner on July 1.

Got NCTTA Reorganization Questions?
Then we've (hopefully) got answers

Got any questions about NCTTA's reorganization plans for next season? How the whole regional structure and competitions will work? What will happen to your division? How championships qualification works?

Whatever your questions are, send them to info@nctta.org by July 8, 2011.

We'll compile answers to everyone's questions and publish them in a future newsletter so everyone can learn more about what's coming up next season. So send those questions our way!

Got an idea for a future story or newsletter topic? Email the NCTTA Media Relations Chair.