Pensacola Tourney Attracts College Players
An NCTTA Feature - June 2011

By Andy Kanengiser
NCTTA Media Relations Committee

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 NCTTA championship games in Rochester, Minnesota 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.

So it was nice to see new table tennis players from an Alabama school – Auburn University Montgomery – come to Pensacola. And we are happy to report they expressed interest in joining the NCTTA’s Georgia Division.

With 5,771 students, Auburn Montgomery is an NAIA school that competes in the Southern States Athletic Conference. Nicknamed the Senators, the school’s sports teams include baseball, basketball, tennis and cheerleading. The school in Alabama’s capital city offers all types of academic programs – from nursing to education to liberal arts and has an ROTC program.

Will table tennis be added to the mix at Auburn Montgomery? Time will tell. At NCTTA headquarters, we are always happy to help new schools join our ranks. There are really not too many hoops to jump through. We will help you fill out the paperwork. We are also glad to answer your questions about what it takes to become a new member school.

As the NCTTA goes through a reorganization of its 18 divisions across the USA and Canada, we are also stepping up our recruitment of new schools this summer. One of the newcomers in NCTTA ranks in 2010-2011 was Iowa’s Dordt College. We were impressed enough with the Iowa school in the Upper Midwest Division to give them our annual rookie of the year award. There are about 150 colleges and universities across the USA and Canada with table tennis teams.

We are always looking to see our numbers grow. Our NCTTA players are some of our best school recruiters. Participating in USATT tournaments like the games hosted by the Pensacola Table Tennis Club are another great way to boost collegiate table tennis. Colleges with an interest in signing up with the NCTTA should drop us a line this summer. The 2011-2012 collegiate table tennis season will be here before you know it!

Got an idea for an interesting story about an college table tennis related event?
Drop us a line at publicrelations@nctta.org