One of the new kids on the college table tennis circuit is the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the Blugolds are faring well so far in their first season of NCTTA competition.

Wisconsin-Eau Claire fields sports like women’s ice hockey, men’s hockey, men’s basketball, gymnastics,and cross country, to name a few. Its table tennis club actually began four years ago, but this is the first year they’ve fielded an intercollegiate team. “I was a tennis player who was forced indoors during the winter, so I naturally turned to table tennis,” says club founder Roy Thore Koch. He formed a club and the rest is history at the Wisconsin school.

An information systems major and Spanish minor, Koch is one of four members on the school’s “A” or varsity team. His teammates include Aaron Dettman, Eric Pallin, and Alex Buszmann. Their women’s table tennis team consists of Clare Koopmans, Amy Nelson, Emily Croft and Rachel Gochenour. Players on the “B” or JV team include: Alex Rust, Kyle Laylan, Tim Andrie and Erik Olson. The bulk of the UW-Eau Claire players are from Wisconsin and Minnesota.

These days in November it is starting to turn cold in their west-central part of Wisconsin. Still, 20 to 30 people regularly bundle up and attend their table tennis club practices in a dairy state known internationally for its cheese.

Eau Claire finished 3rd out of six college teams competing in the Minnesota Division and figures to get better in future years. 3-time defending champ Minnesota currently sits atop the Division.

UW-Eau Claire is a growing school in a state loaded with Cheeseheads who cheer every Sunday for the NFL’s Green Bay Packers. The university is home to 10,487 undergraduates and 559 graduates. There are 150 international students at the Upper Midwest school founded in 1916. Not far from cities like Altoona and Seymour, the university sits in a neat metropolitan area with 65,000 people.

America’s Promise in 2007 rated Eau Claire, Wisconsin as one of America’s Best Communities for Young People. Maybe that’s why it’s such a great place for college table tennis.

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