How It Got Here, Where It Is, and Where It’s Going

By Willy Leparulo and Mike McFarland

 “It was the best of times, it was the worst times” – so says the first line from one of the most beloved novels in the world. The best of times and the worst of times can be easily attributed to the start of college table tennis in the United States, as the movement to place college table tennis on the proverbial map began then stopped, and then began again. This tumultuous struggle as with anything else in life serves as a unique learning experience for all those involved in collegiate table tennis and in the sport itself.  

I. How We Got Here… 

College table tennis in the United States dabbled with average to moderate success in different sections of the country in the 1970’s as Northwestern schools in Oregon played one another with the annual College Team Championships at Princeton University in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s, along with continued ACUI and NCTTA recreational program support. There was early success when Anderson College in South Carolina and Augusta State University in Georgia created scholarship table tennis programs. For a time these programs were successful and were known as the place to be with respect to college table tennis, but ultimately the fire that brought these programs to action soon diminished. The true impetus to collegiate table tennis came in the form of the two organizations that currently exist today, ACUI and NCTTA.

ACUI (Association of College Unions International) has been conducting regional and national table tennis tournaments in universities since the 1970’s. The ACUI recreational program is one of the longest-standing collegiate programs and ultimately served as the only organized collegiate table tennis installation in the United States for the better part of a decade. The ACUI table tennis program was always conducted during the spring semester, with 16 separate regional tournaments following an international tournament where the winners of these regions would be represented. ACUI’s influence and the very popularity of table tennis on college campuses drove those with a vision outside of ACUI to create standards and opportunities for college players.

In 1992 a group of motivated students noticed that an alternative to ACUI was needed. They later took it upon themselves to start a college table tennis league. So enters the League of Northeast Inter-Collegiate Table Tennis (LNITT). There is much credit to be deserved on behalf of Boston University alum Nelson Chin and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alum Thomas Hu for the creation of an idea for a league that was a “gold mine” in the aspect of grassroots growth. The LNITT started out as five Ivy League schools from the northeast part of the United States. Each year was followed by growth spurts that spread around the country like wild fire. Due to the dedication of its officers and university administrators nationwide, the goal of national existence was reached, and the LNITT changed its name in 1998 to the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association. From here, NCTTA soon expanded into all four corners of the United States and into Canada. For the 2004-2005 season, 104 schools competed in the 16 regional divisions, spanning the four corners of the country, from New England to Florida to California to Washington State. 

II. Where We Are Now...

Picture it: 2600 players in over 100 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, scholarship programs lasting more than a couple years and a full force of table tennis enthusiasts year after year to beat all odds. This picture is today, this picture is now. College table tennis in the United States has broken through! Currently, one can see an abundance of college campuses with tables in dorms, athletic facilities, student unions and fraternity houses. Filling the gap between college campuses is the task at hand, and the organization working to fill this gap within college table tennis is the NCTTA and ACUI. The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a government-recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting competitive table tennis at the collegiate level in the U.S. and Canada. The NCTTA works with the USA Table Tennis (USATT), the sport’s national governing body, to further promote college table tennis.

The mission of NCTTA is to promote the sport of table tennis by providing an opportunity for college students to compete in this enjoyable lifetime sport and to provide student athletes the avenues to compete in serious intercollegiate table tennis competition at a club or varsity level. NCTTA’s purpose is to work together with USATT and colleges to create programs, scholarships and opportunities for male and female student athletes. The primary focus of NCTTA is to enhance collegiate athletics by developing a strong community grassroots program, scholarship programs, competitive play, and true professionalism. In addition to these goals, NCTTA believes that college table tennis players will be well equipped represent their country, college, sport, and themselves in regional, national and international competition such as the Olympics, Pan American Games and World University Championships.

NCTTA also provides assistance and leadership in implementing College/University table tennis programs, securing the opportunity for student-athletes to compete in the sport of table tennis in schools, and achieve athletic and academic excellence. NCTTA maintains the eligibility and integrity of intercollegiate table tennis while providing the regulation of varsity table tennis at the collegiate level in North America. The importance of collegiate athletics has come to the forefront with the USOC emphasizing its importance as it plays a critical role in the athlete development pipeline. In fact, the existence of Olympic sports programs at the college level is what separates the U.S. Olympic Team from every other Olympic team in the world. The opportunity to participate in college athletics is a real motivating force for many high school athletes.

NCTTA stands to meet the challenge of promoting one of the least developed collegiate sports by actively increasing its membership, competitive level of play, and professionalism. NCTTA works to promote both recreational and intercollegiate table tennis on college campuses. Our ultimate goal is to promote serious amateur sport competition among collegiate table tennis athletes and schools most specifically in the area of women’s table tennis where the NCAA has currently created an impetus for such a program. Indeed, NCTTA with the support of the USATT is a frontrunner in the grass-root movement that introduces newcomers to our enjoyable sport.

NCTTA is not alone in the grassroots promotion initiative with college table tennis as ACUI is another organization that works to promote college table tennis in the U.S. and around the world.

The Association of College Unions International (ACUI) is a nonprofit educational organization founded in 1914. ACUI provides regional, national and international programming in traditional recreational union sports like table tennis. Known more for its diversity than its size, the Association has member institutions in the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico.

Currently ACUI provides for college table tennis’ version of singles and doubles competition. Regional, national and international competitions are traditionally held in the spring semester of the collegiate school year. ACUI Regional, National, and International tournaments are supported, funded, coordinated by USATT and NCTTA.

In addition to the people and organizations working to promote college table tennis one must recognize the schools that have gone the extra mile to promote college table tennis on their respective campuses. College table tennis is not an NCAA or NAIA sport, but that didn’t stop three schools from creating their own funded table tennis program. University of Southern Mississippi, Darton College, and the Texas Wesleyan University have stepped up their “game” to provide students with a discount on their tuition in exchange for their table tennis prowess! The University of Southern Mississippi has just recently created an infrastructure to allow table tennis athletes to obtain an out of state waiver to attend the school based on some specific table tennis criteria. Darton College, a small two-year community college in Georgia, is accepts international undergraduate students that play table tennis almost 90 percent free of cost. Texas Wesleyan University leads them all in providing a professional funded table tennis collegiate program as they provide for partial scholarships for many of their top athletes as well as close to a Varsity program as you can get with a professional coaching staff and program funds. We are reaching for the stars in college table tennis and in these few instances bringing some down!

III. Where Are We Going...

What does the future hold for college table tennis? Does a quagmire await or will there be a fortune at the end of the rainbow? No one can truly predict the events of tomorrow, but one element that is for certain are the efforts of the current organizations pushing forth efforts to reach the goals.

It is our belief that the NCTTA, with the help of USATT, will develop future leaders of tomorrow within the sport. NCTTA aspires to have table tennis included as a NCAA affiliated sport and it is our belief that it will reach the goal of NCAA affiliation for our student athletes and ultimately be the future of college table tennis. While college table tennis will reach the zenith of NCAA affiliation, NCTTA will continue to offer services for the recreational college table tennis population that will ultimately remain after women’s college table tennis NCAA affiliation will be reached.

This year and in following years, NCTTA will be aggressively going after federal and private grants to continue our development and our sports grassroots development. We are also working on developing a national scholarship & grass-root funds & endowments. We are also starting internships at many of our great institutions throughout the country. For example, UCF will be offering MBA sport marketing majors internships with the NCTTA this January. We are also going to start internships for communication majors (public relations), so we will have local help in many of our locations to promote what we are all doing.

Objectives 

1. NCTTA Coach’s Association: We are working to have coaches at each of our 104+ colleges. We have a presence in over 153+ colleges. The coaches will be acting as part of our nucleus in their surrounding communities. When we go after grants, we are going to create a template showing that we have a regional or national coach that will be running clinics to develop these grassroots programs; for example, the coach in each area will have structure in the grant, a full-time salary, supplies, and equipment to run these programs. We will then work with community coaches, college students, PE teachers, recreation leaders, and etc.… by running clinics on TT 101 and so on.

2. Grassroots efforts: We are planning on developing junior programs and high school programs in the surrounding communities of our colleges.

3. Scholarships: We are also working on developing a National Scholarship & grass-roots fund.

4. Tournament Management: We will also be running events all over the country using the events as fundraisers for that school and for the national funds.

5. Collegiate Placement: NCTTA will be the home for high school students and parents to help locate and find the table tennis affiliated college/university that they wish to attend. Placement according to data provided for table tennis and academics.

We at NCTTA realize the importance of table tennis throughout the community. While NCTTA’s central focus is high level collegiate athletics, it will continue to provide the kind of recreational services for the growing number of up-and-coming young men and women that attend a college or university in North America. We believe that networking and working together on common goals will help bring our sport to the next level.