The Friendly NCTTA/AYTTO Matchup We Always Needed!

By Michael Reff, Press Committee Chair

Although NCTTA’s mission is to promote table tennis in the collegiate demographic, the organization recognizes that in order to do this, there must be a “pipeline” from earlier schooling to university education. So when an inter-organizational opportunity such as a feature matchup between a university (Harvard of NCTTA) and a high school (Lexington of AYTTO) arises, we are all for the great friendly competition and networking that comes from this!

AYTTO New England Coordinator Jasper Wong remarked that this excellent chance to see some great matches might have stemmed from interactions at the Asian American Day Festival (Click Here to see event writeup) in Boston Common on September 7th.

“I think the idea started to form when Andrea Tang (1st year Wellesley College) and Kelly Yenn (1st year Harvard U) dropped by the AYTTO/NCTTA/PongSpace booth at Asian American Day Festival held on Boston Common back in early September,” Wong stated. “We also had some AYTTO students at the booth.”

Wong further mentioned what was discussed amongst the organizations during that event pertaining to potential college students and college application advice:

“One topic of conversation was related to college application guidance for high school students who are in to ping pong (AYTTO) and would like to continue their TT career/hobby when they go to college. In fact, Andrea Tang from Wellesley College is working on an article with a similar topic in mind (she started it when she was in her senior year in high school as an AYTTO blogger). We see a lot of potential synergy between the two entities (AYTTO and NCTTA) and there’s an obvious progression path for AYTTO students to move on becoming NCTTA students when they enter colleges.”

After the seeds were planted, Wong said it was only fitting to have Harvard University and Lexington High School participate in a friendly match, representing NCTTA and AYTTO respectively to further these educational and table tennis bonds.

Wong noted that after chatting with NCTTA President Willy Leparulo, that both organizations could benefit in promoting their organizations to other schools through this friendly competition.

The matchup is taking place during PongSpace’s George Braithwaite Major League Table Tennis championship on Saturday November 9, 2024 at SPIN Boston (Click Here for event details).

Go check it out if you’re in the area!