Table Tennis in America

jley said:

I'm a student in China right now, but I plan on going to America for college. I know a bit about the NCTTA, the collegiate table tennis tourney, but I was wondering more about other tournaments for TT in the US. Things like the US open, Simply sign up and show up. You will not advance past RR Group stage unless you already have a USA rating, so try to do a tourney a month or two ahead of time first. NA qualifiers, just sign up and show up, but it sure costs money to get there and play (hotel, flight, food, etc) olympic qualifiers, You will need to be US citizen Olympic eligible, so likely wont work out for you. etc. For example, what I have to do to qualify, how do I become affiliated with a club?

Any help would be appreciated thanks

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If the college you are attending is part of NCTTA (http://www.nctta.org/) then you got a chance at some fun comps.

To do any sanctioned USATT tourney, you simply sign up, show up and play. Of course, there are expenses and the first tourney you do, you cannot advance past group stage. After your first tourney is processed and you get a numerical rating (higher is better) you can then sign up for events in sanctioned tourneys and advance from group stage if you placed first. (sometimes second advances) You are eligible for events that are higher than your rating. If your rating is 1800, then you can play Under 2000, Under 2200 for example, but cannot play Under 1600 event.

Problem with USA tourneys is we are still very spread out. if you are unlucky and land in a college way away from TT action, you will be spending a lot of money just to get to the tourneys. If your college is in one of the few TT hotspots in USA, then you will find decent TTA action nearby enough.

Where is USA are you going to go to college ? if u r in Southern California , i'll can show u around we can train together

jley said:

Thanks for the responses. I actually forgot to mention I am a US citizen. That makes me eligible for the Olympic qualifiers right? I've heard that there are lots of clubs and small tournaments in california, but I'm not too sure about other places. I'm thinking of applying to some of the UC's, some in texas, and maybe boston area. Also is there any places I can shop for rubbers and other tt equipment? I'd buy them in China, but I've been screwed over by the bad quality before.

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Well, you will first need to make Team USA before talking about any Olympic qualifers. To make Team USA, you will need to play in the US Nationals first
And there is a rule about what age you become US citizen.
There is a chance you can't play in world champs and olympic and only can play in world tours due to the age you became US citizen.

California has lots of tt clubs, many full time centers too.
It is also blessed with many former Chinese provincial team members/coaches, many former international players and national coaches/coaching staff

Here is a list of the full time centres
http://www.tabletenniscoaching.com/full-time_table-tennis_clubs_usa

Join a club and you will have more information on making your dream come true.

you want to participate in the olympics and study?

seems tough.

wonder how you are going to balance your training with college.

But all the best.Hope you can achieve your goal.

The places you described have either decent or excellent TT action nearby, so good on you.

So Cal has tons of quality TT an San Jose & Bay area even MORE.

In Texas, Dallas area, Austin area, and Houston area have good action.

In Boston, there are two clubs full time, one of them with a 2300+ player or three. There are a few Uni teams with some ex-national juniors on them, so your choices are decent.

If you can land in the San Francisco bay area, then you will be in a dream of TT action.

Der_Echte said:

The places you described have either decent or excellent TT action nearby, so good on you.

So Cal has tons of quality TT an San Jose & Bay area even MORE.

In Texas, Dallas area, Austin area, and Houston area have good action.

In Boston, there are two clubs full time, one of them with a 2300+ player or three. There are a few Uni teams with some ex-national juniors on them, so your choices are decent.

If you can land in the San Francisco bay area, then you will be in a dream of TT action.

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And in New York State there is the spectacular 19 table Westchester Table Tennis Club, with Kai Zhang, US number 5 or so, and many 2300's, and in the city there are a few respectable clubs in Queens, and in Manhattan there is Spin NYC, which has 1 or 2 2300 players. I like Spin, but my complaint is that the ceilings are too low and the room is too dark. Then there is my club, Wang Chen's table tennis club, also in Manhattan, with a couple 2300+ as well.

If I am correct, there is a spin in California. Not sure though.

mahomedy13 said:

you want to participate in the olympics and study?

seems tough.

wonder how you are going to balance your training with college.

But all the best.Hope you can achieve your goal.

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Thats not a problem
Many current USA Olympians are students.
And will be the case for many years to come too

Tony's Table Tennis said:

Thats not a problem
Many current USA Olympians are students.
And will be the case for many years to come too

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In the USA table tennis winter mag, there is an article about Hsing and how she dealt with college. She's getting along fine with TT and school

agold said:

In the USA table tennis winter mag, there is an article about Hsing and how she dealt with college. She's getting along fine with TT and school

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Yeah, and in the summer vocation, guess where Ariel will be?
She will be playing in the super league in China

Just a pity due to university commitement, she wasn't able to be present in Tokyo, hence she didn't take part in the trials.
Lily did so great, just imagine Ariel as playing number 2. They could of ended top 12 easily

agold said:

And in New York State there is the spectacular 19 table Westchester Table Tennis Club, with Kai Zhang, US number 5 or so, and many 2300's, and in the city there are a few respectable clubs in Queens, and in Manhattan there is Spin NYC, which has 1 or 2 2300 players. I like Spin, but my complaint is that the ceilings are too low and the room is too dark. Then there is my club, Wang Chen's table tennis club, also in Manhattan, with a couple 2300+ as well.

If I am correct, there is a spin in California. Not sure though.

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The Westchester club is essentially NYC, only what? 30 minute drive away? The NJ side of the river has Lilly Yip and a Korean outfit, plus a Korean in NYC proper.

I have many TT friends in NYC area, heck, Upside DOWN Carl, with his 2000 posts lives there for crying out loud! I have other forum friends there too and there is action to be had there for sure.

SPin LA is what You is a thinkin' of.

Even San Diego area has high level action and there is always the "garage" of Tatl Wai, a MUST STOP for anyone going in that direction.

Der_Echte said:

The Westchester club is essentially NYC, only what? 30 minute drive away? The NJ side of the river has Lilly Yip and a Korean outfit, plus a Korean in NYC proper.

I have many TT friends in NYC area, heck, Upside DOWN Carl, with his 2000 posts lives there for crying out loud! I have other forum friends there too and there is action to be had there for sure.

SPin LA is what You is a thinkin' of.

Even San Diego area has high level action and there is always the "garage" of Tatl Wai, a MUST STOP for anyone going in that direction.

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I think I saw Carl playing at SPiN a couple weeks ago . I, being a New Yorker, don't have a car haha. So the Westchester club is more like an hour away by train for me. I only go to the tourneys (including one this Saturday and Sunday), but I make some friends. The community is great.

I am so far upstate NY east side of Lake Ontario it is over 6 hour drive by car. Sometimes I make it to Boston, once, when I first got back to States, I stopped by NYC, had a hit with PingPongHolic, metup with another couple forum members, and did the Oct 2013 Open. I do not make it to NYC much at all, but next mission there I intend to see Carl, and now I knows about agold.