The Georgia Tech Table Tennis Association, better known as GTTTA, is excited to kick off the new season. Many changes have occurred this season that will help the table tennis team this season.
GTTTA has won seven straight Georgia college table tennis championships.
“The exciting stuff this semester compared to semesters past is league night and the new coach,” explained fourth year CMPE and President of GTTTA, Kyle Post.
League night has become a very important and popular part of GTTTA this year. League night and GTTTA practices are open for all to check out to test their skills against the top table tennis players at the school.
“The idea with league nights is that you are placed in groups of a similar rating,” Post said. “On nights like that, we can handle up to 20 players per night and have four groups of five. Each group will be of similar skill level. You get a chance to move up if you win your table. If you show up the next week, you will have the chance to move up and be seated at the next level.”
GTTTA holds practice three times a week and is devoted to helping interested players improve their skills.
League nights give players the opportunity to get in extra practice and the motivation to move their table tennis game to the next level.
During the first weekend of November, Tech table tennis fans will get to see if all GTTTA’s practice has paid off.
It will be an especially packed weekend for the team: with back to back tournaments on the first and second of November.
On Nov. 1, GTTTA is playing in the AGTTA’s Giant Round Robin which is sponsored by the Atlanta Georgia Table Tennis Association and is an offical USATT tournament.
On Nov. 2, Tech will play in their first National Collegiate Table Tennis Association, the First Georgia Divisional Tournament, which will take place in Norcross, GA.
“We’re going to hopefully have a special practice this week for the people that are going to the tournament and we just recently got a new coach that is really good,” Post commented when asked how the team was preparing for their November tournaments. “He’s come three times so far and this past Friday was the first day of his contract to start coming every Friday.”
Fall tournaments are not the only thing that GTTTA is preparing for. Post has many goals for this year.
“We’ve won the collegiate division of the Georgia League the last seven years, and we’ve been able to go to nationals as well,” Post said. “The goal that I’ve come up with is that I think we could finish in the top ten at nationals whereas for the last few years, we have been finishing at about twenty to twenty four. I think with good recruiting and practice, we can make the jump.”
With the help of new coach Lee McCool, who has been introduced to provide extra practice for players every Friday evening, this year could be the year that GTTTA successfully makes it to the top ten on a national level.
GTTTA gives Tech students the chance to hone their table tennis skills in a friendly environment. The club has practice three days a week including weekly training sessions and weekly league nights.
GTTTA is the perfect place for students who are interested in improving their skills and relieving some stress with a little healthy competition.
“Anybody can come check us out. New players are allowed two free visits before deciding if they want to join or not,” Post said.
The GTTTA will host the Fall Georgia College Friendly Tournament on Nov. 22 on the fourth floor of the CRC where they will face off against other teams across the state.