Today we’d like to introduce you to Table Tennis Club Johns Hopkins University
Hi Table Tennis Club, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Hello, my name is Peter Ge, a PhD student at Johns Hopkins University, and I’m currently the treasurer of the club. Over the past three years, I have been honored to witness the highs and lows of the table tennis club. Therefore, I’m about to tell you how the club recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, and thrived every year after.
Prior to the pandemic, the club owned 6 JOOLA 3000SC tables, enough to host collegiate (NCTTA) table tennis tournaments. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, and immediately after our school implemented strict policies which restricted activities of indoor sports such as table tennis. It was during this time that, because of gym renovation and lack of proper maintenance, we lost 4 previous tables and the club nearly became nonexistent.
When the indoor restrictions gradually eased towards the beginning of 2022, I was thrilled and, more than ever, determined to bring back the club to its “good old days” (JHU Coed Team claimed NCTTA Championship titles in 1998 and 2000). However the situation was appalling – the club had barely any usable equipment, no competitive players around, and no budget. What’s worse, I called our previous head coach Jeffery Smart, only to learn that he was diagnosed with skin sarcoma on the right arm so could no longer coach us any further.
Things were starting to turn around. In summer 2022, during a random visit to HCTTC, I met a senior player using a nonconventional rubber called long pips. Being a chopper, Shi-Yue Qiu was incredibly consistent and able to dissolve all my attacks, always outlasting me in the rallies. After the match, I chatted with him and he pointed out my serves failed to set me up for the third ball and I was not patient enough during the rallies. Immediately I appreciated his coaching, plus his style was hard to seek among younger players, so I made a bold move by inviting him to be the head coach of JHUTTC. To my surprise, he agreed!
With Coach Qiu’s joining in Fall 2022, he soon proved himself more than just a “coach”. He brought in, from his company T. Rowe Price, donations over $1,500 each year, to support our team’s travel to NCTTA Divisionals, Regionals, and Nationals. Also thanks to the club officers’ collective efforts, from 2023 onwards we secured annual funding for Hopkins sports clubs. We used this money to purchase tables, paddles, and balls for the general members. To this day, we’re proud to say that there are over 300 registered club members on HopkinsGroups so far!
Aside from gaining popularity within JHU, we’re also working to project influences locally. In April 2023, we hosted the first ever “Triwizard Scrimmage” with the table tennis clubs at Towson University and the University of Maryland, College Park; the following year, the second annual “Triwizard Scrimmage” with the University of Maryland and the University of Virginia clubs was even more successful! On the social media side, in the summer of 2023 we created our Instagram account, @JHUTTC. Around the same time, I adopted a German Shepherd puppy Brodie (named after Brody Learning Commons at JHU, pictured below), and featured him as our club mascot!
We never stop to bring forth more social events and make club activities more engaging! This semester (Fall 2024), we launched our first ever Boba fundraiser with Simply Sip Tea. Next semester, we will set up an Intramural Table Tennis league on IMLeagues.com, with open access to everyone regardless of skill levels. Stay tuned!
Competitive highlights, in chronological order:
2022-2023 season:
Fall 2022 (Nov): JHUTTC returned to NCTTA divisionals for the first time after the onset of the pandemic!
Spring 2023 (Feb): JHUTTC was invited to compete at regionals in Atlanta, GA – unable to attend due to lack of funding
2023-2024 season:
Spring 2024 (Feb): JHUTTC Coed and Women’s team invited to regionals in Pittsburgh, PA and attended!
2024-2025 season:
Fall 2024 (Nov): JHUTTC brought home the Coed Team 1st place and Women’s Team 2nd place at NCTTA DC Divisional!
JHUTTC leadership since the club’s reopening, in chronological order:
Peter Ge (2021-present): President/Captain, 2022-2023; Captain, 2023-2024; Treasurer, 2024-present
Gavi Melman (2022-present): President, 2023-present
Alex Chen (2022-present): Secretary, 2023-present
Derek Witzig (2022-present): Vice President, 2023-present
Matthew Nguyen (2023-present): Co-ed Team Captain, 2024-present
Crystal Wang (2024-present): Women’s Team Captain, 2024-present. The most decorated player of the club in over a decade
Abbreviations:
JHUTTC: Johns Hopkins University Table Tennis Club
NCTTA: National Collegiate Table Tennis Association, the organization that promotes table tennis competitions in North America. They organize collegiate table tennis competitions at the divisional, regional, and the national level.
HCTTC: Howard County Table Tennis Club
HopkinsGroups: The online platform via which JHU affiliates join our club
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Hello, my name is Alex Chen, and I’m a junior at Johns Hopkins University. I currently serve as the club’s secretary.
Our road has been far from smooth, but we have shown resilience in every step along the way.
Like many unfortunate groups and small businesses, the JHU Table Tennis Club hit rock bottom during the COVID-19 pandemic. With student leaders leaving and no way to practice, everything fell apart, and the club became abandoned. A year later, the Ralph O’Connor Recreation Center underwent a massive renovation. Although this was great for the university, the club lost tables and many other pieces of equipment. At this point, the club was barely even a shadow of its former self.
I entered Hopkins in 2022, hoping to make a comeback on a competitive hobby I developed as a kid. After joining the club’s group chat, I met other members who filled me in on the club’s lore. We learned we had something in common: we wanted to bring the club back to a level that resembled the National Champions of 1998 and 2000. Because of our passion for the sport, we were determined to rebuild what was torn down. However, without a budget, we could not make any other purchases to replace our equipment, and we were limited to participating in two divisional tournaments. Even though we were invited to the regional tournament (next step after divisionals), lack of funding forced us to miss the opportunity and instead prepare for the following year.
As the next academic year approached (2023-2024), our club grew and many new members who joined were eager to be part of the rebuild. Because we were able to get a budget, we made several key purchases, including a new table, balls, and barriers. We also went to the regional tournament, where we faced intense competition. During the event, a strong team in our group purposely threw their matches against us in order to avoid a certain team in the following round. We felt irritated since we thought this was very disrespectful, both to us and the other team in our group. In the end, our efforts to advance to nationals (final step after regionals) fell short, and our season ended in Pittsburgh.
With so many strong members joining the team this year, our desire to advance to the national tournament is greater than ever. We still have to face many hurdles along the way, such as having to abruptly reschedule practice times due to conflicting events at the Recreation Center. Moreover, we anticipate the journey to nationals to be challenging in the financial and competitive aspects. We also anticipate we will be more than ready to overcome any obstacle in our way. Given what we have been through in the last couple of years and how our club members have responded with such conviction, I am confident that the rebuild of the JHU Table Tennis Club is going in the right direction.
Hello! My name is Crystal Wang, and I’m a first-year medical student at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
I grew up trying to create a perfect balance between table tennis and academics. Striving to move forward in both worlds, I also didn’t want to tip too far in any one direction. From elementary to high school, it almost felt like I was living a double life. One moment, I was sitting in the classroom learning about chemistry, and the next, I was in Japan competing in the World Championships. Summers were no exception; I spent most of them in China training with top players from different provincial teams.
My middle and high school years were interspersed with various competitions that lasted anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Back then, balance was staying on top of my academic performance while moving forward in table tennis to achieve my ultimate dreams of competing in the Olympic Games. However, as I later transitioned to college at Emory University, my balance shifted. I was interested in pursuing a career in medicine and began exploring different research, volunteering, and clinical opportunities. The table tennis scene was also vastly different. I struggled to find training opportunities amidst the busy schedule and transportation challenges. Compounding these factors, my college table tennis club was in its early stages of development. Navigating this new environment, my balance became pursuing medicine while working to grow the table tennis community on campus. Slowly stepping away from the competitive scene as a player, I began working more on advocacy efforts in the table tennis realm. Working with a team of college students similarly passionate about table tennis, we not only initiated Emory’s participation in the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association but also competed in our first ever Nationals.
Now, as I step into my new identity as a medical student, I’m redefining my balance between table tennis and academics. Joining the Hopkins Table Tennis Club team, I’m continuously inspired to broaden the reach of our sport to not just the Hopkins community but also the greater Baltimore/Maryland communities. However, despite the transition in my role and professional pursuits, it’ll always be a privilege to continue my passions for table tennis as an athlete and teammate.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Hello, my name is Matthew Nguyen, a second-year PhD student at Hopkins. I serve as co-ed team captain this year.
The JHU Table Tennis Club’s main goal has always been to foster a welcoming but also competitive space for players of all skill levels in the JHU community. One of our proudest achievements is rebuilding the club from a time where it was completely abandoned. Our club sessions are frequently filled with both curious beginners and seasoned players. This increase in the club membership also means a more competitive collegiate team. For the first time in nearly a decade, the JHU Table Tennis Team is competitive not within the DMV, but also in the Mid-Atlantic region and on a National level. With the large influx of new members, we have been looking to expand our facilities with new equipment. Due to our limited budget, we have started to organize fundraisers in collaboration with local shops in order to help with equipment costs as well as financial costs associated with the table tennis team’s journey to Regionals and Nationals. Our perseverance and commitment to the JHU table tennis community have transformed the club into a thriving hub for connection, competition, and growth for players of all levels.
Hello, Crystal again! I’m here to share with you the most memorable match of my career so far.
It was third match, third game, match point. As I heard words of strategy and support echo across the venue, my hands stopped shaking and grasped my paddle with determination. After what felt like the longest rally, the point was earned, and we, Team USA, had just advanced to the semi-finals of the World Junior Table Tennis Championships for the first time. This achievement would become the first medal the team has won in any table tennis championship.
Our feat reminded me of my first international tournament in 2011. Back then, I was the youngest on the team and in the tournament. Inexperienced, I lacked the skills and mentality of my teammates, but they still gave me unwavering support whenever they coached me in a match or cheered for me in the stands. That was the first time I felt the strength of teamwork and the beauty of table tennis.
As I later became a more senior member on the team, I wanted to pass on the same team spirit as my previous team did for me. Together, we had numerous notable achievements including:
2015 World Junior Table Tennis Championships Girl’s Team Bronze Medalist
2017 Pan American Table Tennis Championship Women’s Team Gold Medalist
2016-2018 Pan American Junior Table Tennis Championship Girl’s Team Gold Medalist
Additionally, a few of my notable individual achievements are:
2014 US Nationals Women’s Singles Silver Medalist
2017 Pan American Table Tennis Championships Women’s Singles Bronze Medalist
2019 US Nationals Women’s Double Gold Medalist
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Hello! My name is Derek Witzig, and I’m a senior at Hopkins. I’ve been a member of JHUTTC since the club reopened during the pandemic in 2022, and I’m currently serving as the Vice President.
As concerns related to COVID-19 and sports started to decrease in 2022, our club found ourselves finally able to resume practicing. However, our club had suffered from losses of equipment, practice space, and membership due to the Recreation Center renovation and the pandemic. To make matters worse, the club was no longer was supported by the university. As a result, we had to take risks to revive the flame of table tennis on our campus from the smoldering ashes to which our club was reduced. During the 2022-2023 academic year, our club received no allocation from JHU, so we were completely on our own to rebuild the club from scratch.
We started small, hosting practices at the gym and creating a group chat to spread word to the JHU community that the table tennis club was back. The JHU community responded with enthusiasm, and more students and fellows were showing up to practice. Our president at the time, Peter, then worked on gaining access to the club’s web page on HopkinsGroups so that we could officially relaunch the club next year. Meanwhile, he assembled a team and covered most of their expenses to compete at both divisional tournaments that academic year. He also hired a coach, which helped our team members grow as athletes and spark enthusiasm among casual players eager to improve their playing level. The financial risks assumed by Peter also extended to table repairs, transport, dining, and equipment without reimbursement from the university.
As a club, we were confronted with a major decision in the spring of 2023 when we were invited (both in singles and team events) to the regional competition held that year in Atlanta. We had spent our entire year training, planning, and competing toward the goal of making it to Regionals for the first time in five years. Unfortunately, we chose not to attend as the club didn’t have the resources to send the team to Atlanta. Although it was the safer move financially, competitively it was a huge risk. We had just spent the entire year competing in two divisionals to qualify, investing time and money into making our dreams come true. It was also the first time we had qualified since the beginning of the pandemic, and we didn’t know if our team would be strong enough to make it to Regionals again.
Taking the risk ended up working in our favor. The following year, thanks to the team members’ hard work and training, we were invited to the spring 2024 Regionals in Pittsburgh. Meticulous budgeting and planning on the administrative side allowed regionals to be financially feasible. Propelled by an allocation from the university, our co-ed and women’s team members were able to compete in Pittsburgh, putting JHU on the regional table tennis map for the first time in half a decade.
This year, we are taking the initiative to fundraise and make sure that JHUTTC can support the team on their journey to Nationals. Our on-campus boba fundraiser last month was a success (thanks, Simply Sip!), and we’re hoping to secure grants from other avenues within the university network to cover our costs for Regionals and Nationals.
In summary, I would say taking risks at the organizational level can be daunting, as many people can be affected by your decisions. However, when it comes to striving to realize your organization’s mission for the good of the community, I think taking risks can be a rewarding path forward, no matter the outcome. In our case, the risk paid off and we’ve only continued to grow the size of our team and club, but it didn’t necessarily have to turn out that way. I think our club’s success despite numerous challenges is a testament to the dedication of our leadership and team members to restore the legacy of competitive table tennis at JHU, and create a table tennis community at JHU for all.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pongspace.com/clubs/jhu-table-tennis-club/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jhuttc/
- Other: https://jhu.campusgroups.com/JHUTTC/club_signup
Image Credits
Elina Cao
Alex Chen
Peter Ge
Crystal Wang
Julia Wang
Derek Witzig
