Collegiate Table Tennis Athletes Awarded NCTTA Scholarship for their Community Efforts

NCTTA's scholarship program has been developed to give deserving table tennis athletes the opportunity for financial support while pursuing a college education. With original support from Newgy Industries and now from the HSING Family Foundation and other NCTTA Alumni, NCTTA is able to award a limited number of College Table Tennis Athletes these awards. We would like to highlight one of the criteria on community service that requires meaningful involvement in service activities that positively impact others within the table tennis community.

First, a hearty congratulations to our winners Angie Tan (UCLA), Rachel Ou and Sushant Lebaka (UPenn), Bella Xu (UNC) and James Good (Penn State). We salute you for your efforts within our greater table tennis community!

Applicants are typically expected to document their role, hours, and the impact of their service, showing a genuine commitment to giving back beyond personal competitive achievements. Let's dive into some of the more unique accomplishments!

Angie Tan from UCLA was a cofounder of the LA chapter of a 501c nonprofit organization called Ping Pong Parkinson's LA (https://www.pingpongparkinsonla.com/). Angie, together with Joanna Sung (fellow UCLA student and NCTTA player), both with a strong passion for medicine and table tennis, decided to connect their strengths for this organization to help the discovery towards an effective therapeutic treatment for Parkinson's disease. A welcoming community where all Parkinson's patients can be together and have fun was created!

UPenn’s Sushant Lebaka and Rachel Ou were busy this year participating in NCTTA Committee's in Press and World University games. Additionally, they were part of UPenn's first free group coaching program and the local chapter of Ping Pong Parkinson's as well!

Bella Xu from UNC Chapel Hill leveraged college table tennis as a platform to promote neurological health and community engagement! Xu is a cofounder and President of the North Carolina Youth Table Tennis Association (NCYTTA) (https://ncytta.wixsite.com/ncytta) and also received a fellowship from UNC, and with those resources, she helped to develop table tennis programming in senior communities that centers on brain health initiatives.

For more information on NCTTA's scholarship click here: https://nctta.org/scholarship/