WUG Team Gets its Leaders

By Michael Reff
NCTTA Press Committee Chair

Spoiler Alert: the following draws parallels between the WUG team and Captain America’s famous line ““Avenger’s Assemble!” in the blockbuster movie Avenger’s Endgame!

NCTTA is assembling it’s very own superhero table tennis team for the World University Games (WUG) and it starts with the leadership. The first two members of the team have been chosen, Men’s Coach Yanjun Gao (AKA the NYU coach that has taken it to the top contenders and helped his team win 3 Coed National Championship titles!) and Team Leader Alex Figueroa (former SoCal DD and passionate table tennis advocate!)

Coach Gao was chosen by members of the NCTTA Coaching Committee (Dr. Alan Chu, Logan Zimmerman, and Willy Leparulo) as well as a representative from the WUG Committee (Stephanie Shih).

Both leaders chosen are quite honored and happy as can be seen in their quotes below.

Coach Gao:

“I am honored to be the USA Collegiate team men’s team coach for WUG. I will work with all of team members to pursue our goals.”

Alex Figueroa:
I’m truly honored to be selected as the "Team Leader for WUG", and I’m looking forward to the journey ahead. Even though the team hasn’t been selected yet, I’m excited to be part of the process and help build a strong, motivated group of athletes who will represent us on the international stage. My focus will be on providing the best support possible, ensuring a smooth experience, and helping create an atmosphere where our athletes can perform at their highest level. It’s a thrilling opportunity, and I can’t wait to see everything come together!

Additionally, NCTTA President and Coaching Committee member Willy Leparulo had this to say about both exemplary members:
"Gao has an impressive TT resume and also trained and worked in Germany and knows many of the US Based athletes from his coaching at NYU. Happy to have him as our Men's team coach.”
"Alex has a plethora of Team Leader experience from his work with LA Ping Pong to USA Table Tennis. He is probably the most experienced team leader in our country. Alex is also very familiar with NCTTA after having served as division director for one of NCTTA's largest divisions, Southern California for several years. We are happy to have Alex join NCTTA's USA Collegiate Team."

Congrats to both Coach Gao and Alex on the first step to assembling their very own Table Tennis Avengers!

(Coach Gao featured on the left with Team Leader, Alex Figueroa on the right)