Playing against national team member

Thank you for the support guys!! 

Someone mentioned Lindenwood University offers table tennis scholarships. 

ball_so_hard wrote: Won north american champs cadets 2nd year in a row!

we followed your success yesterday and frontosa told us about the fact you had won even before your last match.
totally awesome!!!
I hope we get videos soon.
congrats again

Won north american champs cadets 2nd year in a row! 

I second AgentHex's sentiment.

Unless you're unbelievably good at one of the major sports, it's an incredibly poor career choice.  And maybe it's less than optimum even if you are that good.  The average lifespan of most pro sports careers in NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL is maybe 5 years.  Not many pros come out of such sports with all that much to tide them over for the rest of their careers because they typically can't handle a sudden influx of capital, like the proverbial lottery winner who's bankrupt a few years later.  Those sports often break down the bodies of the participants, so you're washed up by your mid-30s, maybe by your late 20s, perhaps partially disabled, and on the downside just when most are starting to reach the early end of their career prime.

On the other hand, table tennis, which they say actually strengthens the mind and does little to tear down the body (in fact makes it more fit), puts you in the presence of a much higher-achieving class of people (engineers, programmers, medical professionals, etc.).  Parents in the U.S. who support their kids' table tennis might never end up with a kid who makes a living at the sport, but that 2400 kid will likely be a very fine 2000+ TT athlete for the remainder of their lives, and all that exposure to high achievers can't hurt their career trajectory.  I'd rather have a kid who can win state TT championships for a $250 check and works as an electrical engineer than a kid who spends 5 years in the NFL and has to strap on a knee brace for the rest of his life.


Edited by BizLawProf - 08/14/2013 at 1:40pm

Stanford is not Ivy League.  It is Pac 12.  Ivy League is Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, Columbia, Princeton.

Stanford is an elite private university, academically superior to several of the Ivy League schools in most ratings, but unlike Ivy League it competes in college sports at the highest possible level, and if someone got a tennis scholarship there, he/she must be really really really good. 

From what I have seen of students who have come out of Texas Wesleyan, I would not send my kids there.

ttplayer92 wrote: Im pretty sure Texas Wesleyan offers scholarships!

Im pretty sure Texas Wesleyan offers scholarships! 

I like this thread but......why the discussion on the money making possibilities between basketball and table tennis? Does ANYBODY in America believe there are families investing so much money in their child to become a PROFESSIONAL table tennis player? When I mean professional, I mean playing or involved in table tennis as a main source of income.

I'm sure if there was ANY remote possibility of Allen becoming a pro basketball player, the switch to basketball would have been made a long time ago. Some coach from somewhere would have convinced the family to make the switch if it even needed to go that far.

I don't know Allen's future in table tennis but from what I've noticed from other top juniors in the past is the "dream" to be the next Wang Liqin ends once they enroll in college or they get to around 21 years old and are stuck at 2600 level. Which doesn't guarantee a second round win at the US Open. Lol.

Unfortunately, this is the main reason why America can't produce a top 100 player anymore. There is absolutely no money to be made in TT and we have other sports in America that will make you stinking rich if you make it pro.

ball_so_hard wrote: been shooting hoops a couple years now

Sounds like the East Coast remake of "Ping Pong Playa"

http://www.pingpongplaya.com/us/index.html

C'mon guys give Allen some credit most of you wouldn't get a single serve back.... The "if it really was Tao" comment is just stupid

It would be a good idea not to use the word "stupid" in reference to another too loosely. 

I said "if it was Tao" in the context of just having gone over 2013 U.S. Open results and not seeing one match between Mr. Wang and Mr. Tao, I had also just gone over the USATT ratings history for both players and failed to find a single match ever between the two.  At the time I made the comment, I didn't know about preliminary matches at the Open that show up nowhere on the results or in the records or about the ITTF/USATT results distinction, I assumed the USATT would include such matches in their records. Not an absurd assumption. 

I give Mr. Wang a great deal of credit, I know full well that he's an outstanding player though not quite world class (yet); I could also tell that his opponent, whether his name was Tao or not, was a tremendous player.  I was honestly wondering if perhaps Mr. Wang had played another very fine Chinese opponent but had merely been mistaken as to his name.  That was all.

I never meant to mock or ridicule one who could take me to the woodshed if we ever played.


Edited by BizLawProf - 08/10/2013 at 1:38pm

Probably higher in Basketball :P 

NextLevel wrote: ball_so_hard wrote: NextLevel wrote: ZApenholder wrote: ball_so_hard wrote: ZApenholder wrote: wow.... I also vote- NBA!!! or even CBA!!!  yes of course! haha I hope you Parents, Family, Coaching staff and Fans do not look at this thread and see what we are suggesting to you :) They just might think MYTT is a bad influence haha Yeah - you don't invest all that money in training for TT and then wake up and decide "Well, I want to go shoot hoops...." been shooting hoops a couple years now  Does your father know?  Does he drive you to the basketball court with Amy?  LOL!

ZApenholder wrote: ball_so_hard wrote: NextLevel wrote: ZApenholder wrote: ball_so_hard wrote: ZApenholder wrote: wow.... I also vote- NBA!!! or even CBA!!!  yes of course! haha I hope you Parents, Family, Coaching staff and Fans do not look at this thread and see what we are suggesting to you :) They just might think MYTT is a bad influence haha Yeah - you don't invest all that money in training for TT and then wake up and decide "Well, I want to go shoot hoops...." been shooting hoops a couple years now  Now we talking seriously, 6.2, 15 years old, you have a chance hey. Just need to work on your "spin, speed and controls" PS I added you on FB, please accept - Tonys Table Tennis. Or you want me to rename to Tonys Basketball?