AYTTO New England Scholastic
Table Tennis League 2026/27 

Tournament Info: (East Region) November 21st, 2026 (11/21/2026)
(West Region) December 5th , 2026 (12/5/2026)
(Playoffs) February 27th, 2027 (2/27/2027)

The New England Scholastic Table Tennis League is a AYTTO scholastic table tennis league for New England’s secondary schools. The 2025-2026 school year marks the 6th year the league operates in New England area (expanded from simply Massachusetts chapter) and our mission shares the one from Greater New York Table Tennis League (GNYTTL, a scholastic league also under AYTTO): “to facilitate the competitive desire for Public, Private and Charter schools to play table tennis in an organized league form”

The league is open to public, private and charter middle/high schools located in all six states in New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont) and offers team play for New England middle/high school students. The league offers two divisions of team play. The middle school division targets grade 6th to grade 8th students. The high school division targets grade 9th to grade 12th students. Top performing teams from the six states may get invited to AYTTO’s National Championship to be held on Memorial Day weekend (near end of school year, location TBD).

The league features a hybrid tournament format where it combines three events into TWO rounds of matches and playoffs:

·       New England Scholastic High School Division Championship

·       New England Scholastic Middle School Division Championship

·       New England Scholastic Open Championship  

 1st ROUND (November 9th, 2025) Seeding Round

The 1st round is the seeding round for all the school teams (middle and high school teams) to help determine proper grouping for 2nd round. This seeding round uses the Swiss tournament format and may require each team to play against 4~5 teams in this round. Reasonable efforts will be exercised to NOT put teams from same school to play against each other (initially), though sometime that’s unavoidable.

2nd ROUND (March 8th, 2026) Competition Round & Playoffs

The 2nd round is the competition round where school teams are grouped into round robin groups according to the seed placements from round 1. The team match results are double counted toward New England Open Championship and applicable High school or Middle school Division Championship. Top teams from each RR group will advance to high school division playoff, middle school division playoff, and/or Open Championship playoff.

Winning school teams from high school and middle school divisions will be invited to AYTTO National Scholastic Championship to be held on Memorial Day weekend (2026) at location TBD. 2025’s National Championship was held at West Monroe, Louisiana with school teams from all over the country (west coast, east coast, north and south) participated.

New England Open Championship event is a New England only event where all New England school teams compete with each other regardless grade level (middle or high) to crown the top teams of all New England schools.

Dates:

Seeding Round                        November 9th, 2025 (Sunday 9am-5pm)

Competition Round/Playoffs      March 8th, 2026 (Sunday 9am-5pm)

Venue:

Malden High School, 77 Salem Street, Malden, MA 02148

Rules and Regulation:

School Team: Each school may field ONE to THREE Co-Ed teams (per division). 1st team’s registration fee is $200, additional team is $100 each. Up to 5x AYTTO T-shirts are included per team.

School Team eligibility, size and roster: All students of the same team must be students from the same school (* except for Fusion team noted below. Schools from the same district may be allowed to form a combined team if insufficient students from both schools and approved by AYTTO official). Minimum 3 players and up to 5 players per team roster. Team match lineup is a flexible 3 or 4 players format. Final team roster needs to be submitted before 1st league match date and cannot be changed throughout the league season unless approval is sought from AYTTO official.

Fusion Team: Initially served as an introductory to AYTTO scholastic league for students who never participated in AYTTO league competition in the past, the restrictions have been relaxed somewhat. Students may form a Fusion team with two to four other students from other schools with the following constraints:

-        Only available to students whose school had never participated in AYTTO league competition and no other current students from the same school are participating in AYTTO league competition. We encourage students to form a School Team (see above) if possible. Fusion team is an introductory vehicle to invite students from schools with no other players to get a taste of AYTTO league.

-        Fusion team roster allows for 3~5 students (Co-Ed), but all students have to come from different schools in New England. Can be mixture of middle/high school students. Final team roster needs to be submitted before 1st league match date and cannot be changed throughout the league season unless approval is sought from AYTTO official.

-        Maximum of THREE (3) Fusion teams may register on 1st-come-1st-serve basis.

-        USATT Rating cap. No more than ONE player may have USATT rating above 1800 per Fusion team. Ratings from 9/30/2025 will be used for qualifying.

-        Fusion team registration fee is $200 per team. Up-to 5x AYTTO T-shirts are included.

-        Fusion team can only enter New England Open Championship. Not eligible for High/Middle School division events.

Divisions: The league consists of a middle school division (6th – 8th grade, all New England states), and a high school division (9th – 12th grade, all New England states). All teams are CO-ED

Meets: Each team meet will play according to a modified international team championship format.  4 singles and 1 double match. Team line-up per match can be 3 or 4 players (see team match sheet).
New England has three Championship events:

·       New England Scholastic Open Championship (inter-divisional + fusion)

·       Middle School Division Championship

·       High School Division Championship

Only division records will be counted toward the AYTTO scholastic standings.  Total scores will be used for the at large invitation of the national championship tournament

Matches: All matches during the regular season will be 2 out of 3 games to 11 points. Playoffs will be 3 out of 5 games to 11 points.

Games: All games best of 11 (deuce scoring when game is tied)

Scoring: (Competition round) Each school team meet won will count as 3 points. Losing team will count for 1 point.

Rounds & Format: See Seeding Round and Competition Round explanation above. Depending on the number of registered teams for the season, the league can decide on a simpler round robin format rather than the Seeding/Competition round format.

Coaches/Captains Meeting:  Prior to the start of the competition, there will be a coaches/captains’ meeting to explain the rules and to answer questions.

Insurance and Waiver Forms:  League matches on AYTTO venues and championship matches, will require students/parents to sign appropriate AYTTO waiver forms.

Roster and Match Score Sheets: Prior to each match each school is required to fill out a roster sheet. It is important the captains fill out the roster sheet without knowledge of the other team. 2025-2026 year may require the use of AYTTO league web application to submit roster and score sheets.

Table Tennis Rules: The league is abiding to the USA Table Tennis Rules and Regulations

Clothing: Tee Shirts, Shorts, Track Pants and Playing Shoes. School tee shirts are the responsibility of the school. Tournament balls are WHITE, so tee shirts need to be any color but white for competitive play.  No sweatshirts or long sleeve shirts or jackets permitted. Student athletes must wear shorts or track pants and athletic shoes at all competitions.  Each school is required to wear the same uniform during matches. (* sneakers with gummed soles with no black bottom ARE NOT required for Malden High School facility, but may be required at other locations)

Equipment: All equipment must be ITTF or USATT approved. Table Tennis Racquets, specifically, table tennis racquet coverings be International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) or USA Table Tennis Approved.   The league will modify these rules somewhat to allow flexibility, but it is recommended that all coaches/captains inform their students to play with “approved” racquets.   You may find the ITTF or USATT seal of approval on each rubber sheet, with either an ITTF stamp # with the ITTF logo or with a USATT approved logo.