The new movie “Marty Supreme” shone an unexpected spotlight on table tennis — but that light never faded for champion player Yasiris Ortiz of the north Bronx, who fell in love with the sport at age 8 and won her first tournament a year later.
To Ortiz, a 28-year-old Dominican immigrant, table tennis has become a launchpad for finding community here in New York City. In addition to her professional play, she successfully launched an after-school program and a brand-new nonprofit to expand access and diversity in her sport.
Ortiz also appeared in two scenes of “Marty Supreme,” capping off a year of remarkable growth as a player, coach and community leader.
The Bronx Times met Ortiz at PingPod, which has nine locations across the city where players of all levels can reserve tables can play for fun or take lessons — from coaches including Ortiz herself.
Ortiz grew up in a small town in the Dominican Republic and said she was always athletic, first participating in track and field. She discovered table tennis at age 8 after seeing a cousin play at a local sports center, and something immediately clicked. Ortiz won her first tournament by age 9 and dedicated herself to table tennis full-time.
But when she and her family moved to New York City when she was 18, her playing career, and the rest of her life, seemed upended.
“I actually thought I was gonna retire, because I didn’t know how I was gonna be able to continue my journey of playing table tennis,” she said.
Since then, Ortiz has done anything but retire. She won gold at the 2018 Caribbean Championship and bronze at the 2023 Central American Games, and she is currently training for this June’s Central American Games, which will be held in her home country.
From playing and coaching to appearing in a major film to helping kids discover the sport she loves, “Everything that has been happening has been a dream,” Ortiz said.
Coming soon: talks of the first Bronx table tennis academy
Despite what many may think, not just any frat boy who has played basement table tennis can hold his own against a champion like Ortiz.
To play at a high level, the sport requires a strong foundation of technique, physical fitness and mental toughness, she said. “A lot of people I know, they think you’re not gonna move your feet, or you don’t move your body a lot in table tennis. But they’re wrong! It’s actually the opposite.”
In tournaments, players compete for hours straight, often participating in five to ten matches with little recovery time in between. At that level, the sport requires strength, flexibility and lightning-fast coordination, according to Ortiz. “After you know the technique, it’s all about how you train your body.”
By chance, one New Yorker who foolishly challenged her to a match led directly to her start as a kids’ table tennis coach.
At a club event in 2019, Ortiz met a South Bronx school principal who thought he could take her on. After she beat him — “I destroyed him,” she said, laughing — he invited her to visit the school.
That chance encounter happened at a critical point for Ortiz. She had completed her goal of finishing the college degree she started in the Dominican Republic, but she didn’t know what to do next.
“What do I know how to do? What can I do?” she remembered thinking. “Well, I only know how to play table tennis.”
She took the principal’s invitation to visit P.S. 1X at East 152nd Street and Courtlandt Ave. and was pleasantly surprised to see three brand-new tables — and the idea for Spin & Learn was born.
The principal became a mentor to Ortiz and hired her to instruct kids after school. She became a DOE vendor and created a program centered around physical fitness, academic and social growth and professional table tennis skills.
Spin & Learn caught on quickly and expanded to other District 7 schools by 2021. By 2023, it had reached 10,000 public school children and has now served more than 45 schools, mostly in the Bronx.
Ortiz said she was amazed at the opportunity. “I was like, what? I can work and make money by teaching table tennis?”
Parents constantly asked if she had her own space so their kids could continue in the program, Ortiz said.
In response, she launched the nonprofit Spin & Learn Foundation just this month, with a goal of opening the Bronx’s first table tennis academy.
Though Ortiz said “creating a nonprofit from scratch” has been challenging, her goal of bringing table tennis to more Bronx kids seems within reach.
Other boroughs already have dedicated clubs, and the equipment is relatively affordable compared to many other sports, she said. Yet many kids who look like her lack the opportunity to learn and grow in the sport. “That’s something that I really want to change.”
A growing sport
Table tennis is having a major moment, thanks to “Marty Supreme,” which opened on Christmas Day, starring Timothée Chalamet and Gwyneth Paltrow. Chalamet’s character is loosely based on Marty Mauser, a 1950s-era American table tennis player who would stop at nothing to become a champion.
Following the film’s release, David Silberman, co-founder of PingPod, told The Guardian that his business saw an immediate 20-40% spike in new reservations, calling it “a catalyst” for new and renewed interest in the sport.
Ortiz said she thought she missed the chance to appear in “Marty Supreme.” After friends sent her a link to apply, “I actually started that application, but I stopped, because it was really long.”
But even after applications closed, Ortiz managed to land a role as one of few female professional players on set.
She accepted the role without knowing how big the movie would be — and without fully realizing who Chalamet was. When she Googled him, she thought, “Wait a minute, this is huge!” she said.
Participating in filming was “an amazing experience” that turned into a mini-reunion of fellow players from around the world, said Ortiz. She and others were especially thrilled to meet the famous German player Timo Boll, who won multiple Olympic medals and other world championships.
“We were more excited to see Timo Boll than Timothée,” Ortiz said.
Throughout her “Marty Supreme” experience, she still kept her work bringing a wider community into table tennis front of mind.
The overwhelming majority of the players on set were male, given the time period — and yet, Ortiz said she was still driven by the question, “How can we bring and provide this opportunity to more girls?”
To that end, she had already authored a children’s book, “Yasi the Champion: A Table Tennis Tale,” illustrated by Nina Pelykh. She is now working on a second book, “Yasi the Champion: The Art of Winning.”
Working with kids, Ortiz said she always begins by telling the story of how she went from a kid playing in the Dominican Republic to living in New York and traveling the world for championships. The book shares her experiences while introducing young readers to the equipment, skills and discipline needed to become a top-level professional player.
What comes next for someone an athlete has already accomplished so much? As for whether she has her sights set on the Summer Olympics, Ortiz said her work with New York City kids comes first for now.
Training for the Olympics would require her to quit all other work, including her brand-new foundation — and that’s not about to happen, she said.
“With the work that I’m doing in the community here, it takes a lot of time and effort,” said Ortiz. Helping Bronx kids find their love for table tennis is “a dream I have that’s as big as going to the Olympics.”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
