To:
USATT Board of Directors
From: Larry
Hodges, USATT Club
Programs Director
Subject: Plans for 2001
Date: November 13, 2000
During the year 2001, I will be setting up three nationwide club programs:
The goal is to set up club programs that will attract new players and keep existing ones. We are probably the only major sport that basically does not offer programs for new and existing players. This needs to change.
A Beginning Class Primer has already been created. Similar primers are being developed for Junior Training and for Club Leagues.
A USATT Club Programs page is already online at www.usatt.org/club_programs.
Beginning Classes
This is the ultimate "win-win" program. Everybody wins!
Most clubs get occasional new players who come in, get killed by more experienced players (or are ignored by these experienced players, who don’t want to play beginners), and so never show up again. The new player cannot neither perform nor understand the basics of the game, and has no peers to play against. How do we solve this problem?
You get 15-20 potential new players together for a 10-week class, meeting once a week for 90 minutes. Each student pays $100. By the end of the 10 weeks, the new players have an understanding of the game, can perform the basics, and – most important – have their own peer group: the other members of the class.
Result? New club members and new USATT members. The new player wins, the club wins, and USATT wins.
But the biggest winner is often the coach/promoter – which is important, because he is the one we need to convince to set up and teach these classes. Remember those 20 students paying $100 for 10 weeks? That’s $10 each per night, or $200 per night. The coach may hire two assistant coaches to help out and pay them $20 each. That leaves $160 for the coach/promoter for 90 minutes of work! (Not to mention a resource for getting private students.) If there are 15 students, the coach/promoter gets $130. (I do recommend the club gets 15%, which still leaves a hefty payday for the coach/promoter.)
I’ve taught over 20 of these very same 10-week classes, and can verify that it is realistic. The key is getting those 15-20 new players. And that’s the primary purpose of the Beginning Class Primer. It explains how to get these new players, and how to teach the class.
The Beginning Class Primer will be sent to every USATT certified club and every USATT certified coach. It is online at www.usatt.org/club_programs.
Junior Training
Many coaches and clubs would like to have a junior training program – but don’t know how to go about setting one up. The Junior Training Primer will be ready by the end of the year. It will go over how to set up and run a junior program, including getting players, getting a facility, how to teach it, etc. The Instructors Guide to Table Tennis is also being updated, and will be online by the end of the year. It gives a more detailed approach on the coaching side, i.e. how to teach the forehand, etc. The Junior Training Primer is being designed to work in conjunction with the Instructor’s Guide.
The goal of this program is to systematically set up junior training programs, club by club, all over the country. The Primer will be ready in March, 2001.
Club Leagues
Table tennis is possibly the only sport that doesn’t offer programs to players. At most clubs, the norm is "winner stay on," which not only does not hold many players’ interest, but keeps out new players, who cannot compete. Players need to have a program where they are put in groups of players their own level.
The USATT League Program would be such a league. A Club League Primer is being developed to show club leaders how to set up and run a league. It will be ready early in 2001.
The league format that will be recommended to club leaders is outlined below. This is a very simple system, making it easy for new league directors to start up leagues at their clubs.
This league would include a league rating system. Players would be required to join USATT to be a part of this league, which includes entry into the league rating system.
The league director starts off with a printout of potential league players, in order of rating, with room for a checkmark on the left. As players show up, they are checked off on the left. New players are added to the list at the bottom. Players without a league or USATT rating are given an estimated rating.
The top five players in the list are put in the top group, the next five are put in the second group, and so on down the list. If the number of players in the league is not divisible by five, then the number of players in some groups would be adjusted. Players can be hand-written onto blank RR group sheets.
Players play all other members in their group. The goal is to win the group, and to improve one’s league rating.
There will be other league formats available; however, the above league will be the one recommended for league directors who aren’t experienced in running leagues.
At the start of the league, players will start out with either USATT ratings or estimated ratings. League ratings will change in the same way that USATT ratings change, using the same rating chart. Ratings will be calculated using an on-line ratings program.
The League Rating System will be a user-friendly on-line rating system. After a league day, the league director (or someone else with an Internet connection) would log onto the USATT’s League Rating Page. After putting in their league’s password, the league’s player list – in order of rating – would come onto the screen. This will be the very list that the league director used in signing up players for the league night.
New players will be typed into the database, with an estimated rating. The league director would then put a "1" in the checkbox to the left of each player who was in the first group, a "2" next to those in the second group, and so on. When the league director finishes listing what players were in which group, he clicks "OK," and the very round robin groups used in the league would show up on the screen. The league director would then type in "W" or "L" in each group to show results. When he is done, he clicks "OK," and the computer automatically updates the league ratings. The new list, still ordered by rating, comes onto the screen. League director prints it out, and he’s ready for the next league night.
If the club has a computer with an Internet connection, the RR groups for the league can be generated and printed out from the computer and used for running the league.
One option that is being looked into is using these league ratings as initial ratings for players who wish to play in USATT tournaments.
There would be no charge for being in the League Rating System. However, all those who compete in the league must be USATT members. When players are inputted into the system, their USATT membership number must also be typed in. There will be a field where the league director can type in a player’s last name, and a list of USATT members & membership numbers with that last name would appear. This would make it easier for league directors to find membership numbers.
League directors or their club would keep 15% of all USATT memberships they collect for the league, just as is done in USATT tournaments.
Promoting Club Programs
None of these programs will work if there isn’t a way to get them to actually take place at clubs. How will this be accomplished? Calls for coaches and club leaders to set up these programs will be done via:
The key item in setting up these programs is that each one is scheduled to start all over the country, in the same week. This makes those interested in getting involved part of a nationwide program, not just another isolated program with little direction. They will be given a simple, user-friendly primer that will show them exactly how to go about setting up and running the program.
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