A Way To Get Funding: ATQ

It Worked For Mark Hazinksi!

By Ed Hogshead (From Nov/Dec 2000 issue of USA Table Tennis Magazine)

This first year of the new millennium (Y2K) is full of acronyms and abbreviations so I shall use one: ‘ATQ’ It’s simple; but very effective when you need something. It’s just about the only way to get married. And it’s what was done when a very successful businessman in Minnesota was approached and agreed to sponsor one of our top junior players, Mark Hazinski (Please see numerous articles about this Indiana phenom in this magazine and in the last one).

ATQ comes in all sorts of forms and styles. When it is used with enough frequency, it becomes easier to do and your success with ATQ increases as you apply it more often. What is it? Ask The Question. That’s all it is – Ask The Question.

Here’s how it worked for Mark Hazinski. I am the regional manager for Dedicated Service, Inc. a trucking company based in South St. Paul, MN. I asked Bill VanPelt, the owner of DSI, if he would be interested in financially helping one of our top junior Table Tennis players. I explained that an athlete hoping to compete internationally in Table Tennis needed to travel extensively and travel can be quite expensive. Bill’s answer was yes. Mark’s parents were handed a check during Dan Seemiller’s and the entire South Bend Table Tennis Group’s St. Joseph Valley Table Tennis Tournament over the Memorial Day weekend. What part did I play? ATQ – I Asked The Question. (Thank You to Bill VanPelt.)

I now have Asked The Question of the Table Tennis club that I attend, that is, I asked if the club, as a whole, would join in the support of a promising junior – a player from a nearby locale that we could help become a force in Table Tennis. We could let them ride with us to tournaments. We would cheer them on during their matches. We would give quarterly stipends that would allow them to train effectively. Even small amounts of cash add up. The answer was a resounding yes.

Our club, The Rockford Table Tennis Club now challenges all of the other Table Tennis Clubs throughout the U.S. to select one or more young Table Tennis dynamos and sponsor them. ATQ of your club, yourself, and everyone else you know. The more times you Ask The Question, the more times it will be yes. The result could snowball – we could have juniors from the entire country attending all of the major tournaments with a support team.

During the recent U.S. Open in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, several top junior players did not go and therefore, could not compete – they did not have the funds nor the chaperones. Why? Nobody Asked The Question. They missed an opportunity to compete against their peers and missed the chance to watch all of the world’s best play. What a shame. Let’s get on with the future. Help make USA Table Tennis a force to reckon with - starting with this new millennium.

As many spectators to this year’s U.S. Open could attest to – it is easier and less expensive to watch the top players in the world compete here in the U.S. Here’s one more reason to ATQ – be selfish – yes, be selfish. Add enough support to the outstanding young male and female athletes we now have in the U.S. (and the recent great strides made by the coaching staff of the USATT) and the U.S. could leapfrog to the forefront in Table Tennis. The world would come to us. What a novel idea . . .

ATQ … and thanks again to Bill VanPelt and DSI.

Next article – AYM.