President’s Report July-August 2000

In this issue’s "association primer series," I will report on a number of recent developments.

In accordance with the Bylaws that were in effect during the opening of our May 5-7 Board meeting, we elected officers for a one-year term. I was re-elected as president. Bob Tretheway was elected executive vice president, Tong Lee was re-elected as treasurer and Dennis Taylor was re-elected as secretary.

Amy Feng joined the Board as the Olympic Athlete Representative due to Diana Gee’s resignation. Jeff Davis, our Community-Based Programs Representative, resigned from the Board effective the last day of the Board meeting. As this issue goes to press, the vacancy has not yet been filled.

The Board voted unanimously to return the vote for officers (president, executive vice president, treasurer & secretary) to the general membership. We did not, however, adopt a new election methodology for the election that is set to take place early in 2001. I have prepared a lengthy proposal that the Board will take up at a special meeting that will occur during the U.S. Open. The highlights of my proposal include:

• Transition of the election cycle to bring it in sync with the Olympic quadrennium;
• No reduced term length for those Board members whose terms expires in 2002;
• Designated roles for all Board members;
• Elimination of the current Regional and At-Large Board Representative Board seats;
• Creation of several new Board positions, including: Youth Parent Representative, Coach Representative, Club Representative, and Female Representative; and
• Continuation of Board seats for the Athlete Representatives, Foundation Representative, and the Community-Based Programs Representative.

The proposal is too long to include in this issue. You can access it at our website, www.usatt.org. Copies of the proposal will also be available at the U.S. Open.

Delegates from ITTF-member associations at the February, 2000 General Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, almost unanimously adopted a bigger ball that has a diameter of 40-mm and a weight of 2.7 grams. Only the U.S. and a few other countries voted against the proposal. The use of the 40-mm ball will take effect beginning October 1, 2000 for all ITTF-sanctioned competitions. National associations may, at their discretion, however, allow the use of the 38-mm ball in their domestic competitions.

In May, the USATT Board considered the needs of all the various stakeholders in our sport – players, coaches, tournament directors, promoters, spectators, and vendors. We voted, effective October 2, to require 40-mm balls at the Junior Olympics/Junior Nationals, the U.S. Nationals and the U.S. Open. For U.S. non-international tournaments, for the time being, tournament directors may use either ball size, but must specify on their entry form what size ball(s) will be used at their tournaments.

USATT Vice-President Dr. Jiing Wang donated 1,000 silk ties to the association. Thank you, Dr. Wang, for your generosity. The ties will be on sale at the U.S. Open and through our website. We will also use them in certain promotions such as a membership drive.

Treasurer Tong Lee is working on a proposal to reintroduce the life membership category. By the time you receive this magazine, the Board will have voted on his proposal. If the measure passes, life memberships will be on sale at the U.S. Open.

Another proposal Tong Lee had at last year’s U.S. Open is about to become reality. He suggested that we create table stickers, akin to bumper stickers, to be placed on new and existing tables. Saying that it took him 15 years in California before he discovered the existence of USATT, he thought that our association should have a visual medium for promoting the visibility of our national governing body. These stickers would therefore include the name of our association, our phone number and our web URL. He approached Julian Waters, an internationally known calligrapher and graphic designer, as well as avid table tennis player, and asked him whether he could design a sticker for that purpose. Julian graciously offered his services free of charge. He not only created the table stickers, but he also created a separate design for a table tennis bumper sticker that will be available for purchase at the U.S. Open or through our website.

USATT is pleased to announce that this year’s U.S. Open/ITTF Pro Tour has drawn an unprecedented number of entrants. Not only will we have the best of the best in the world, but we also have the most-ever U.S. Open tournament entries and participants in the disabled athletes events. This is thanks to an excellent USATT staff and volunteers as well as the cooperative relationship between USATT and the ITTF. Look for great coverage in the next issue!

Late last fall Ben Nisbet met the executive director of the Palm Beach County Sports Commission and Sports Institute, Pam Gerig. She immediately expressed an interest in promoting table tennis on a county-wide basis through the county’s school system and network of parks and recreation centers. I met her soon afterwards and she immediately invited me to join a School Task Force. The goal of the School Task Force is to implement a program to bring selected emerging sports into the county. I have attended all of the meetings that have been held.

Coincidentally, I recently scheduled a meeting with Pam to discuss table tennis developments shortly after the Sports Institute Youth Coordinator had given her resignation notice. Pam asked me to join the staff in order to commit more of my time to the county’s undertaking. I turned down the full-time job offer because I wanted to remain as flexible as possible in order to keep my primary focus on serving as USATT president. Instead I proposed an independent contractor relationship in which I would average working 20 hours/week, be able to schedule my own on-site hours, and remain available to attend events as USATT president. I also stipulated that I would adhere to the USATT ethical guidelines on votes pertaining to the Palm Beach County Sports Commission, Sports Institute and North American Corporate Games.

I will share news updates of Palm Beach County’s promotional activities with USATT members periodically since the county has a nationally-recognized Sports Commission and Sports Institute and since the Sports Institute is co-hosting the North American Corporate Games.

As I stated in the last issue, World Trade Center Palm Beach has acquired the rights to hold the North American Corporate Games annually in Palm Beach County. The inaugural North American Corporate Games will be held from October 27-29 this year.

The multi-sport festival will include 16 sports besides table tennis: badminton, basketball 3-on-3, beach volleyball, billiards, dragon boat racing, flag football 4-on-4, golf, lacrosse, rugby 7’s, running, soccer 6’s, softball, swimming, tennis, tenpin bowling, and triathlon. The event features a unique blend of fun, sport and business.

The weekend offers all participants and their families the opportunity to party as hard as they play and make friendships and business connections along the way. Huge parties with bands and entertainment are scheduled for every evening, Games sponsors are donating plenty of freebies, and the Grand Parade of Athletes (down the main street of my own city, Delray Beach) will allow every participating organization the opportunity to showcase itself to the Games crowd.

The concept of the Games is to allow "weekend warriors," athletes who work at companies and organizations during the week and participate in sports during their free time, to play in one sport as a representative of that organization. The Games is open to all businesses and organizations, small as well as large. Teams can include employees, families and friends. There is no limit to the number on a team or to the total number of organizations. Everyone can take part.

The Royal Palm Beach Recreation Center, located in the western hub of the region, will host the table tennis competition. There are five events: men’s and women’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles. Each event has age classes. Entrants may play in two events, either a singles and doubles, or two doubles. There will be a separate Open Division for elite athletes as well as age classes for recreational and social players. Participants are guaranteed a minimum of three matches in every event.

The Games recognizes the achievements of participants by awarding points to all those who finish in the top eight places in their particular category. In addition, the top three finishers in each sport win medals. Sport Championship Awards are won by organizations that accumulate the highest number of points in each sport. Total Games points are used to determine the winners of each Championship Division, which is based on the organization’s overall team size. The Medalist Award goes to the organization winning the most medals though the Games, and the Grand Award is presented to the organization that enters the most participants.

At least one representative from the North American Corporate Games will attend the U.S. Open to promote the event. For details on how you can play in the Games, call Mark Conboy at 561-616-1999, or write to info@nacorpgames.com. Entry forms can also be downloaded directly from www.corporate-games.com.

Elsewhere in this issue, you can read about our athletes headed for the Olympics, the Chicago Ping Pong Festival and the latest table tennis news in other areas. I look forward to serving as president for another year!