President’s Report

As always, there is a lot of news to share in this issue’s association primer series.

The USOC Board of Directors elected Sandy Baldwin, 61, to the position of USOC president at its December Board meeting. She is the first female to serve in that position. On the eve of her election, she surprised me by enthusiastically recounting how impressed she was as a spectator at the gold medal men’s match in Sydney. She also was delighted to hear about our good relations with the Chinese Table Tennis Association. She has 20+ years of experience within the USOC. Insiders expect her to move quickly in clarifying the direction of the organization.

Congratulations to Li Ai for being elected as USATT’s Olympic Athlete Representative. Sean O’Neill was the opposite-gender candidate who received the highest number of votes. He will serve as the Alternate. Their terms begin January 1, 2001 through the end of 2004. Congratulations, Li and Sean!

The election for National Player Representatives, male and female, are underway as the magazine goes to press.

Officials of the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) were quintessential hosts during the recent coaches and youth tour of China. Mimi Bosika’s daily diary gives a glimpse of the wonderful memories tour participants will forever cherish. USATT extends its deepest gratitude to Enron for their generous sponsorship, to the CTTA for their excellent care of our delegation, to the ITTF for participating in trip negotiations as well as for generously hosting our delegation at the World Cup, and to the delegation members for their good sportsmanship and excellent comportment during the trip.

The main purpose of the trip was to reinvigorate what had become a dormant relationship between the U.S. and Chinese table tennis associations. Teamed up, the two associations can realize synergistic benefits, especially in marketing and sponsorship opportunities as well as in the area of elite development. It is my intention to keep pressing for joint efforts between our two associations and to provide you with updates each magazine issue.

For more information on the trip, including the background history of how the tour came to fruition, please visit www.usatt.org; Mimi Bosika’s diary of the trip is in this issue.

Since the last issue of the magazine, USATT has marched forward in its effort to successfully meet our USOC markers. The successful completion of the Enron Millennium Friendship Tour of China in October achieved our third marker. In November, Nan Li’s attainment of a world ranking, coupled with Michelle Do’s February placement in the world rankings, secured satisfaction of our fourth marker. Basically USA Table Tennis just needs to complete components of our administrative markers in order satisfy markers number one and two. Completion of all four markers will result in a USOC bonus payment to us.

At the USATT Board of Directors meeting in November, the Board approved changes in our bylaws for USATT elections. The Board adopted, with some revisions, a proposal submitted by a special ad hoc committee chaired by Wendell Dillon. The newly adopted changes specify the procedure for transitioning the vote back to the general membership. Future elections will coincide with Olympic quadrenniums. The president, secretary and two at-large vice presidents will serve for a 4-year term. This election will normally take place just after the Summer Games. Another election for executive vice president, treasurer, and two at-large vice presidents will occur at the mid-point of those 4-year terms. The transition to that election schedule will consist of an election in the fall of 2001 and the mid-term elections to be held in the fall of 2002. The next election after that will occur in 2004. More detailed election information will be included in the next issue of the magazine.

The Board approved another bylaw change that would shorten the notice period required in cases of passing bylaw amendments to conform with USOC bylaws, statutes, or other documents of authority higher than USATT bylaws. A 2/3 majority of the Board may also vote to waive the notice requirement in emergency situations. I proposed this bylaw amendment in order to allow the Board nearly immediate conformance with, for example, contemporaneous USOC actions. The emergency provision also allows the Board, subject to super-majority approval, the ability to act quickly on urgent matters in which the bylaws may be silent.

The Board also approved the budget for USA Table Tennis for 2001. Further details of the 2001 budget will run in the next issue of the magazine.

Treasurer Tong Lee inserted an increased membership fee structure in the revenue assumptions for the 2001 budget. Notice of, and the rationale for, the membership fee increase appears elsewhere in this issue of the magazine.

The Board also approved new bylaw language to establish a number of specific standing committees. Those standing committees, as well as the appointed chairs, are:

• Disabled Athletes – Sharon Frant Brooks

• Elite Athletes & Elite Development – Dennis Taylor
• Finance/Audit – To Be Determined
• Finance/Budget – Tong Lee, Treasurer
• Grassroots/Juniors – To Be Determined
• Grassroots/Collegiate – Hank McCoullum
• Grassroots/Adult (Clubs)– To Be Determined
• Grassroots/Seniors – Dave Sakai

• Grievance/Ethics & Disciplinary – Cindy Marcum (pending Board approval)

• Hall of Fame – Jimmy McClure
• Hardbat – Scott Gordon
• Nominating & Elections – Wendell Dillon
• Rules (Officials) – To Be Determined
• Tournaments – Wayne Johnson

• Women’s Development – To Be Determined

The Board also approved several nominations to serve in "specific designation" assignments.

I am optimistic that I will be able to nominate candidates to fill the vacant chairs during the U.S. Nationals. During that tournament, I will also work closely with the appointed chairs to determine each committee’s scope and goals for 2001.

On behalf of USA Table Tennis, I would like to extend deep gratitude to the many committee chairs and volunteers who have served our association with distinction in the past. Since I became president, I have never received any roster of committee members, despite making multiple requests for the information. With this new committee structure in place, I anticipate that USA Table Tennis will be able to post complete committee information in the next publication. Meanwhile, updates will be posted on our website on an as-available basis.

I would like to extend special recognition to Y.C. Lee, who, for several years, dedicated his attention to USA Table Tennis doing full-time volunteer service.

The Board voted to accept a bid forwarded by Paddle Palace on behalf of Nittaku. The contract will involve cash, balls (including balls for promotional purposes), and guaranteed spending of over $50,000.

USA Table Tennis thanks the members of the San Diego Table Tennis Association for their gracious assistance in logistics and hospitality for our November Board meeting.

Ben Nisbet recently tendered his resignation as executive director as did staff member Megan Kulenberg. USA Table Tennis wishes them both success in their future endeavors. Ben has graciously offered his continued assistance during this transition period.

Tami Walker has already joined the staff as Megan’s successor. Tami’s primary responsibility will be to process ratings. The previous ratings coordinator, Fran Boardman, has been helping USATT with the processing backlog and has been training Tami in her job responsibilities. I am pleased to report that the backlog in processing ratings has been resolved. Please remember that tournament directors are allowed time after their tournaments to submit the results and then ratings are processed. A post-tournament lag of three to five weeks in the reporting of new ratings is the acceptable norm that we have established. The Board understands the importance our membership attaches to this service. Once we became aware of the backlog last summer, we worked closely with staff to ensure that the backlog would be eliminated.

Subject to input received during the U.S. Nationals, I will be proposing changes in the current staffing structure, subject to Board approval. The primary change will be an increased emphasis on correlating staff time with association priorities. Stronger marketing and sponsorship acquisition will be a hallmark of the proposal. Additional funding sources are required in order to pay for costs associated with aggressive grassroots and elite development programs.

I will spend some time in Colorado Springs in January to establish specific roles and responsibilities so that association matters continue to be dealt with expeditiously while the executive director’s position remains vacant. Treasurer Tong Lee will also spend some time at our national headquarters with Karie Wright, our previous part-time, now full-time, bookkeeper to ensure that budgetary matters are run in accordance with USATT guidelines. Veteran staffer Margaret Smith has assumed responsibility for office operations during the interim.

Congratulations to Richard Lee and to his capable staff for running an excellent Thanksgiving weekend tournament. The Board recently signed an agreement with Richard Lee for NATT to run the tournament through 2003.

Once again, on behalf of USA Table Tennis, I extend to you all Happy New Year wishes.