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President's
Report
By
Sheri Soderberg Pittman
As we move into 2003, I want to provide you with a "State of the Association" for this issue’s association primer series.
It was a particularly busy year for me. As I looked back over the 2002 calendar, I realized that I had spent 109 attending functions on top of handling daily USATT presidential activities. I’m grateful to the vast number of USATT’s volunteers who have recently assumed greater levels of responsibility in fulfilling association functions.
Congratulations to returning Board members who were successful in their candidacies: Dr. Jiing Wang (Executive Vice President), Tong Lee (Treasurer), George Brathwaite and Barney Reed, Sr. (Vice Presidents). It was, as usual, a hotly-contested election. The re-election signified the membership’s desire to see continuity of Board membership. I appreciate the membership’s vote of confidence as we enter a new chapter for USATT. Congratulations also to 2001’s Men’s National Champion, Eric Owens, who was elected to the Olympic Athlete Representative position.
Clark Mitchell formerly the executive director of the San Diego Table Tennis Association, recently joined USATT as the executive director. Clark has been a USATT member since the mid-1970s.
The Board was pleased to be able to offer the position to someone who had worked closely with USATT recently. His hard work, especially related to creating inroads at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center, merited him the President’s Award last year. Top USOC representatives were pleased to see us hire him. Clark had been our point of contact for the 2000 Olympic team training, a USATT Board meeting held in San Diego as well as USATT team trials. Clark’s business background, outside of table tennis, included management experience, television and Internet communications expertise, and marketing/sponsorship procurement.
Obviously the rapid turnover of Executive Directors over the past decade has been a source of concern to both the Board and the membership. Clark had shared this same concern. It motivated him to step forward. I appreciate his attitude of "servant leadership" at a time when accepting the position carried some heavy baggage. Expressing his desire to develop a long-term career with us, he stated, "I’ve already been with the sport for many years. I’m planning on staying for many years to come."
Clark and I are working in unison to lay out a more orderly functioning of USATT’s activities. He clearly understands the importance of staff functioning in the business operations role and Board setting policy and direction. We look forward to setting forth a clearly-articulated strategy for setting USATT on the road to overall success, marked by grassroots development, a financial surplus and elite athlete achievement. For the first time in recent years, we will soon post an annual calendar for 2003, which will include key dates for USATT, USOC and international events. Look for more meaningful communication and more frequent updates at www.usatt.org.
Margaret Smith recently accepted an offer from Ray Essick. Ray, who previously had briefly served as USATT’s executive director, deserves credit for effectively designing USATT’s new office space. It turns out his wife Toni specializes in office design and layout. Shortly after his departure, he accepted a position which required additional staff and tapped Margaret. I am sure that I speak for virtually everyone in extending her warm wishes in her new career path. As many people have remarked over the years, Margaret was often seen as the "glue that held things together."
Larry Hodges and Robert Mayer have worked tirelessly to present you with more accessible league options, namely the upcoming USATT League. (More on that in upcoming issues.) George Brathwaite will continue to promote competitive, inter-club leagues in 2003 through the Northeastern League.
As directed by USATT’s Board, the executive director is reviewing several USATT functions to determine ways to meet the needs of our members more effectively and efficiently. The demand for human resources will surely be high and I encourage you to consider serving the sport as we post requests for assistance on our website. Thanks to the many other volunteers who already are helping on projects for the growth of our sport.
With the presence of the USOC’s President, Marty Mankamyer, and Chief Executive Officer, Lloyd Ward, at our events over the past year, we have had the opportunity to engage in a more meaningful relationship with the USOC. During our Performance Based Assessment meeting and, later at our Board meeting, the USOC noted favorably that our sport has a particularly engaged, energetic and passionate group of volunteers and staff. USATT is fully cooperating with the USOC on all fronts. We look forward to continuing to make improvements in our interaction with the USOC.
One of our priority areas is to utilize USOC training centers for our elite athletes. Besides the Chula Vista center, USATT has strongly backed a proposed training center in Pompano Beach, just minutes from Fort Lauderdale. As a nearby resident, I have often served as USATT’s representative at meetings. I thank the many other South Floridians who have also shown their support for the project. If all goes well with these developments, we look forward to offering substantially improved training programs.
Bill Lui recently accepted the chairmanship of the Elite Athletes Committee. Former chair David Roberts is being relocated to China by his law firm. David shared insights gleaned through his experiences training in China with several of our athletes and coaches; we look forward to having him continue to assist us while he resides there. Bill, who dedicates most of his life to table tennis, unleashed his penchant for organizational skills and has undertaken an effort to set up effective long-term planning to bring the U.S. into medal contention.
At USATT’s November Board meeting, the Board established our priorities as relates to elite development: 1) high performance clubs, 2) international tournament play, 3) over-seas training, 4) home opportunities and 5) elite international and domestic training camps. As Acting Technical Director, Doru Gheorghe has taken the lead in these areas.
In November the Board ratified approval of USATT as a signatory of the Brighton Declaration. The declaration, in brief, calls for the creation of opportunities for women in all aspects of sports from competition to volunteer leadership positions. The IOC has already set a minimum target of 20% women in all levels of sport administration and leadership. The ITTF has requested that all member associations act on these principles.
As a member of the ITTF Executive Board, the ITTF funded me to attend several ITTF meetings last year. USATT realizes the unique challenge that the world is looking for us to achieve in order to increase global exposure to our sport. Be assured that a primary topic of my conversations with ITTF officials is the opportunity for mutual collaboration and cooperation.
Recently the associations from North America met and established initial By-Laws for the creation of the North American Table Tennis Union as well as drafted a proposed Continental Agreement for 2003. ITTF Continental funding in 2003 will support several continental training camps, an elite coaches’ workshop and two officials’ seminars. In support of women’s development, we also included a special camp for female coaches and athletes. USATT will publicize information and selection criteria in the near future.
The establishment of NATTU created a continental group aimed at maximizing our resources to mutual advantage. This was a major accomplishment. I thank Aly Salam and Ross Brown for their assistance to me, as the ITTF’s North American Continental Vice President. They spent countless hours preparing documents for our consideration. We also appreciated seeing Richard McAfee’s training facility as well as visiting with Wendell Dillon during our trip to Atlanta.
Thanks to entrepreneur Robert Blackwell for organizing a celebration commemorating the American tour component of the 30th Anniversary of Ping Pong Diplomacy. Expect to see more coverage of the event in the next issue.
USATT salutes Houshang Bozorgzadeh for being named the State Games’ Athlete of the Year. Houshang recently traveled back to Iran to serve as the head coach at an ITTF-certified camp for elite athletes representing a handful of countries from the Asian Table Tennis Union. Congratulations, Houshang!
USATT, like everyone, encountered sharp increases in our insurance premiums. In order to replenish cash reserves, the Board pared down expenses to a bare minimum, while still setting aside a $20,000 surplus. On the revenue side, we included only income that has historically come in. In the coming issues of the magazine, we will share with you initiatives undertaken and progress made on the financial side of our association.
On the staff side, in addition to Clark Mitchell, Pam Ramsey has also joined the USATT staff. When I met her in 1974, she was already a long-time player. Together she and Clark have been a catalyst for change in the San Diego area. It is a pleasure to begin 2003 with capable staff leadership. May the year bring us all many blessings!
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