President's Report

By Sheri Soderberg Pittman

Congratulations to all of USATT’s Pan American and national team members. The team trials went great thanks to the able supervisory skills of Richard McAfee and a cast of dozens. There was a great volunteer spirit apparent throughout the event. It was especially uplifting to attend the trials in light of the ongoing challenges facing USATT. Making lemonade out of lemons is the theme of this issue’s "association primer series."

Executive Director Clark Mitchell tendered his resignation, effective April 7. Choosing to forego relocating to Colorado Springs, he expressed his desire to remain in the San Diego area and continue to focus on establishing a table tennis center in conjunction with the USOC’s Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. USATT wishes him success both for our sake and his own.

The development of a training center would be a win-win proposition for all involved. A couple of years ago, USATT established an Olympic Training Center Committee, chaired by Barney Reed, Sr. The primary mission of that committee is to establish a national training center in conjunction with the USOC’s Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. The stars are aligning well to add fresh momentum toward the fruition of that committee’s work.

Former world champion Stellan Bengtsson, for decades a renowned coach, has already publicly stated in an interview posted on the ITTF’s website that he intends to move to the U.S. Stellan is married to former U.S. Team Member, Angie Rosal. Now that their twin sons are finishing up high school, Stellan and Angie have decided that now is the time to make this life change. I welcome Angie’s return and hope that his coaching skills will help develop our elite table tennis athletes.

The sudden vacancy in the ED post created a new opportunity. On April 4, the Board voted to promote our long-time National Women’s Coach Doru Gheorghe to the Executive Director position. Before coming to the United States, Doru held the Secretary General post of Romania’s Table Tennis Association for seven years. That job is similar to our Executive Director’s position.

The promotion of Doru is part of a mutual agreement between USATT and Bob Allshouse to terminate the Oakbrook Training Center contract. Expressing his high regard for Doru, Bob presented the Board with a proposal. In short, for a settlement of $10,000, Bob agreed to terminate the contract should USATT decide to offer the position to Doru, with a 3-year guarantee. The Oakbrook contract otherwise was set to expire on December 31, 2004, carrying $100,000 in encumbered expenses to USATT.

This arrangement will save USATT approximately $85,000 over the next two years. At our May Board meeting, the Board will allocate the balance of the funds saved this fiscal year. The formal termination agreement contains a release from future litigation, bringing to closure any seed of doubt about potential lawsuits stemming from the entire venture, which will save USATT an additional unknown financial variable. On behalf of USATT, I want to express my sincere appreciation to Bob Allshouse for fashioning a win-win resolution to this matter.

Doru is relocating to Colorado Springs immediately. His presence at our headquarters office will enable USATT to react swiftly to recommendations contained in the report from the USOC’s Membership & Credential Committee. The report has been delayed due to the USOC’s recent focus on its own re-structuring issues. Contrary to rumors, no National Governing Body can lose its credentials during their meeting with the Memberships & Credential Committee. As we were told, the Committee would surely find areas to critique. The Committee issues a timeframe to the NGB for it to fully address compliance issues brought to the association’s attention. To remain in good standing as the USOC’s designated national governing body for our sport, USATT will expeditiously address the concerns shared with us.

Although a great percentage of staff time is allocated to interacting with the USOC and documenting our compliance according to their guidelines, USATT also remains a membership-oriented national association. To address your primary issues, which often revolve around having up-to-date ratings, USATT has decided to outsource the task to NATT. The transition over to Richard Lee and his team will already be underway by the time you receive this magazine. USATT is simultaneously raising ratings fees $1 (the first such increase in over a decade) in order to cover its associated costs. We are confident that this new arrangement will result in a win-win solution for everyone and will free the staff to focus on other important association objectives.

When I recently attended the USOC’s NGB Council meeting, I had the opportunity to visit with our staff. Despite the many challenges facing them, they are doing their best to advance the interests of our association. I thank them for their dedication. Over the years, USATT has committed itself to the delivery of numerous membership services – two huge tournaments, tournament sanctions, coaching certification, various programs, an outstanding bi-monthly publication, online information as well as live coverage of events such as the team trials, etc.

There is a fine line that our employees are asked to walk as the Board and membership press for the advancement of our association while they also handle their daily tasks. I can best illustrate their struggle by relaying a mathematical concept. If every member felt that for their membership fee they were entitled to, say, an hour of staff’s time a year, that would add up to approximately 8,000 hours of staff time. Divide that by 2,000 hours of work per employee per year and you get 4 full-time employees just to interact directly with the membership, leaving no time at all to perform their other duties. That is the approximate size of our staff. I ask the indulgence of every member to consider this mathematical reality before you contact headquarters.

In the long run, it’s in the best interests of everyone if the Board sets the priorities for the Executive Director, who works with the staff towards accomplishing those objectives. It is vital for the staff to be able to concentrate on delivering work-product that lifts up the entire association rather than apply band-aids to achieve piecemeal results. Please understand that the entire membership, including you, will benefit greatly in the long run if everyone can exercise a heightened degree of forbearance.

Added to the many issues already on the plate is our foremost concern for everyone’s safety and security. In this time of war, USATT has been advised by the USOC to adopt a policy addressing this issue. The USOC has its own security department and is aware of our upcoming trip to the world championships in Paris. Of course, every player and official has sacrificed much and worked hard to attain their credentials, but we must always take all necessary precautions to ensure that we keep a realistic perspective.

Besides USATT’s team and others in the travel party, I want to acknowledge and thank the many volunteers who work tirelessly on behalf of USATT at the international level. I have renominated, and the Board has confirmed, USATT’s candidates to the ITTF: Tim Boggan (Media), Aly Salam (Umpires & Referees), Azmy Ibrahim (Rules) and Dr. Michael Scott (Sports Medicine). In addition, USATT has nominated Richard McAfee to the ITTF Nominating Committee. Tim Boggan and Aly Salam were approved as USATT’s delegates to the Annual General Meeting. I am USATT’s candidate for the reserved women’s seat on the ITTF Executive Committee. Aly Salam will take over from me as the Continental Vice President for the rest of the quadrennium.