President's Report

Jan/Feb 2007

By Sheri Soderberg Pittman

Last fall the USOC ushered in a new era for USA Table Tennis through its decision to drastically reduce its 2007 resource allocation to USATT.  In the past USATT applied the funding to elite athlete support and development.  That funding provided a large percentage of the elite athlete budget.  USATT’s budget for 2007 will be set after this issue goes to print.  This month’s “association primer series” will focus on this news, its impact on USATT, and expected action items.  

The USOC’s Evolution Toward a New Funding Policy

Through the late 1990’s, the USOC had generally provided USATT with funding in the neighborhood of $160,000-$250,000.  When Norm Blake became the USOC’s CEO in 2000, there were many press reports that sports unlikely to medal would lose their funding.  In fact, the USOC instead decided to give every National Governing Body (NGB) a flat minimum of $250,000.  After the USOC governance reform, the figure went back to roughly the same previous amount.

As the USOC adopted a new structure through their governance reform, it also adopted as its mission:  “To support United States Olympic and Paralympic athletes in achieving sustained competitive excellence and preserve the Olympic ideals, and thereby inspire all Americans.”  It took the USOC a couple of years to regain staff and Board stability.   During my tenure as USATT president, there have been 4-5 USOC presidents and 4-5 CEOs.  With its new professional and volunteer leadership footprint in place, there is no reason to think that there will be any more sudden changes in the USOC’s new funding policy.   It is, therefore, quite clear that the USOC intends to reward NGBs that are able to produce sustained competitive excellence, otherwise known as Olympic medals. 

Resource Allocation to USATT

This is a grim new reality for USATT.  The USOC’s commitment to devoting its financial resources to potential Olympic medalists is illustrated by the amount of direct athlete support it is providing to USATT #1 woman, Gao Jun.  A summary of the USOC’s 2007 Resource Allocation for USATT is as follows: 

Elite Athlete Health Insurance Slots (free health insurance):  6

The USOC has approved for disclosure the following breakdown of funding it is providing to USATT for NGB and Athlete Support: 

NGB & Athlete Support

 Athlete Support is subject to:

·        Gao Jun must maintain a top-15 international rank to remain eligible for the NGB Funding and Direct Athlete Support.  In 2008 the international rank minimum raises to top-10.

·        Any athlete that achieves and maintains a top-15 international rank in 2007 is eligible for the NGB Funding and Direct Athlete Support.

·        NGB Funding and Athlete Support will be awarded on a six month basis.  Every six months the international rank will be evaluated to ensure the top-15 rank is being maintained.  

The NGB payment schedule reflects the 2007 dates and amounts:

 Previous Years’ Allocations Compared to Present Allocation

By comparison, USATT Treasurer Tong Lee put together the table below which reflects amounts received more recently and in comparison to a decade ago:  

* Based on extrapolation of year-to-date data. 

USOC’s Response to USATT’s Request for an Explanation

USATT’s Executive Director Doru Gheorghe requested an explanation as to why the USOC funds to USATT were cut so drastically.

The USOC Sports Partnership Director who is USATT’s liaison with the USOC responded, “After a thorough review and extensive discussion on USATT’s plan, international results, and governance/Board challenges, it was our determination that USOC dollars are not currently impacting overall international performances and that this trend will likely continue for 2008 and 2012.  Consequently, in a competitive pool with limited resources, we decided USATT is not a sound investment for the USOC at this time.  This decision was not taken lightly, but it finally came to the point where we needed to re-evaluate our funding strategy with the NGB.  We rarely get to talk about sport and pipeline development with USATT as the majority of our time and energy is spent on Board and governance issues.  Until the Board and governance issues are resolved we question if the group can address and be truly committed to a long-term plan.

“All that being said, we are pleased with Gao Jun’s international results and that we are able to dedicate significant resources towards her training and competition schedule.  She is by far one of the largest investments we are making towards a specific athlete, in any sport.  This level of support is also available to any other athlete that achieves an individual international ranking of top-15 in 2007 and/or top-10 in 2008.  Additionally, there are many USOC programs and services still available to USATT and its athletes, including Operation Gold, Elite Athlete Health Insurance, Tuition Assistance, medical services, Olympic Training Center use, Team Leader meetings, sponsorship opportunities, International Games support, etc.” 

 Resource Allocation Guidelines

The USOC’s guidelines for resource allocations, as alluded to above, are contained below:

“The USOC shall allocate resources to the NGBs and direct athlete support to the athletes with the goal of enabling athletes, through the NGBs, to achieve sustained competitive excellence at the highest level of international competition in accordance with the following guidelines:

1. Achievement of the objective (sustained competitive excellence) may require the investment of USOC resources over a long period of time.

2. Support to NGBs should be customized based on the environment (competitive and otherwise) in which each NGB operates.

3. In order to receive USOC support, each NGB must commit to measurable and achievable goals which, if achieved over time, will meet the objective of the resource allocation process.  If the goals are not met, the level of support, and the programs it is directed to, will be re-evaluated.

4. Generally, support should be allocated with a view to maximizing the number of elite, international medals awarded to U.S. athletes, as well as maximizing the number of sports in which U.S. athletes medal.  Recognition should also be given to the impact that a successful performance could have on the USOC’s ability to generate revenue.

5. Support to NGBs and to athletes should be minimized where it will have no meaningful impact on performance.  This means that support should be minimized where there is no reasonable possibility that it will facilitate the ability of U.S. athletes to compete at the highest level of international competition, and also where U.S. athletes can be expected to compete at the highest level of international competition with or without USOC support. As a result of this guideline, some NGB’s may not receive performance-based support.

6. USOC Athlete Support will be allocated based on the existing guidelines (see Section K).”  

Impact on USATT

This resource allocation applies to the 2007 budget.  USATT’s budget for the duration of 2006 was, therefore, not adversely impacted.  USATT Treasurer Tong Lee and USATT Executive Director Doru Gheorghe analyzed what cost savings could be implemented for the remainder of 2006 in order to increase USATT’s projected year-end surplus.  They also then drafted USATT’s 2007 draft budget. 

The USATT Board of Directors will make final budget decisions at a meeting held in conjunction with the National’s in Las Vegas.  The 2006 election process will be completed by then, so the re-elected and/or newly-elected Board members will participate in setting next year’s budget.  With the USOC cut in funding, USATT will have to find ways to generate more income and reduce expenses.   The Board may also choose to tap a portion of the roughly $300,000-$400,000 in accumulated reserves as the organization deals with this new financial paradigm. 

Action Plans 

The USOC indicated three areas of concerns: USATT’s Board, international results, and our high performance plan. 

Due to the pending results of 6 members (2 officers, 2 at-large vice presidents and 2 athlete representatives) of the 13-member Board, I decided to focus my first efforts on a revamping of our Elite Athlete Committee.  Long-time Committee Chair Bob Fox indicated that he would prefer to help a new leader transition into the post.  I consulted with the committee and we agreed that Ross Brown would be named initially as co-chair.  I thank Todd Sweeris for his previous service in that post.  Ross is being confirmed as this issue goes to print.  Expect to see revised and plans for USATT’s high performance in the near future. 

I also informed ITTF President Adham Sharara of this news.  On behalf of the ITTF, he reiterated his offer to work with USATT in the areas of marketing, elite athlete development, and re-introduction of the ITTF Pro Tour (along with a profitable marketing strategy for USATT).    

USATT will continue to inform you, our members, of our action plans to address this matter.  If you have constructive recommendations on this matter, please contact Doru Gheorghe at ed@usatt.org.