USA Table Tennis selected Doru Gheorghe as the Coach of the Year and Richard McAfee as the Developmental Coach of the Year for 1999. For this honor, both attended the USOC’s Fourth Annual Coaching Recognition and Awards weekend in Washington, D.C. in mid-September.

I feel it’s imperative that I give adequate notice to all potential future candidates: this accolade ranks right up there with those select few "moments of life" that a person cherishes forever. I know because I was there.

Everything about the event was first class. We, and especially the coaches, were treated like VIPs the entire weekend. Rumors flew around that the reported tab for the weekend alone amounted to a quarter of a million dollars. This seemed entirely believable. Attendees were greeted at the airport, driven to the Marriott hotel in the heart of downtown, given specially designed souvenirs to commemorate the honor, and offered not just a sightseeing and hospitality component, but an array of simultaneously-scheduled activities.

The Washington/Baltimore Regional 2012 Coalition (Coalition) jointly hosted the weekend program with the USOC. The Coalition is vying to become the candidate for America’s bid proposal to host the 2012 Olympics. With their attention on a broader objective, restraint was not on the agenda. More than 30 sponsors were acknowledged in the program.

Two different D.C. tour options, or golf, were Friday morning’s options, leading up to the Kennedy Center luncheon. Attendees were encouraged to take in the spectacular views from the open terraces adjoining the dining room. The waiters, dressed in black tuxedos and wearing white gloves, lined up with their plates and surrounded each table as they delivered the meals. Because the weekend coincided with Hurricane Floyd, however, several attendees were delayed. In fact, all airports in the northeast were closed on Thursday, the day of everyone’s scheduled arrivals. The USOC decided to defer to the luncheon’s awards ceremony and instead combined it with an already-scheduled early evening reception in order to accommodate the late arrivals.

At the awards ceremony each sport’s coach was given a plaque and photographed. It was a family event. Doru brought his wife, Emilia, and son, Patrick. And Richard brought his wife, Diane. My sole responsibility for the weekend, from the USOC-perspective, was to honor the coaches and to appear with them in their official picture. I was happy to honor Doru and Richard. In addition to their excellent contributions in the area of coaching, both of them are also dedicated to table tennis on a broader level. (See USATT’s website, www.usatt.org, for specific details about their coaching career accomplishments.)

Annapolis was the site of Saturday’s activities. Attendees could chose to go sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, go on a tour, or attend the Navy football game.

The black-tie Fourth Annual Awards Gala, the culmination of the program on Saturday night, was extraordinary. The International Trade Center was one block from the hotel, so we walked to it as a group. Doru and Richard, accompanied by Diane, resplendent in her ball gown, were ushered away from us toward the end of the reception along with the other award recipients. Then all the guests, including a bevy of local VIPs and event sponsors, were seated for the honorees’ dramatic entrance. A spotlight shone on the cascading marble staircase and the honorees were announced sport by sport as they descended. During the evening’s program, top USOC officials spoke and presented the coveted special awards. (For an article on these awards at the U.S. Olympic web page, go to www.usoc.org/usonn/aug99/coaches1.htm.)

I chose to forego all of the optional social events. On Saturday morning I went to the flourishing Potomac club. Afterwards, Gao Jun, her husband, Frank Chang, and I returned to the hotel to meet with Doru to discuss her pre-Olympic training options. On Sunday I went over to Richard Lee’s house for a North American Teams event tournament staff meeting. I took advantage of the unforeseen opportunity to stay overnight and to discuss a variety of issues with Amy Feng and her husband Xiaolei Hu when the second leg of my flight from Atlanta was canceled on Thursday. My thanks to all for a wonderful and memorable weekend.