2006 Coaches of the Year

USATT is pleased to announce the 2006 Coaches of the Year.

USATT National Coach of the Year- Dan Seemiller

His devotion to the sport insures a bright future for his students, especially his current most promising students:  Mark Hazinski, Joe Cochran, A.J. Brewer, Dan Seemiller, Jr and C.J. Brewer, who all have future Olympic aspirations.

Mark Hazinski – 2004 Olympian Doubles, 2003 & 2005 national runner up, 2006 mixed doubles champion, 2006 U-21 National Champion, US Team 2006 & accepted full TT scholarship at Texas Wesleyan University in 2006.

AJ Brewer – 13 years of age qualified for the 2007 US Cadet team for the 2^nd time and won the U-14 & U-18 singles events. 

USATT Developmental Coach of the Year- Hui Yuan Liu

Coach Liu runs a table tennis club opened 7 days a week from 1:00pm to 11:30pm.  At his club he encourages all to participate, enjoy the game and maximize their potential.

He currently trains many students of all different degrees and ages.  His top students include Stephanie Shih who has again earned a spot on our Woman’s Junior National Team.  He also trains the currently rated #14 player in the country, Kaz Yokoyama and Shao Yu the #23 rated.  Besides the many children and adults who train with him, he currently is training 20 children on a regular basis.

USATT Volunteer Coach of the Year- Michael J. Scott

Dr. Scott has been a volunteer coach for over 30 years at Seattle University and at Seattle Central Community College.  At Seattle University he taught Table Tennis Physical Education courses for credit and also assists in such courses at Seattle Central Community College.  He was able to obtain Varsity Letters for Table Tennis Team members at Seattle University.  At no time has Dr. Scott accepted any remuneration for his services.

He not only coaches students the fundamentals of the sport but he stresses the importance of physical exercise and how table tennis is a lifetime sport.

“DOC” Counsilman Science Award- Larry Thoman

Larry is the author of a coaching manual on table tennis that teaches readers how to develop and improve their table tennis skills through the use of a table tennis robot (a ball-throwing training aid for table tennis). In 2006, the third revision to his manual was published with updates for current techniques and expanding the number of skills it covers. A significant technological attribute of the manual is the use of stroboscopic pictures to better illustrate table tennis strokes.