Minutes
Board of Directors
Meeting
Colorado Springs, CO
November 21-22, 2003
Friday, November 21
Board Members
Present Nov. 21 (9): Sheri Pittman (SP), Tong Lee (TL), Tim Boggan (Tim B),
Barney D. Reed (BR), Jimmy McClure (JM), Todd Sweeris (TS), Tawny Banh (Tawny
B), Bob Fox (BF), Willy Leparulo (WL).
Board Members
Absent (4): Jiing Wang, George Brathwaite, Robert Mayer, Eric Owens.
Also Present: USATT Executive Director Doru Gheorghe;
USATT Programs and Marketing Coordinator Tommy Perkins; USATT Ratings
Coordinator Felisa Huggins; USATT Accountant Deborah Gray; USATT Administrative
Coordinator Chris McCartney; former Community Based Programs’ Representative
on the Board Hank McCoullum; USATT Pro Bono Attorney Dennis Taylor; and USATT
Editor & Co-Webmaster Larry Hodges.
President Sheri Pittman opened the Friday night session of
the Meeting by seeking approval of the Oct. 11 Minutes. Hence…
MOTION I. Moved that the Oct. 11, 2003
Teleconference Minutes be approved.
Proposed by Tim B; seconded by BF.
Passed: 9-0-0.
Sheri, in giving her President’s Report, highlighted a
number of objectives sought at this Meeting—including the Approval of a
Fiscally Responsible 2004 Budget and the Furtherance of the USATT’s Strategic
Development Program.
Sheri showed her appreciation for Management at the
increasingly staff-driven USATT. All those working at Headquarters were in
attendance this evening, and all Board members applauded them for their efforts.
Sheri pointed out that the creation of State Associations will “significantly
relieve HQ staff,” and that a USATT Handbook will further clarify roles and
responsibilities. Meanwhile, Board members have been asked to update their
Ethics Code forms. Sheri, particularly, was pleased to note that the
“USATT’s financial progress and shift in managerial oversight has evoked
extremely positive feedback from the USOC.”
The change of an Interim Group B Vice-President or, more
properly, a Community Based
Representative on the Board necessitated…
MOTION II. Moved that Willy Leparulo be appointed
Community Based Programs’ Representative on the Board.
Proposed by SP; seconded by JM.
Passed: 9-0-0.
Lest the thought might be forgotten…
MOTION III. Moved that Tim Boggan preside in
Sheri’s place should she be out of the room during the Meeting.
Proposed by SP; seconded by TS.
Passed: 9-0-0.
Willy Leparulo’s welcome by Board members prompted…
MOTION IV. Moved that Board members show, by a
round of applause, their appreciation for the work of former Interim Group B
Vice President Hank McCoullum.
Proposed by TL; seconded by TS.
Passed: 9-0-0.
Tong gave his Treasurer’s Report and, having worked in
tandem with our Accountant Deborah, was happy to note that the Association is
likely to have a surplus of about $80,000 at year’s end—and that’s perhaps
a conservative estimate. He points out specifically that we’ve “received in
10 months nearly the same amount of membership fees than what is projected for
the entire year”—thus producing “a positive variance of about $34,000.”
The 2003 U.S. Open netted a profit of about $18,000 plus another $14,000 due us
from the Marina Marriott Hotel if we return the 2004 Open to Fort Lauderdale, or
move it to Chicago—hence a total profit of $32,000. The upcoming U.S. Closed,
with its “modest increase of $5 in entry fees” and an expected very large
entry, suggests that we’ll gain from that another $20,000, quite possibly
more. The USATT magazine will produce perhaps another $2,000. Only in the
Ratings will the Association not do as well as last year. This is because
we’ve been in a transition period. During the first months of the year, “we
were paying NATT and also using an almost full-time ratings coordinator to
process tournaments”; also, “the ratings fee increase of $1 had not kicked
in yet.”
Deborah echoed Tong’s evaluation—said that we were
really doing well. “A stellar year,” she said, anticipating more
optimistically than Tong, a surplus of about $100,000. Though the Association
was deemed to be in its best financial situation ever, it needed to build
reserves. It was therefore agreed that $150,000 be put into a high
interest-bearing savings account. “A moment to live for,” said Sheri,
extremely pleased over the direction in which the Association was now headed.
Jimmy McClure gave his USOC Board & NGB Council
Reports. Officers for a streamlined USOC Board were in the process of being
selected, and a decision made as to when they might be seated—Jan. 1st,
or after the Athens Olympic Games where, by the way, USA will have fewer
credentialed representatives. This Olympic quadrant produced a surplus of
$8,000,000. It was estimated that $2,000,000 in costs had been saved by reducing
staff.
Hank McCoullum presented his National Team/Elite Athletes
Committee Report. He stressed that winning medals “is the highest priority”
of the EAC. This means that “the limited resources” of the Committee have to
be directed toward those who have “the best opportunity to win International
Tournaments.” Of course “alternate sources of funding” are also necessary.
Our athletes need the use of Olympic Training Centers across the country, and
hopefully this can be arranged. Coaches, too, are important—and quality
coaches need to be compensated. The concept of
“an athlete’s performance contract” is essential. Since our goal is
to reach the milestones in our Strategic Plan, National Team players need to be
rewarded if they perform exceptionally well in international play and/or raise
their ITTF ranking. Consequently…
MOTION V. Moved
that the U.S. Pan Am medalists be given a total bonus amount of $3500.
Proposed by TL; seconded by TS.
Passed: 8-0-0 (Tawny B momentarily absent).
Doru, who, as Executive Director, had been giving the Board
monthly reports, presented us with a number of updates, some of which found
voice. Regarding the upcoming U.S. Closed: the venue would be less slippery than
the one last year, and there’d be more award ceremonies with raffle prizes to
keep spectators present. The possibility of the 2004 U.S. Open being moved from
Fort Lauderdale to Chicago depended on Doru’s continued discussions with
Robert Blackwell. Sponsorship contracts were satisfying, but the Singles venue
for the U.S. Olympic Trials had to be changed to Penn State in State College,
PA. Any prize money that Barney Reed wins will be withheld until he gradually
pays back the $2,672 he owes USATT. This money will be returned to the
players who lost to Barney between July and December 2002. It’s hoped the
USATT web page will be redesigned (the USOC will help with Olympic links).
Doru, having gone over with Board members the Milestones
and Responsibilities inherent in our Strategic Plan, said he wanted to hire a
Technical Director who’d help us achieve these Milestones. Doru stressed the
importance of grass roots development, and of working with college students,
taking advantage of Title 9 to promote Women’s play. He also envisioned that
this Technical Director would oversee all aspects of Coaching. Doru spoke of
having Regional coaches, of having a special web page for coaches, of having
separate coaches for juniors, for cadets. He hoped for a flood of coaching info,
wanted coaching seminars at which attendance for anyone ambitious to become
someone was mandatory.
Earlier Deborah and Chris had told Doru they’d have to
cut down their USATT working time, so perhaps with this thought consciously or
unconsciously in mind, Hank was interested in a time frame for a staffing
strategy that would help implement our Strategic Plan. Would there be a staff
division of labor? Diversity? Gradations in a staff salary scale? What about
Board guidelines? Committee Authority? Governance controls?
In short, something for Doru to sleep on.
Saturday, November 22
Board Members
Present Nov. 22 (9): Sheri Pittman (SP), Tong Lee (TL), Tim Boggan (Tim B),
Barney D. Reed (BR), Jimmy McClure (JM), Todd Sweeris (TS), Tawny Bahn (T Banh),
Bob Fox (BF), and Willy Leparulo (WL).
Board Members
Absent (4): Jiing Wang, George Brathwaite, Robert Mayer, Eric Owens.
Also Present:
Doru Gheorghe, Deborah Gray, Tommy Perkins, Hank McCoullum, Dennis Taylor, and
Larry Hodges.
President Pittman opened the Saturday session by turning
the Meeting over to Tong and Deborah who would lead us in a discussion of the
Budget. (For a short time during this discussion we’d go into Executive
Session, asking Doru and others not on the Board to leave the room.) Tong’s
overview as Treasurer was that we had to have more money to reach our Strategic
Development goal, to ultimately win Olympic medals. His aim was to run the USATT
like a business, “continually finding ways to increase revenue and profit as
well as to minimize operating expenses wherever necessary.”
Next year it appeared we’d have more expenses, and so to
generate the $50,000 surplus he wanted, we’d have to look to Membership,
Sponsorship, and the newly-formed League. It didn’t matter that the
Association was in an unprecedented financial position, it had to have more
money. Membership fees had to be raised because financial analyses showed that
the direct cost of servicing the membership exceeded the revenue generated from
all categories of membership by over $100,000. Members would understand if
details were explained to them—that, for example, it cost the Association $80
a year just to insure a member club. Members would be the more receptive if, as
Hank suggested, we provided a social relationship, a dialogue, via e-mail, to
those who were unsure of why we needed the money, or concerned as to what
specifically it was for. Thus…
MOTION VI. Moved that Feb. 1st, 2004 be
the Implementation Date for new USATT membership fees and categories. These
are: Adult: $40. Millennium: $650. Three-year: $100. Collegiate: $20 (no
increase). Three-year Junior: $50. Junior: $20 (no increase). Club: $50.
Family Membership (one year): $60. Family Membership (three years): $150.
League Membership: $12 (this entitles the member to League play, and one issue
of the USATT magazine). Associate or Booster Membership: $30 (this Membership
is suitable for parents of juniors and other supporters/boosters who don’t
play in sanctioned events, or coach, or officiate, or serve on USATT
committees, or on the USATT Board of Directors; they’re entitled to 6 issues
of the magazine, and the right to vote for Association officers).
Proposed by TL; seconded by Tim B.
Passed: 9-0-0.
Tong and Deborah painstakingly led us through 2003
financial statements to date and 9 pages of 2004 proposed Budget details.
Regarding funding for Paralympic athletes, Tong pointed out that, although there
was a $1,000 funding for Paralympic athletes, U.S. Paralympics, a division of
USOC, not USATT, is the NGB for Paralympic table tennis. Our mission is to
develop athletes to win Olympic medals. If our mission also were to win
Paralympic medals, then it would be up to the Elite Athlete Committee to propose
funding for Paralympic athletes using USOC base funding. Doru pointed out that
our Partner Performance Agreement with USOC specified that $1,000 be spent on
Paralympic athletes and if this amount is exceeded by more than 10%, then we
would need written authorization from USOC. Deborah then suggested that this
$1,000 could be structured as VIK in the form of accounting services.
Thereafter, the floor entertained…
MOTION VII. Moved that the Budget for 2004 be
accepted.
Proposed by TL; seconded by JM.
Passed: 9-0-0.
Regarding the Chula Vista Training Center, Barney Reed
urged an aggressive, pro-active posture. We need to keep up a continuity of
effort to take advantage of the window of opportunity there for a USA Table
Tennis Training Center/Hall of Fame. We need to follow through on rendering
visual drawings of the site for presentation to potential sponsors.
In reporting on his 2001-2003 work as ACUI Tournament
Director, Hank noted improvements in the collegiate scene that were accomplished
in part by coordinating ACUI and NCTTA activities. Newgy and the USATT should be
thanked for their continued sponsorship of ACUI. Hank stresses that ACUI
tournament participants should be required to be USATT members, as in fact,
through Hank’s involvement in the 2003 National Collegiate and Quaker City
Open Championships, 100 players were.
Larry Hodges gave his Magazine/League/Website/Club Program
Report. The problem of torn magazines was going to be fixed by putting them in
plastic bags. Larry also felt something needed to be done about the
proliferation of Reports in each issue of the magazine that weren’t of
interest to many readers. Ad revenue continued its upward spiral under Larry’s
Editorship—up over $12,000 from last year. Regarding the USATT League he’s
been pushing, as of Nov., 2003, there were 59 active leagues, 1009 active
players. A recent issue of Stiga News included an article, “A League of Your
Own,” that informed over 200,000 people of the USATT League. Larry’s working
with Roy SeGuine on redesigning the USATT web page—and will likely have the
Budget summary on line and some of the Strategic Plan, specifically that having
to do with the most important chapters. Larry hopes to work with the new Club
Committee on various programs—like the Club Catalyst & Creation Program.
As the Meeting came into its final stage, a number of
Motions were made:
MOTION VIII: Moved that John Allen be
appointed USATT Coaching Committee Chair.
Proposed by SP; seconded by Tim B.
Passed: 8-0-0 (BF momentarily out of the room).
MOTION IX: Moved that Willy Leparulo be appointed
Collegiate Grassroots Committee Chair.
Proposed by SP; seconded by JM.
Passed: 8-0-0 (BF momentarily out of the room).
MOTION X: Moved that Dennis Davis be appointed
Collegiate NCAA Committee Chair.
Proposed by SP; seconded by WL.
Passed: 9-0-0.
MOTION XI: Moved that Danny Seemiller and
Doru Gheorghe be appointed USATT Olympic Games Coaches.
Proposed by BF; seconded by Tawny B.
Passed: 9-0-0.
*MOTION XII: Moved that, since Wendell Dillon
resigned, Tim Boggan be appointed Nominating and Election Committee Chair.
Proposed by SP; seconded by BF.
Passed: 9-0-0.
*In addition to some understandable discussion about this
appointment, it was suddenly pointed out that, even if Tim decided not to run
for re-election, under Standing Rule #23 of the Nominating/Elections Committee,
he could not serve as Chair of this committee and remain on the Board of
Directors. As Tim chose not to resign from the Board, the Chair ruled the motion
out of order. As a result, the Motion is null and void. A Chair for the
Nominating Committee is still needed.
MOTION XIII: Moved that Sheri Pittman and
Tim Boggan be USATT Delegates to the ITTF’s 2004 AGM Meeting in Qatar.
Proposed by SP; seconded by JM.
Passed: 9-0-0.
MOTION XIV: Moved that the Board add an
Amendment—Section 4. Reciprocal Discipline—to Chapter XVIII of our
By-Laws. This means, for example, that if a player is suspended from the ITTF,
he/she is also suspended from the USATT.
Proposed by BF; seconded by BR.
Passed: 9-0-0.
MOTION XV: Moved, in order to comply with
USOC regulations, that Amendments to Bylaws Chapter II-I-A and Chapter VIII-18
be approved, as well as Amendments to the Standing Rules of the Nominating and
Elections Committee.
Proposed by SP; seconded
by BF.
Passed: 8-0-0 (TS momentarily absent).
The nominations for Coach of the Year were Doru Gheorghe,
Mark Nordby, and Sean O’Neill. The nominations for Developmental Coach of the
year were Dennis Davis, Liang Kok Liung and Mitch Seidenfeld. After considering
the nominations, each Board member was polled to name his/her top choice for
each category. Doru and Mitch were the unanimous number one choice in their
respective category. Therefore, the following two motions:
MOTION XVI: Moved that Doru Gheorghe be
nominated as Coach of the Year. (Doru was not in the room when this Motion was
proposed, discussed, and affirmed.)
Proposed by BF; seconded by JM.
Passed: 9-0-0.
MOTION XVII: Moved that Mitch Seidenfeld be
nominated as Developmental Coach of the Year.
Proposed by BF; seconded by JM.
Passed: 8-0-0 (BR absent from discussion: did
not vote).
MOTION XVIII: Moved that the Board adjourn.
Proposed by BF; seconded by TS.
Passed: 9-0-0.
Respectfully Submitted, Tim Boggan, USATT Secretary