April 10, 2015

Regional and State Associations, and Team Leagues - Current Status in the U.S.?

Before I get into this, the first thing to remember is that Regional/State Associations and Team Leagues are NOT the goal. They are a MEANS to a goal. The goal is huge numbers of players. By working regionally (as is done in other successful sports in the U.S. and table tennis overseas) and using the team concept (as is done in other successful sports in the U.S. and table tennis overseas - yes, I'm repeating myself on purpose), as well as on developing clubs, training centers, and coaching programs, we hope to achieve this goal. This is not something that'll happen overnight; it's a long process of growing the sport, but if start now and keep at it, imagine where we might be ten years from now?

In other words, we're looking for results. Any process or structure that doesn't lead to results, i.e. the goal of a huge number of players, is a process or structure that isn't working. And of course the processes and structure of USATT since it began in 1933 hasn't led to huge number of players, and so they need to be changed. We need Regional/State Associations to work locally to develop regional team leagues that can grow (like overseas and in other sports), coaching programs and training centers that bring in large number of junior players and others who wish to train, and feature state championships that become huge regional events. 

But before we can do anything, we need to know where we stand. And so my first task as USATT Regional Associations Coordinator and chair of the USATT League Committee is to find the current status of State/Regional associations, and of Team Leagues. (They go together.) It's surprisingly difficult finding info. I plan on doing an article for USATT Insider soon asking members for info they have on these topics. Then I'll likely post the same question on the various table tennis forums.

Here's where things stand at this time as far as I know. Please email me with any info you have on either of these, in particular Regional/State Associations and Team Leagues not listed. Note that none of these State/Regional Associations or Team Leagues are "officially" recognized by USATT (as far as I know), but I hope we can do that later on, based on qualifying criteria. We've got a long way to go, but a trip of a thousand miles begins with a single person in a region deciding to take a single step that'll lead to a major jump. 

• State and Regional Associations
  • Los Angeles Table Tennis Federation
  • Bay Area Table Tennis Federation
  • Florida Table Tennis Association
  • Others?
• Team Leagues
  • LA League, ~128 players, 32 teams, five divisions
  • Capital Area Super League, 73 players, 13 teams, three divisions (first season). This is my region, which includes DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia.
    • The strange thing here is that even though only three can play in a given team match, and the maximum number of players on a team is six, most of the teams have the maximum, with an average of 5.6 players per team. The league has nine 6-person teams, three 5-person teams, and one 4-person team.
    • We're thinking of removing the "Super" from the title since it makes it sound elitist, and this league is for all levels.
    • This will likely turn into a Capital Area Table Tennis Association.
  • Austin, Texas League, 37 players, 9 teams
  • New York League, 8 teams (one elite division, high level of play)
  • Others?

Once info is gathered on the current status, so we know where there are already Regional/State Associations, and Team Leagues, we can set up ones in those regions in need - which at this time, makes up the huge majority of the country. I'm currently working on sample bylaws for prospective regional associations.

One starting point for developing these Regional/State Associations would be to use the six regions and 27 divisions already used in the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association, i.e. the NCTTA regions. But there might be differences - for example, we seem to have a developing Capital Area Table Tennis Association (growing out of the Capital Area Super League), while NCTTA has the DC region (which includes Maryland) and Virginia region.

• Great Lakes: Michigan, Ohio East, Ohio West, Upstate New York
• Northeast: Lower New England, New Jersey, New York City Downtown, New York City Uptown, Upper New England
• Mid-Atlantic: Carolina, DC, Pennsylvania, Virginia
• South: Dixie, Georgia, Northern Florida, Southern Florida, South Texas, Texas
• Midwest: Central Plains, Lower Midwest, Minnesota, Upper Midwest
• West: Northern California, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern California

Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers - Now in French!!!

Here's the Amazon page, with two formats, print or kindle. The French title is the rather more cumbersome sounding "Tactiques de Tennis de Table pour Pongistes Penseurs." Or you can buy the English version. Or any of my other books - here's my Amazon page.

Covering the Wide Backhand

When someone moves you to your wide forehand and then comes back to your wide backhand, how do you cover it? Do you move in (blocks and quick drives or loops), sideways (drives and loops), or back (off-table loops, fishing, chopping)? Ideally, for most players, it would be one of the first two categories.

I've noticed that what many players do in games isn't what they do in practice. This is often because they only do rote drills in practice, where they know where the ball is going (i.e. to the wide backhand), and so react quickly. In a game situation, they don't know where the ball is going, and so are slower, and so they take the ball later than what they do in practice, and so they aren't very comfortable since it isn't what they practiced. Try adding some random drills to your practice routine, such as a partner or coach feeding balls randomly to either wide backhand or wide forehand, or the entire table, and try to react in those drills as you'd like to do so in a match. (An expanded version of this might become a Tip of the Week.)

Have You Practiced Your Serves This Week?

No? What's wrong with you? Get to it!!! (Here's my article Practicing Serves the Productive Way.)  

USATT Minutes and Actions

Here's the page. The Actions (i.e. motions and votes) for the last three meetings are now up, Jan. 21, March 5, and March 28. I've in all three meetings, and am involved in a number of these votes.

USATT Ratings Calculator

Here's the new feature. I hope they can upgrade this later so you can input multiple ratings in win and loss fields, so it can calculate one's rating from an entire tournament.

Mavericks Coach Welcomes Texas Wesleyan Table Tennis Team

Here's the article from the Dallas Star-Telegram.

Werner Schlager Wins Worlds!

Here's the video (30 sec) of the last European to win Men's Singles at the Worlds, in 2003.

Who Do You Think Will Win the Worlds?

Cast your vote here!

Atlanta Hopes Weekend Camp

Here's the video (6:25). The event, for 10-and 11-year-olds, took place April 3-5.

International Table Tennis

Here's my periodic note (usually every Friday) that you can great international coverage at TableTennista (which especially covers the elite players well) and at the ITTF home page (which does great regional coverage). Butterfly also has a great news page.

Double-Sided Darth Maul Racket?

Here's the picture!

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