January 22, 2016

Fake Ages in Junior Events
One of the more "inside" problems table tennis faces in the U.S. is the problem of fake ages in junior events. In the U.S., it's pretty much assumed – and almost always correctly – that birth certificates are accurate. But this isn't necessarily true in other parts of the world. In particular, I'm told (and my own experiences seem to concur) that in China, it's very easy to get a birth certificate or passport with a fake age. Here's one article on the topic. "While a global problem, the falsifying of ages is considered particularly acute in China due to the massive pressure on coaches and officials to produce victories and the apparent ease with which false documents can be obtained."

Many dozens of parents have approached me on this, mostly Chinese, because there seem to be a number of players all over the U.S. (all non-citizens, as far as I know) playing in junior events with fake ages. I say "seem" because there's rarely any way of really knowing in any individual case. There are legitimate teenagers who look to be in their twenties, and it's not their fault that they look older. For all we know, it's the faster-maturing kids who do well, and that's why there are so many juniors from China who look older than their listed age.

But I'm told that in China, junior ages are like speed limits in the U.S., where few people follow them. If the speed limit in the U.S. is 55, then everyone should drive under 55mph, right? Of course they should; that's what "limit" means. But very few do that. If you do, then other cars pass you by. Similarly, if you are in an under 12 event in China, then players should be under age 12, i.e. 11 and younger, right? But I'm told that in a typical under 12 event in China, most of the players will be several years older—if you aren't, then those you compete against will be older and so will likely pass you by. And so they are given false ages at an early age so they can better compete – if they don't, then they are at a big disadvantage. And so the result is lots of kids with false ages. (See quote from article above.) And once they start with a false age, it's rather difficult to later admit they'd been lying about their age since they were little kids. Who is to blame here, the kids or the parents & coaches? (Of course, there are others who simply have the age changed for their passports when they emigrate so that they can unfairly compete in lower age groups.)

The problem is that once a topic like this comes up, everyone from China comes under suspicion, and that's not fair. As I wrote, it's rarely possible to know in any individual case. If a player looks well over the age limit, but has a birth certificate or passport that shows he's the right age, what can you do? He may be legitimate, or he may not, but there's no way of knowing. The only good news on this issue is that, so far, the only "suspect" cases are among non-citizens, so I don't think it has affected play at the U.S. Nationals. But it's only a matter of time before an "old looking" Chinese junior becomes a U.S. citizen and qualifies for the U.S. Nationals. He may or may not be legitimate – we just won't know. When that happens, it'll become a bigger issue. (And that's when I'll link back to this article, where I'm predicting this problem.)

I have spent a huge amount of hours in discussions with parents and others on this issue, many of whom approach me at tournaments, frustrated with apparently older players playing in events that might not be eligible for. (Believe me, it's equally frustrating to me. Also frustrating to me is that most of the parents who approach me seem to believe this issue hasn't come up, when I've spent a huge amount of time discussing this issue with parents, coaches, board members, and the USATT CEO, trying to find a solution.) There have been numerous suggestions on how to solve the problem, but none seem workable. But before we get into that, here are some of my experiences.

• One year at a 4-star tournament I coached a player in the final of Under 12. At first I thought they were joking when his Chinese opponent went out – he had a mustache and was about six feet tall. I did a poll of 20 people, asking their estimate of his age. One person estimated him to be 18; the other 19 people all estimated him from age 22 to 30, as did I. Yet the tournament director said his passport showed him to be 11.
• At the Junior Olympics one year I coached a player in the final of Under 18. (They had just changed the rule to allow non-citizens to play.) A number of parents complained about his Chinese opponent, who looked to be in his late 20s. They all said he was a regional men's player from China who had come to the U.S. several years before as a full-time coach, and was at least in his late 20s. But once again, his passport said he was 17. He won the event, as well as Under 18 Teams and Doubles, playing the latter two with a student of his who, according to his age listing, was older than his coach but looked his age. Apparently, this 17-year-old coach had come to the U.S. as a full-time professional coach when he was something like 13, after playing on men's regional teams in China for several years and already looking in his 20s.
• Dozens of other experiences, but I don't want to get into each case. They sound too accusatory, and we simply don't really know. This whole issue is unfair to both to those who may play and lose national titles to ineligible players, and to legitimate juniors whose only crime is to look old for their age.

So how do we solve the problem? The answer is . . . there doesn't seem to be a solution. Here are some that have been suggested, and why they don't work.

• Bone density tests. This keeps getting suggested. The USATT High Performance Committee looked into this, and verified what my online browsing also suggested – they aren't reliable, and wouldn't hold up in court. (There aren't many online articles on the topic; here is one.)
• DNA testing for age. Here's an article on this, where they can predict ages based on how parts of the DNA change as we age. "DNA has a process of gene expression called methylation, which gradually changes by turning on or off select genes over a lifespan." The problem is that it also says, "…its margin of error was 3.75 years for blood samples and 4.86 for teeth. Roughly 80 percent of the estimations were within five years, either older or younger." So while it might have potential, it simply is not yet accurate enough.
• Banning juniors from suspect nations. If it could be shown that one country consistently does not have reliable age documents, could we consider banning players from that country from playing in junior events in the U.S.? The problem here is that it comes off as almost Trumpian, where we ban all players from an entire nation because of the transgressions of a few. (It's not banning an entire religion; it's banning an entire country.) I've toyed with this one, but is it fair? What next, do we require them all to wear six-sided yellow stars as well?
• Extreme penalties for those caught. Under this, players caught using a fake age would be given very severe penalties, such as a long suspension and/or fine. The idea is to make it so extreme that players wouldn't want to risk it. The problem is that to date, I don't know of a single player from China caught with a false age. For all I know, there never has been one, just lots of old-looking kids. So if there's no way of catching anyone, threatening penalties may not do much. Plus we'd be going after kids with extreme penalties that are usually reserved for adults.
• Hire investigators. It's been suggested that USATT and/or parents should hire private investigators to check into suspect cases. Putting aside the lack of USATT resources to do this, do we really want to start a bunch of witch hunts? (But I admit it is tempting in some cases.)

I really hate issues like this, where we have legitimate problem but apparently no solution. (On the other hand, I hate even more legitimate problems where there are solutions, but bureaucracy keeps us from solving them, such as the problem with hidden serves and boosting. But that's another issue.)

So, readers . . . do you have a solution to this problem?

Snow
I've got piles and piles of work. And conveniently, here comes about two feet of snow here in Maryland, starting later this afternoon! Local schools have already closed, and I'm pretty sure I won't be coaching again until at least Tuesday or Wednesday next week, so I should get a lot done. Or I might get as much done for a day or two, and then spend the rest of the time getting some writing done or just lying in bed reading. We'll see!

Meanwhile, here's a challenge. Make a table tennis snow sculpture of some sort – a ping-pong table, a snowman playing table tennis, anything table tennis related – and send me a photo, and I'll publish it in my blog next week, along with your name. I might do one myself! (No sending in a picture of a large ball of snow and claiming it's a ping-pong ball – not unless it has the proper labeling!)

Here's a version of "Here Comes the Snow" (3:21) by a bunch of talented fifth graders.

Jon’s Table Tennis Diet…..Seriously
Here's the article from Coach Jon.

Sarah Jalli: Follow her example in these 6 areas
Here's the article by Samson Dubina. What are the 6 areas?

Table Tennis Training - KONG Linghui Butterfly Chinese
Here's the video (59:28). It's in Chinese.

ITTF Presents Jan-Ove Waldner Block
Here's the video (4:02).

TableTennisDaily Podcast #6 - Andrew Baggaley
Here's the podcast (32:14) on world ping-pong champion (sandpaper) Baggaley.

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.

"I'm not that short"
Here's the video (47 sec) as Mudit Mahajan creams Adam Bobrow's receive with an around-the-net smash. I'm not sure if Adam gets what coaches mean when they say "short receive."

Liquid Ping Pong in Space
Here's the video (64 sec) of an astronaut playing "ping-pong" in space with a ball of water!

Getting Through the Day Without Ping-Pong
Here's the (cat) picture. (Here's the non-Facebook version.)

Ice Sculpture Ping Pong Table
Here's the picture - and note the dragon net! (Here's the accompanying story.)

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