Dear NCTTA members,

As many of you know, USATT election for board of executives are coming out
fast. The ballots are supposed to arrive by Sept 15th to the members. I have
asked all three candidates for presidency for agenda they have on college table
tennis. So far, I have received the statements from Christian Lillieroose.
Please see below.

"Dear NCTTA constituents,

Thank you for giving me this precious opportunity to re-iterate my college
table tennis experiences and outline my future plans as a candidate for USA
Table Tennis presidency. I wish to share with you my vision of a brighter
future for our sport. For more details, please see www.usttf.org

My life has been intertwined with college table tennis for about two decades:

- In 1986, I started the first ever varsity table tennis program in United
Stated working for USATT at Anderson College in South Carolina.

- In 2001, I created the varsity table tennis program at Texas Wesleyan
University, and have recruited and trained many students who have USATT ratings
in the range of 1000-1800. In 2001, less than 20% of our table tennis team
members were in that rating range. However, last year, exactly 50% of our
junior varsity team members are rated under-1800 and I expect their proportion
to substantially increase in the near future.

- I have held the position of NCTTA Texas Division Director since 2001 and
understand the intricacies of table tennis clubs trying to compete or even
prosper among various clubs on college campus.

As a candidate, after careful considering how each can realistically be
implemented, I promise the following:

1. College Club Support Initiative: Table tennis clubs can attract 30+ members
at the beginning of each school year but retaining those members is nearly
impossible when clubs only have access to 4 or even 2 tables. Once I am elected
as the new President for USATT, I will create a Club Support Initiative where
table tennis equipment suppliers will act as partners in donating high-quality
tables, balls and paddles for selected clubs across the country. The clubs will
be chosen from a grant application process.

2. National College Table Tennis Program Coordinator: Another unique problem
facing college clubs is the extremely high turn-over rate of
club executives from year to year. Once a club becomes inactive, it will have
trouble receiving budgets from school administrators in the future even when it
is revived by enthusiastic students. I wish to create a position within NCTTA
and ACUI where a national college table tennis program coordinator whose only
task is to contact school club executives directly and school administrators
directly (whether they are the Directors of Club Sport or Deans of Student Life)
to ensure the continuity of table tennis club programs from one academic year to
the next. My major objective is to use some of USATT's budget to pay the
coordinator part-time and create incentives for him or her.


3. USATT College Table Tennis Program Scholarship: I will utilize a portion of
USATT's fund to create a scholarship foundation that gives funds to specially
selected NCTTA college table tennis programs. Some team members (selected by
school administrators) will receive scholarship money toward their tuition
payment. The team will also receive uniforms and other equipment support.

4. Expand NCAA Initiative: I fully support the initiative of bringing college
table tennis into NCAA. To make table tennis an NCAA women’s sport would change
the acceptance of table tennis forever in USA. I will do my best to back plans
put forth by Dennis Davis and Tiger Ramakrishnan, chair of NCTTA's women's
initiative sub-committee. My Club Support Initiative and creation of a
part-time national program coordinator will directly contribute to that goal by
stabilizing all club teams that compete in NCTTA. Prosperity will be the best
evidence for NCAA. They will realize that table tennis is an active and
prospering college sport in United States!

5. College Table Tennis Representative on the USATT Board: Currently, Mr. Willy
Leparulo’s position on USATT Board is solely based on him being the national
director of ACUI table tennis. Therefore, in fact, USATT and its current
administrators have not allowed any official voice from NCTTA to be heard during
their board meetings. I wish to change that and have a representative whose
appointment will specifically and unequivocally ask him to voice the interests
of both NCTTA and ACUI.

In all, I firmly believe that the team model will foster more Cooperation
and lead to growth in college table tennis. A competitive table tennis
environment at the college level will have a trickle down and trickle up effect.
In other words, children will pick up paddles and junior players will continue
to train once they see that college table tennis can be an essential part of
their future. The effect on the grassroot movement will be tremendous. The
trickle up effect will create the base for professional table tennis.

Please visit my website at www.usttf.org and give me any feedback at
texas@.... I will return your e-mails promptly. Thank you for your
support!

Sincerely,
Christian Lillieroos
http://www.usttf.org/
2004 USATT Presidency Candidate"
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