Dear NCTTA members,
Below (cut and pasted) are the statements released by Ms. Sheri Pittman in
regards to her view on college table tennis. As many of you know already, she
is the Incumbent Candidate for USATT President.
Please be active and make your votes count in this upcoming USATT election.
Ballots are arriving soon!

Sincerely,
Jack

Dear Collegiate Table Tennis Players:

Jack Wu recently invited me to write a statement regarding specific plans that
I'll be pursuing for college table tennis if I am re-elected. His request,
unfortunately, came just after Hurricane Frances hit Florida. It's almost a
week later and I still do not have power in my home! So I'm doing my best to
cope with this challenge. I apologize for this belated response. Jack stated
that he would try his best to disseminate information to NCTTA members. I
appreciate and thank Jack for the opportunity to present the following
statement:

Quoting from my magazine ad and website www.sheripittman.com, I have promised to
"Pursue an NCAA Recognition Strategy and Increase Collegiate Funding: I
initiated an NCAA recognition strategy by forming a Collegiate NCAA Committee. I
want to continue to work with the collegiate rep on the Board to enact and
financially support NCTTA proposals."

As the above statement indicates, if I am re-elected, collegiate table tennis
will be one of my highest priorities during the next four years. The magazine
ad and website content were created before I received this request from Jack.

Before I go on, I'd like to digress a little bit. Let me first state that a
candidate is bombarded with different issues from constituent groups who want to
hear what the candidates will promise to do for them. When I set and commit to
priorities, I have to look at USATT's core issues –- issues consistent with the
USOC's mandated primary and ultimate goal for USATT: winning Olympic medals.
Non-core issues are issues such as Paralympic or disabled table tennis that can
never advance the goal, and would impede it by diverting personnel and financial
resources that could otherwise be expended on core issues. (Indeed, the USOC
has set up a separately-administered Paralympics structure for that purpose.)

Core issues are issues that USATT can justify as being a necessary element
toward reaching that ultimate goal in order to keep our USOC charter as our
sport's national governing body. Collegiate table tennis is an important link
to the goal because it provides a potential solution to creating an environment
for our elite juniors who desire to attend college while sustaining their
interest and improving their table tennis skills. I say "potential" because
collegiate table tennis is not now in a position to be able to broadly offer
this to our top junior elite athletes enrolling in or attending college. But,
we have to start somewhere.

When I became president, there were many core issues that required a lot of
attention. This is because USATT is not only subject to USOC oversight, but is
also responsible for servicing and growing our membership. Years before I
became president, USATT had made commitments to the membership (putting out a
first-class magzine, providing reasonably updated and accurate ratings, holding
major national and international tournaments). Back in 1999, USATT was not
well-situated. It took us some time to get the right people, the right systems
and the right direction set for USATT. All of those structural and
organizational items have, therefore, been on the forefront as the core issues
during my presidency.

Now USATT has financial reserves, an excellent executive director along with a
staff committed to the growth of our sport and improved membership services
(great magazine, well-managed national tournaments, quickly-processed ratings,
etc).
As USATT president, I became aware that collegiate table tennis activists needed
a more responsive Board member representing their concerns. I nominated Willy
Leparulo to serve as the Community-Based Representative on the Board. And I am
happy with the job that he has done so far. He has certainly made a difference
at the Board level by bridging a gap that had existed between USATT and NCTTA.
I hope that he has also helped relay important USATT information to NCTTA
members.

Another step that my administration has taken is to devise an NCAA Recognition
Strategy. This is a long-term strategy and is handled by the Collegiate NCAA
Committee and will receive staff support from USATT's new technical/high
performance director. In addition, I expect Willy to begin making concrete
proposals as to how USATT and NCTTA can better work together to achieve our
mutual objectives. The Board will consider reports and proposals as they are
presented. As I have stated above, I will support increasing USATT's financial
commitment to the growth of collegiate table tennis. I add here that precisely
because I attended to USATT's core concerns, USA TT is now in a financial
position to offer this support and to work more closely with NCTTA.

As for specific plans to promote collegiate table tennis, I plan to support
collegiate table tennis as follows:

1. Provide funding to send a team to the World University Games: The proper
procedure is to provide funding in the annual budget. "Emergency" allocations
are seldom approved. Currently, the ACUI and NCTTA championships are the
culmination of all the table tennis activities and programs in collegiate table
tennis. The opportunity to represent all colleges at the World University Games
should provide more motivation and top competitive experience for top collegiate
players and generate more interest and increase participation among collegiate
players. Until recently, teams to the World University Games have gone through
the USOC, just like the Olympic and Pan Am Games. Athletes were recommended by
their NGB. In collegiate table tennis, as Willy pointed out to USATT, things
can get done more quickly and efficiently when USATT is involved. Often things
cannot be done with USATT's blessing. A team to the World University Games
could be entered and funded, partially or full
y, by USATT – the national governing body. The coach could be a USATT coach
picked by USATT from among its coaches for the National, Cadet or Junior
National Teams. As you all know, Willy recommended to cancel the trip to the
2004 World University Games in Hungary. One of the reasons was that a coach or
a team leader could not be found in time, even though USATT (with the approval
of USATT Treasurer Tong Lee and I) approved some funding for the trip.

2. Provide funding for a collegiate team to the US Open Team Championships and
to the NA Teams Championships: The reason for doing this is the same as for
sending a team to the World University Games. Doing this reinforces the purpose
f or doing #1.

3. Provide coaching opportunities to collegiate players: Another of my
priorities is to create more Community Olympic Development Programs
http://www.palmbeachsports.com/Misc/frames/codp.html) for table tennis. In the
Palm Beach County CODP that I helped create, the CODP funds and hires a coach.
The students at FAU, for example, are eligible to train under Coach Ping Zhang
both at a health club as elite CODP athletes and at FAU as FAU students. The
system that I helped structure with them has worked out very well. As USATT
enters into more CODP partnerships, I will package the CODP in every community
so that the CODP coach also works with local collegiate players.

4. Find colleges to offer scholarships to college students: I am involved in
getting a college to offer free tuition to foreign students who are high level
table tennis players to come to the US to study English as a second language
(details will be forthcoming soon). This is an alternative to and in the short
run might be better than the traditional
college scholarships. The amount of the scholarship is smaller and therefore
easier to obtain. The students will have more time for table tennis and will be
utilized to work with collegiate students in the program or at other nearby
colleges and clubs. In these non-academic activities, the students could work
as coaches or training partners to pay for their living expenses. I will
identify and help these foreign players come to the US as part of the strategy
to develop our own elite players.

As you can see, I have contributed to collegiate table tennis and have specific
plans to continue to concentrate on the next steps over the next four years. I
do not make a living from table tennis as a coach, event promoter, or supplier
and will not have to restrict my activities in deference to USATT's and the
USOC's conflict-of-interest provisions. I will, therefore, be able to make
proposals, particpate in discussions and budget allocations, and actively take
part in all USATT's decisions regarding collegiate table tennis.

Please check out my supporters and those who have written a testimonial for me
at www.sheripittman.com. They include five of seven 2004 Olympians including
one (Tawny) who is still a college student, former Olympians, college players,
current Board members, those who have benefited from or appreciate my work in
the Community Olympic Development Program. These people publicly support me
because they believe in what I have done, and what I can do in the future.

For those of you who want to vote based only on one issue, that ’s all right
with me. I am running on my track record, including my position on collegiate
table tennis and my vision for it during next four years. I urge you to compare
my vision and my accomplishments with those of my opponents. I hope that you
will keep an open mind, consider the foundation that had to be laid to enable
USATT to be in a position to make the commitments I can now make to you, and
make your decision on whom to vote for president accordingly. Thank you for
giving me this chance to present my candidacy to you.

Sincerely,

Sheri Pittman
Incumbent Candidate for USATT President

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