As introduction, my name is Rip van Winkle. I started playing table tennis in my teens in England as a refugee from Holland, ran a YMCA team in a Western Pa. League, and founded the San Diego Table Tennis Assn in 1959, which within five years, became the largest table tennis club in the U.S. at the time, with 21 tables. Its 450 members represented over a fifth of the total USTTA membership. In 1967, 24% of the nationally ranked juniors were members of the SDTTA, including Patty Martinez, twice national Women's Singles Champion. I present the above information and the commendations that follow for one reason only. To provide credibility and let the reader know that I have been there, done that. I have no table tennis political ambitions, and am running for no office.

Graham B. Steenhoven "I suspect that [the SDTTA] is the largest in the United States." Si Wasserman: "No question you've been doing a magnificent job organizing TT in San Diego, possibly the best job in the country." On July 30, 1962, then USTTA President Norman Kilpatrick, in response to my 6-page "National Uniform Classification System" proposal, wrote: "A special sub-committee of the Internal Promotion Committee has been set up to work out a point system for table tennis, and I have strongly suggested that you be put in charge of this committee..., its [point system] adoption will change the entire USTTA set-up...Secondly, I am appointing you to the Advisory Committee of the USTTA President..." (Major family problems did not allow me to accept). On August 17, 1961, George Koehnke wrote me that my then proposal was "the best analysis I have ever seen of the sport in this country."

During the intervening years, I gained additional insights into the needs of the sport from my education (B.A., U. of Pgh, Phi Beta Kappa; M.S.W, U.C.L.A); business experience (R.C.A, 3-M, E.L.A.S), professional career, (L.C.S.W., M.F.C.C), affiliation with and speaker at Mensa meetings, and material obtained from the ETTA (English TTA), including its 120 pp Handbook, and the NTTF (Dutch TTA) and its 39 pp Handbook. Note that in a country half the size of Maine, the NTTF boasts over twice as many members as the USATT. As stated above, I am not in table tennis for political reasons. Only because I love the game and want to see as many people enjoy it as I have. The proposal identifies major problems which have bedeviled the sport in the U.S. for over 60 years. It offers practical solutions which, if implemented, will make table tennis a major sport in the U.S.

I. IS TABLE TENNIS IN THE U.S. SICK?

The requirements for the cure of certain illnesses (alcoholism, depression, etc.) is for the patient to acknowledge that he severely ill, that the pain of the illness is greater than its rewards, and that change must come from within. The more honest the acknowledgment of the illness, the deeper the pain, the greater the effort and better prognosis for recovery.

Table tennis in 1959 was a blip on the U.S. sports scene. Rip Van Winkle returned to the sport in 1993, and found little changed. In over a third of a century, dues increased from $2.00 to $25.00 per year, prize money went up to $4,000 for the Men's U.S. Open Champion in 1995, a caddie tip for professional golfers such as Fred Couples who won $270,000 with a ten-foot put in a Skins Game on Nov 26, 1995. Tennis player Andre Agassi's 1995 income was $18 million; 18 times the entire 1994 $877.000 income of the USATT.

Membership grew from 2,000 to a little around 6,000 (1959), the increase attributable to normal population growth and the fortuitous influx in the 50s and 60s of many Hungarian and other Eastern European table tennis stars such as Bob Varadi, Dr. Andreas Gal, Tibor Back, Daniel Vegh. Our growth to 7,354 in 1994 may be attributed to the equally lucky influx of a large contingent of dedicated and superb Asian players.

In July, 1996, the 7 top USATT women were Feng, Yip, Wang, Sung, Zakharyan, Chui, and Li. The top 8 men included: Cheng, Zhuang, Huang, and Nguyen. More recently the USATT has had the fortunate influx of excellent additional Eastern European and former Soviet Union players, such as the Malek and Livshit families, to name but two.

Our 1996 Women's Olympic Team consisted of Amy Feng, Lily Yip and Wei Wang, fine athletes all, but no thanks to the USATT. Our Men's team comprised David Yong-Xiang Zhuang, Jim Butler and Todd Sweeris, the last two US-born but foreign-honed. Without these large foreign enrollments, the USATT might still be stuck at 2,000 after 35 years.

Terry Timmins, current USATT President, writes that "USATT is a business and must operate as one to achieve its goals" (USATT Magazine, July, 1996). The USATT claims that 19.8 million play table tennis in the U.S. With less than 7,500 USATT members, this means that the USATT has captured 1 out of every 2,667 players in the United States. Any business (especially a monopoly such as the USTTA/USATT), unable to capture a larger share of its market after 63 years must question its commitment and competence. These unaffiliated 19,792,500 players not only have no interest in joining the USATT, most don't even know it exists. In bus or plane, the probability of sitting next to a murderer is 6 times greater than that of sitting next to a USATT member. Are we elitist or what?

In a nation of 265,000,000, a membership of 7,354 indicates that this wonderful sport is comatose, and that the USTTA/USATT has failed in its mission "To promote table tennis in America and to provide all participants with the best possible experience by advancing and administering the sport."

If the USATT Board remains in denial after all these years, no major improvements, such as this plan proposes, will be given consideration, no matter how practical, functional and effective. Terry Timmins, ever the realist, told me that it will take a miracle to turn the sport around. But I believe in miracles, and think that the present members of the Board are open to new ideas. This proposal is for them, and for all others who love the sport.

II LET'S STOP STICKING OUR HEAD IN THE SAND.  

A common way to avoid facing one's illness is not to let the outside world intrude - comparing our current situation with yesterday's (speaking as a psychotherapist, retired). Such tunnel vision lets a patient look good and feel good. Examples: Walter Keim wrote in the TTT, 10-60 that "Good progress is being made in our [youth development] program. In his 1994 report, President Dan Seamiller rejoiced that "1994 was an excellent one for USA Table Tennis. Membership was up to 7,354, the highest in more than 20 years...The future looks good..." Paul Montville wrote that "1994 was a watershed year for USA Table Tennis...for tournament, with 249 sanctioned events in 1994, compared to 230 in 1993. Membership also saw a healthy increase during the year, from 6699 in 1993 to 7354 in 1994,...a rise of 10%." In the meantime, the USATT lost 10% of its clubs, from 240 to 215.

III. COMPARING TABLE TENNIS TO OTHER SPORTS.

The USTTA/USATT must expand its vista and compare table tennis to other sports: Golf: 24.6 million; tennis: 20 million; soccer: 16 million; bowling: 79 million; in-line skaters: 25 million; darts: 17.8 million; snowboarders: 2 million; snowshoeing: 500,000. The list is endless: including skiing, badminton, martial arts, curling, sky-diving, roller-blading.

Compared to all other sports, table tennis is the bottom fisher of them all. There are more POG players and American Match Book Cover Assn devotees than USATT members.

What about the 19.8 million table tennis players? They are not part of the organized sport, and table tennis is therefore not considered their primary recreational outlet. They are dismissed by commercial sponsors and TV networks and independents as unreliable audiences and do not currently help promote the sport, the focus of this proposal.

All 24.6 million golfers, for example, do not belong to the USGA. But their expenditures in equipment and green fees reveal that golf is their primary sport, and they therefore draw the serious attention of the media and sponsors. The 19.8 million table tennis players play sporadically, in obscurity, and with minimal expenditures. If they can be persuaded to come out of their backyards and basements into USTTA/USATT clubs, table tennis will be well on its way to becoming a premier sport in the United States.                                                                                                                                 

IV. CAN TABLE TENNIS BE COMPARED TO OTHER SPORTS?

Many in table tennis say no. How can we ever be as big as tennis, golf, basketball, bowling, beach volleyball, etc.?

But how big were they when we first started in 1933. Golf and tennis did not come onto the scene full-grown, with champions making in the millions. In the 1930s, golf and tennis were elite sports, played behind high walls, by a few wealthy patrons. Professional golf and tennis did not exist. Skiing was enjoyed in the Alps by the rich and famous. The top NBA players of the 1940s played for less than $10,000 per year, with no pension. Bowling and billiards were disreputable sports, played by pot-bellied, cigar-chomping gamblers. Roller-blading, wind-surfing, and beach volleyball had not yet been invented. When, "in April 1930, S.F.Perry wrote to Fred's employer, asking for a week's leave without wages for his son [then defending Wimbledon Champion!] so that he could play in the British Hardcourt Championships at Bournemouth...his request was refused" (Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Tennis, 1989). Whitney Reed's prize for winning the first US Tennis Pro Indoor Championship in the late 1960s was a tape recorder. Stan Smith earned $15,000 winning the first ever Tennis Masters in 1970. In that year, Lee Trevino, the leading PGA money winner for the year, earned $157,037. In 1996, this same Lee Trevino, now playing in the Senior Circuit, earned $992,536 in 6 months. The Senior PGA money leader for the entire year was Jim Colbert, with $1,627,890, closely followed by Hale Irwin, with $1,615,769.

Financial World, 2-14-95, reports that in 1992, [Greg] Norman endorsed Cobra Golf products for almost $10 million. Greg recalls, "I won a tournament in Australia in 1980 or '81 and won 69 pounds (about $105). Today, you get $1.6 million" (LAT, 11-14-96).

In 1996, before 20-year old Tiger Woods hit his first ball as a pro, he signed a $40 million 5-year contract with Nike. In his first 7 tournaments, he earned almost $735,000. First place at the Newsweek Championship Tennis Cup in March, 1996 was worth $350,000. A long ways up from a tape recorder.

Why did we stay rooted at the starting gate of 1933 while everyone else passed us by? Put all the pieces of the puzzle below together, and you will have your answer.

V. IS THERE ROOM AT THE TOP FOR TABLE TENNIS?

In November, 1996, 16 year-old Martina Hingis became the youngest tennis player, male or female, to reach $1,000,000 in career earnings. Would some of our table tennis players like to belly up to the same bar? The money's there. The United States is the most media-hyping, fitness-obsessed, recreation-crazy, sponsor deep-pocketed nation on earth. TV networks have lots of dead air-time on their hands. They put on bungy-jumping, arm-wrestling, log-rolling contests to save the screen from going dark. Where is table tennis?

TV moguls are currently featuring 47 off-season "shoot-out" golf events, to keep people glued to their TV sets. To lure professionals back on the links from well-earned rests on the circuit, they offer prizes of $1 million and more to play "fun golf," using alternative shots, best ball and scramble formats. Table tennis could easily fill the gaps.

The television media, the vehicle which connects the largest audiences to the sponsors' products with the greatest frequency in the shortest period of time is eager to feature sports coverage. The United States is uniquely positioned. Its sports audience is the largest homogeneous one in the world - 265,000,000 people, speaking the same language and enjoying the same sports regardless of race, sex or religion. Its thousands of television stations dwarf the two to five of many countries, and it features the largest print coverage of any nation.

"TV networks, independents and cable outlets are eager to meet the sponsors' objectives by providing programs appealing to the largest audiences, since their advertising billings are based on audience size." (FW, 2-14-95).       

VI. EXCUSES DON'T COUNT.

The excuses I hear today for the deplorable state of table tennis in the U.S. are identical to those I heard 37 years ago: too many other sports, too foreign, too fast for media coverage, not exciting enough, not bloody enough, and so forth. Let's separate fact from fiction.

Myth #1: The sports field in the U.S. is too crowded to accommodate another sport. Beach volleyball did not buy such an excuse starting in the 1960's and 1970's, "when players were barely earning enough to cover their travel expenses...[to the present day when], crowds of 20,000 attend many tournaments which are backed by large sponsors such as Coors, Reebok and Chevrolet...Once a summer sport and confined largely to California, the men's and women's pro beach tour is now year-round and stops all over the world. The game will be an Olympic event in Atlanta in 1996. CBS, NBC and Prime Ticket, a regional sports channel, regularly televise events, expanding the sport's popularity. Numerous televised interviews at court side allow players to develop distinct public personalities....Women stars, such as Elaine Roque earn annual incomes of nearly six figures." (LAT, 11-7-94).

The same mushrooming growth has occurred in numerous sports, hobbies and fads. In-line skating increased fourfold since 1990, from 3.6 million to 25 million. "Annual sales of roller skates were expected to reach $325 million by the end of 1994" (LAT, 8-20-94). "Roller hockey is taking the nation by storm. According to the National Sporting Goods Assn., participation in the rough-and-tumble sport nearly doubled last year, to 2.2 million players" (U.S. News and World Report, 10-30-95).

In comparison, table tennis took 35 years to grow from 2,000 to 7354! At that rate it will take millenniums for the sport to reach 2.2 million. Anyone willing to wait?

Myth #2. Table tennis is too foreign for American participants or audiences. Skiing, soccer, badminton, fencing, squash, field hockey, martial arts are all hugely successful "foreign-born" sports, most starting far more recently than table tennis and all far more popular and successful. How come?

Myth #3: Table tennis is not attractive enough or too fast to be captured on camera, to thrill spectators. The attractiveness, speed, action, or lack thereof of a sport is IRRELEVANT to sponsors and media when programming sporting events. What counts is that a large loyal audience wants to see it on TV. John Feinstein titles his book on golf, A Good Walk Spoiled. A Wiley cartoon in the LAT (3-2-96) shows two golfers in heaven, looking toward a hole leading to hell. One says to the other: "It's a symbiotic relationship...Up here we get to play golf for eternity, and down there they have to watch golf for eternity."

In an hour of TV bowling, players spend more time toweling off bowling balls than throwing them. Fox Sports President David Hill told USA Today that "The most wasteful shot in sports is a golf ball up in the air." I suspect sports directors took one shot of a ball against a blue sky background, and dubbed it in for all subsequent air balls in all later tournaments. Who's to know, and what's the difference? Take fishing - please.

Table tennis is one of the most electrifying sports, with fabulous and photogenic athletes performing incredible feats. But only devotees of the sport appreciate the superb hand-eye coordination, the ballet-type footwork, the feather touch of bat on ball, the speed, power, lightning reactions of champions. But sponsors and the media say: "Quality is irrelevant. Give us lots of eyeballs, and we'll put cow-chip throwing contests on the tube." And they have! If we give them the numbers of spectators they require, we'll have all the air time we want. Until then, we'll get the crumbs, fill-in time, charity.

Myth # 4: We don't have the champions to bring people into the sport. This is the trickle-down theory. Won't work for two reasons. World champions haven't emerged (facts shown below), and even if they had, people wouldn't have taken up the sport up because of them. Champions don't create the audience. I see bull-dogging? No interest. Parachute jumping? No way. Skiing? Forget it. Table tennis? All right!! Table tennis players: How many of you took up ballroom dancing after seeing champions of the sport on TV?

Lesson: People already in a sport create the demand to see champions perform. Audience first, champions on TV second. When we get on TV now, it is as a curiosity, like bungy jumping, or as an act of charity.

Myth # 5: Table tennis is too genteel. Americans like blood sports, like hockey, football, boxing. They do, but they also like golf, tennis, bowling. Ballroom dancing, an upcoming Olympic sport, has far more U.S. participants than table tennis. Consumer Report, 7-96 related that "Nearly 25 million Americans in-line skate at least once a year. That makes skating more popular that tennis and nearly as popular as golf. The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association expects skating to be the 'hottest' recreational activity in 1996 - 'hottest,' that is, in terms of image and rate of growth." Can table tennis match in-line skating in "image" and rate of growth? If not, why not?

Myth # 6: Distances to travel too great in the United States. Then how come table tennis is practically the national sport of China? What about the former Soviet Union? People I have talked to immediately refer to distances between towns and states. They talk of running before walking. Table tennis should first be fostered intraclub. A membership of 50 or more is sufficient to create an exciting and fulfilling year-round in-house program. Later, inter-city, inter-county, inter-state and national leagues become viable.                                                                                                                           

VII. SOLUTIONS WHICH WILL NOT CURRENTLY WORK.

Over the years, many "solutions" to popularize the sport have been made. None were implementable. Let us explore some of the most common.

One of the most common refrains is for more media exposure, more sponsors, more prize money. Splendid ideas, but they fail basic market principles. As stated above, audience size and interest generate sponsor and media attention, not the other way around. Until there is audience size, sponsor and media attention are not available. Bob Greenberg, writing for the 1994 edition of the Compton's Encyclopedia, points out:

"The influence of television on sports cannot be overestimated...based on the insatiable appetite of the public for sporting events...Its power over sports is based on money. The money comes from commercial sponsors, who buy broadcast time from the television companies [who in turn] must pay the professional leagues or other organizations for the right to broadcast the events...

The NBC successfully bid $401 million for the American rights to broadcast the summer Olympics of 1992. For [baseball rights] CBS guaranteed a billion dollars...

Through various rating systems, television companies know their markets. They know how large a percentage of the potential audience there is in a given area for a specific sports event [dividing the U.S. into ADI's and DMA's] according to the size and wealth of their television markets...

By 1989 more than 400 corporations had established budgets for sports marketing...General Motors, for example, was spending $581,000 a day. Another aspect of corporate marketing involves obtaining the services of well-known athletes to do commercials."

Since then prices have gone up. Television rights under current contracts:

Olympics:

• NBC: 1996-2008: $4.026 billion.
• CBS: 1998: $375 million.

NFL:

• FOX: 4 years: $1.58 billion.
• ABC: 5 years: $925 million.
• NBC: 4 years: $868 million.
• ESPN:4 years: $510 million.
• TNT: 4 years: $490 million. LAT 12-4-95

Is table tennis in the loop. No, it is not. Why not? Its 7,253 USATT members are invisible in the Areas of Dominant Influence and the Designated Market Areas. As stated above, the 19.8 million non-affiliated players don't count to advertisers or media. Not belonging to a national organization, or playing in affiliated clubs, they are deemed casual table tennis players, whose primary form of recreation is another sport. They are not a reliable table tennis audience.

They may be compared to casual readers of magazines, who buy off the rack. Magazines' advertising rates are determined only by subscriptions, representing loyal and regular readership, during the subscription period. Casual readers, even numbering in the millions, are ignored when publications set advertising rates. Not dependable. One week Time, the next, Sports Illustrated.

What about the millions of non-affiliated golf and tennis players? As indicated above, they are counted as serious players because they must leave their homes to play, spend considerable capital in initial outlay for equipment and clothing on the sport, and then spend substantial funds to play. Golf green fees in my area run from $75.00 to $175.00 per 4-1/2 hour round. With that much money and time invested, these are the primary sports of such players. To these players, golf and tennis are not casual sports.

If the USTTA/USATT were to recruit 10 million of the 19.8 million casual table tennis players currently playing at home or in unaffiliated clubs, table tennis would immediately become a major sport, wooed by sponsors and media. Table tennis would be on T.V. weekly. This proposal shows how. Sponsors are not altruists, masochists, or dumb. The horse goes before the cart: Audiences - sponsors - money. No audience, no sponsors, no money.

Sponsors expect profits from their advertising moneys, and T.V. programmers calculate which event will gain the highest sponsor fee.

"After all," says CBS's De Luca, "the goals of a programmer are to put on an event that has the most total reach, is advertiser-friendly, will produce good ratings, and has good demographics" (Financial World), 2-14-95, p 102). Programmers do not create audiences, They locate them.

"$3,841,968,170. That's how much Michael Jordan's return to the N.B.A. has been worth to companies whose products he endorses. From March 7 to 20 [1995], amid talk of the comeback, the stock of General Mills (Wheaties) went up 2.5%; GM (Chevy Blazer) 3.2%; McDonald's, 6.5%; Nike, 3.4%; Quaker Oats (Gatorade) 2.3%; Sara Lee (Hanes underwear) 7.4% (Time, 4-3-95).

Sponsors got their money's worth from a proven drawing card.

During the PGA Seniors Championship, which Raymond Floyd won, the two hours and 43 minutes that the camera was trained on him and his visor, which featured Southwestern Bell's logo, was worth $244,500 in equivalent advertising time to that company. (FW, ibid). How much money could sponsors expect to make sinking advertising funds into table tennis tournaments?                                                                                                                            

VIII. WHY DID TABLE TENNIS FAIL WHEN IT MADE WORLD NEWS?

Table tennis received billions of dollars of free world media coverage on several occasions. When the U.S. table tennis team breached China's bamboo curtain in 1971, Newsweek, April 26, 1971 devoted its front page (a cartoon of Chou En-Lai and Richard Nixon playing table tennis) and an in-depth 7-page spread on the subject:

"Last week's tour of China by an American table-tennis team marked a major watershed in postwar history: a thaw in relations between the U.S. and China. After two decades of implacable hostility, the two nations were back on speaking terms - and that development had immense significance for the rest of the world."

The publicity for table tennis was worth billions. Numerous articles and cartoons featuring table tennis followed, and momentarily table tennis benefitted. Dwight Chapin, Times Staff Writer wrote: "'Our sales have steadily increased,' says C.D.Smith, manager of United Sporting Goods' downtown store. 'The first four months of this year were the best we've ever had,' adds Julius Hillson, president of Harvard Table Tennis Corp...

"Some others are less optimistic, such as Al Burton of Youth Marketing, Inc. which hoped to cash in on a table tennis bonanza he says didn't happen after the China visit," Chapin continues. "The doors were open for awhile after our team's Chinese tour. There was a spurt of interest for maybe six weeks. Then it was the same old disinterest. Ping pong apathy. Table tennis on leave." (LAT 4-17-72)

Remember Forrest Gump. Great publicity. Then back to table tennis apathy. The Olympics: Atlanta, 1996! Great expectations by the USATT. Long term benefits predicted for the sport in the U.S.? Benefits? None. Why not?

You must sow before you reap. All pieces must be in place before you can expect rewards. The above events were superb opportunities to introduce millions to organized table tennis. But there were no places for them to play. The interest went elsewhere. Now we have a piece of the puzzle.                                                                       

IX. YOUTH DEVELOPMENT IN VACUO WON'T POPULARIZE THE SPORT.

The USTTA/USATT has for over 63 years, spent about one quarter of its income on "Athlete support" (mostly elite youth development) in its efforts to create world champions. Why? To bask in the prestige of having created Olympic and World Champions? To popularize the sport through trickle-down strategy (Item VI, Myth #4 above)? The USATT should specify its purpose and goals. But trickle-down has failed for 63 years, and will never succeed. Why? Efforts to create Olympic and World Champions. In 63 years, the USTTA produced one singles world champion - R. H. Aarons, 60 years ago (1936), one Swaythling Cup (59 years ago), and one Corbillon Cup (49 years ago). In return for the millions of dollars expended out of the USTTA/USATT treasury, our teams traveling the world over brought a winning ratio of 3.6 percent. Lovely trips to Europe, Asia, South America for participants and coaches, yes. Success in promoting table tennis in America (the USATT mission): No. The United States has developed champions in virtually all sports except table tennis. Why not?

A. All other sports have pools of millions of youths of all skill levels from which future champions emerge naturally. The dozen "elite" youths the USATT grooms for Olympic stardom is too shallow and artificially created to produce champions. They bear the added disadvantage of not having the competitive variety and numbers to practice and compete against to achieve world level of play. Their real hands-on training takes place in Sweden, Germany, and elsewhere. The USATT's culling process excludes millions of youths who would play if provided the opportunity. From this vast pool, U.S. Olympic and World champions would emerge naturally.

Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Tiger Woods, Darryl Strawberry, Michael Chang, Pete Sampras, Hideo Nomo did not become champions through special selection and training by national Olympic associations. They came up through the amateur ranks, college sports programs, family encouragement and support. Some top golfers started as caddies. Like cream from milk, they rose to the top, naturally. Bubble up, not trickle down. There are farm teams in hockey and baseball and "in effect, the colleges and universities with good football and basketball teams serve as farm systems for the professional teams," Bob Greenberg tells us. The farm system for tennis are the Challenger and Satellite events. The stars and professionals rise from pools of millions. The USATT draws from a puddle, not deep enough to get your socks wet.

B. Youth development through the training of children by their high-level player parents won't develop champions or bring in the general population either. Many are exceptional young players, but the flaws mentioned above apply equally to them: not enough practice and competition against variety and numbers of higher level young players. Pool too shallow. Unfortunately, under present conditions, these devoted parents are doing their children a disfavor, training them in a dead-end sport.

C. The USATT cannot attract top young athletes to the sport, to groom into Olympic and World champions. They want fame and fortune as they become adults. Other sports offer it. Table tennis currently does not.

The "USATT Plan for Competitive Success" declares that "The sport of table tennis requires at least 10 years of full-time training for an athlete to become a contender at a world class level." Sean O'Neil exhorts: "To become a champion takes countless hours of dedication and devotion, there are no shortcuts. For those who are willing to stick it out for the long haul the rewards will be immeasurable..."

What immeasurable rewards? Sean lists: "Being able to list table tennis on college applications; travel around the world to State Games, Junior Olympics, Special Olympics, U.S. Olympic Festivals, Pan Am Games and Olympic Games; and USOC assistance with college tuition, health insurance, job opportunities!" (TTT 7-94)." Impressive?

What impresses youths is Andre Agassi's four-engine Lockheed JetStar 731 which takes him to tennis matches around the world, piloted by Steve Purwin, his private pilot (Tennis, 6-95); the $55-million five-year contract Albert Belle signed with the Chicago White Sox in November, 1996; right-hander Alex Fernandez's five-year, $35-million contract with the Florida Marlins (12-96), Tiger Woods' $40 million endorsement fee. How does health insurance and assistance with college tuition stack up against those inducements?

D. Focusing on youth recruitment in vacuo won't work. Children do not come into a sport on their own. Their parents bring them. If the parents aren't interested in the sport, the children won't be.

Dr. Azmy Ibrahim observed at a training center for juniors in Okinawa that the matches consisted of mothers playing their children. Azmy noted: "They are hitting two birds with one stone. They are recruiting juniors and female players for the sport at the same time.

I hope we can borrow some of the different approaches which are used in other countries...let us use our creativity and innovations to make this work." Hooray for Dr. Ibrahim.

Past USTTA President Norman Kilpatrick wrote in TTT, March, 1962: "We must, I feel, be concerned with first improving our own poor table tennis situation, before spending time and energy helping international table tennis..."

X. LARGE NUMBERS CANNOT COME FROM ELITE OR CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYERS.

The USTTA/USATT may believe that by generating large numbers of elite or championship players, sponsors and the media will become interested. If this is its concept, it is fatally flawed. Elite and championship players will never generate the numbers of interest to sponsors or the media. They require millions and such numbers can only come from the grass-roots, average, recreational players. Another piece of the puzzle.

The LAT, 8-13-96 notes that "Those earning a living from the sport represent a minute percentage of surfers."

A Reader's Digest article of June, 1994 reports:

"There are some 5,000 players in the 22 minor leagues that cover the United States and reach into Canada, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Each player has fine skills, and all are aching to make the big leagues.

But only one in ten ever will. Half will be out of baseball within three years. The others will hang on, playing for teams like the Carolina Mudcats and the Jamestown (N.Y.) Jamers, earning as little as $850 a month, convinced to the end that their big chance is still to come."

Brian Cleary, staff writer for Tennis (Nov. 93), quotes Jim Jackson, father of a top 20 junior in the world, advising the father of a 3-year old: "Hey, it would be a hell of a lot easier for you to make him into a brain surgeon than a pro tennis player." Cleary reports that "Every aspiring pro - national junior and NCAA champions included - spends at least a couple of years playing satellite and Challenger events before they break into the world's top 100 and start playing the big money Grand Prix tournaments...In minor league terms, satellites are double-A ball compared to a Challenger's triple-A status...Michael Joyce, the '91 boys' 18s national champion, points out that when he won the Hawaiian satellite segment in November '92, he won 21 matches, but earned only 35 ATP points and less than $4,000."

We will never popularize our sport by expecting to saturate it with professional or semi-professional players. They can't generate the numbers.                                                                                                                 

XI. CATEGORIZING THE TABLE TENNIS POPULATION.

We now come to the crux of the problem, and its solution. There are four basic categories of table tennis players (overlap recognized), with different personalities, motivations, goals, and program needs. During its entire history, the USTTA/USATT has served the elite/championship player constituency, thereby suppressing any nascent recreational player base. Another piece of the puzzle. While a recreational program would be quite suitable for elite players, the reverse is not the case. Explanation follows. A. Casual players: The 19.8 million players the USATT identifies as participants in our sport are "casual players." Typically, they have warped tables and non-descript balls and sandpaper paddles stashed in basements or garages, used every six months or so during family picnics. After the mayonnaise and mustard have been wiped off the ping-pong/picnic table, people take part in a lively game of giggle ping pong. Then the table goes back against the wall for another six months. The primary sport of these participants may be tennis, golf, fishing, but not table tennis. They know not of the USATT, nor of table tennis clubs in their community. B. Recreational players: Virtually non-existent in the US [approximately 7,200 of the USATT members fit this category], they are the multi-million player base of national table tennis organizations in the rest of the world. Recreational players also form the foundation of every other sport the world over, including tennis, golf, bowling, surfing, etc. To recreational table tennis players the world over, it is their primary sport. These players have no illusions about becoming champions. They go regularly to their table tennis clubs as family affairs, and participate in weekly low-intensity competition for fun, exercise and camaraderie. They form the 7 of the 8 divisions in English county leagues, the 11 of the 12 divisions in Swedish leagues, the 6 of the 7 divisions in Holland, and so forth. In the U.S., since recreational table tennis is not known to USATT players or officers, it may be compared to our bowling leagues - children, seniors, women, church, business and factory leagues, etc. There is even midnight bowling (up to 130 turn up each night at the Gable House Bowl in Torrance, CA.). Lanes are reserved for league play, with open lanes only available when lanes are unoccupied by leagues. The invention of automatic pin-setters, offering a family-friendly environment, and the introduction of league play, provide participants fun, camaraderie and exercise, while producing the lanes a steady and dependable clientele. In 1993, almost 80 million people bowled at least once (LAT 1-5-95). Reno, Nevada drew 91,000 bowlers to its annual amateur tournament in 1995. Bowling started in September 1894, but professional bowling was not established until 64 years later: "More people in the U.S. go bowling than go to baseball games... The [ABC] promoted bowling as a wholesome form of recreation and competition. (Encyclopedia, 1995). Reno, Nevada is creating a $45 million, 80-lane National Bowling Stadium (LAT 2-4-95). The AC-Delco PBA tournament in Lakewood, CA. had a pot of $240,000, with a first prize of $45,000 (LAT 1-13-95). In US table tennis terms, recreational players' ratings are 1,000-1,600. Currently, the approximate 7,200 USATT members who are recreational players are ignored in focus and program. Finding little value in their membership, their drop-out rate is enormous. They are replaced by naive new recreational player members, who soon become disenchanted, and leave, through a perpetual revolving door. Yet, even now, their memberships and tournament entry fees keep the USTTA/USATT alive. This group could provide the broad base, the freshness, the energy, the enthusiasm, the numbers, the financial resources, the political clout, the future quality players, and the administration to invigorate the sport and make it grow large and healthy. A major piece of the puzzle. C. Elite players: These are players who thrive on and esteem the technical aspects of the game. They having both competitive and recreational tendencies. Some in the top echelon have professional and coaching ambitions and potentials. Ratings: from about 1,600 to 2,400. They, and the "professionals" have held leadership in the organization from its inception in 1933 to today. I place their numbers in the USATT at about 300. USATT "clubs" are essentially exclusive practice facilities, monopolized by these players preparing for upcoming tournaments. Most such "clubs" operate out of multi-function facilities, open for table tennis on certain days and hours. Most operate without a constitution, officers are self-appointed, regulations ad-hoc, ladders and leagues virtually non-existent, no social activities. This does not imply reprobation. It only indicates that these venues are elite-player practice facilities, not recreational clubs. Rules - such as winner-stays-up - discriminate even among elites. In a 3-hour session, it provides the top elites 3 hours of practice, and lower-ranked elites 30-45 minutes. Casual and recreational players are strongly discouraged from attending, taking up what they consider restricted elite table space and practice time. Such players usually appear but once. Elite players are fine players, who put in thousands of hours of intense training, for which they receive no commensurate rewards: prize moneys in most cases do not cover expense money, and they accumulate hundreds of dust-gathering trophies. Some elite players may resist opening the sport to millions of recreational players. They may enjoy the exclusivity of the sport because it makes them big fish in a small pond, and it keeps new and bright stars from emerging, who might take the limelight away from them. But most elite players have stronger egos than that, and believe that they will prevail against newcomers, and that they will reap the rewards they so richly deserve. D. Professional players: Currently, the United States has no bona fide professional cadre, i.e. players who earn their livelihood from prize money and endorsements alone. Would-be professionals are highly proficient, dedicated athletes, who receive neither prestige nor reward to match their prodigious efforts, unless they emigrate (Butler, et al). Rating: from 2,400 up. I will call these players professionals-in-waiting or quasi-professionals (Q-P players).                                                       

XII. PERCEIVING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TWO MAJOR TYPES OF PLAYERS.

The above categories conceal the USATT's problem and solution. The personalities, goals, programs for casual and recreational players are antithetical to those of elite and professional players. The first are type "B" personalities, who use sport for recreation, meaning fun, camaraderie and exercise, while the second are "A" personality types, who use sports for fame and fortune. Nothing wrong with either. They are different, and must be recognized as such in sports development. Let us compare the two types: A. Recreational players: In Sports for the Fun of It, John R. Tunis wrote:

"My philosophy is simple. I believe that exercise in moderation is essential for us all, old and young...The benefits of sport are twofold. First, the health-giving reaction which results from exercise in moderation. Second, the relaxation which for a few minutes or a few hours enables us completely to forget this outside world of today. It is certainly fun to play games well, but as a nation I believe we are apt to overlook the fact that it is far more important to play badly than not at all.

Now as a result of the increased skill of a few individuals in sport in recent years, a kind of vested interest in athletics has unfortunately arisen in the United States. These vested interests are persons who have a financial interest in athletics. They do not care at all for sport but only for victory, because that's where the money is...

The vested interests have not merely corrupted our games, worse still, they have corrupted and confused our thinking on sports...

Games are not made for the development of champions, but for the fun of the millions of participants who make the game."

B. Elite and professional players: Many books have been written about "A" type athletes, including 'The Competitive Race Driver," "Psychological Consistencies within the Personality of High Competitors," "Problem Athletes and How to Handle Them," etc. Traits ascribed to these athletes by Ogilvie and Tutko, experts on the subject, include a great need for achievement, great psychological endurance, low-resting levels of anxiety, slightly greater ability to express aggression, low interest in receiving support and concern from others, low need to take care of others, and low need for affiliation. "Such a personality seems necessary to achieve victory over others," note the authors.

In an interview by Bob Oates, and reported in the LAT of 2-25-73, Dr. Turko, co-consultant for 27 professional teams, bluntly responded to questions relating to sports for kids:

"...in a nation with millions of amateur athletes the thing that's missing today is an awareness that professional athletes are different from the rest of us. Professional sports is a business and the pro athlete is essentially a businessman. His product, he thinks is winning games. The more games he wins, the more money he makes.

Q: What is it you specifically object to in the model presented by professional athletes and coaches?

A: They project a win-or-else attitude that kids copy. I have no doubt that their language reflects their attitude: 'Kill em! Zap 'em!' The coach who loses the Super Bowl says: 'Losing is like dying.' The winner says: 'Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing.' All this may be true on the pro level. But it's destructive to children and other young athletes...It's a world with one winner and everybody else loses.

One NFL champion and 25 losers. That champion is glorified...The losers can't be tolerated. But this isn't the way life is. This is a grotesque distortion, and it adversely affects the youngsters who are continuously exposed to such a philosophy. How? If they try their best in a sports event and lose, they feel they're no good. They're made to feel rejected ...Very often a boy's reaction is to want to drop out, and as soon as he can he does. Why hang around and buck those 25-to-one odds?"

What Dr. Turko maintains for children is as valid for adults. What is good for the professionals is not good for the recreational player. If you want to attract recreational players, do not offer him professional incentives. The fact is that in all sports, there are 999 recreational players for every professional athlete.

I have drawn a very rough diagram of the four major categories of players, their interests and motivations. Enter your own figures.

XIII. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION: - BUBBLE-UP DEFINED.

Table tennis in all nations throughout the world, with the exception of the United States, developed from the ground up, as did sandlot baseball, for example. Clubs formed, which then associated into county organization, and finally into national and international bodies, in building block, or bubble-up fashion. Result: the creation of table tennis as an organized sport.

Clubs were founded by recreational players to provide themselves stable and permanent playing facilities. Programs were focused on fun, exercise and camaraderie. The league format, the main club program, provided the light, competitive environment for organized, frequent, and continuing activity, retained interest, and team bonding.

Soon, the increasing levels of skill necessitated the creation of a number of proficiency levels. This allowed people to enjoy the game the most, playing with others of like skill, both at the home club and at other clubs, and it offered some guideposts to progress.

Some nations developed 7 divisions, others 12, etc. In England, each division consists of a number of city or county leagues. For instance, the County Championships in 1992 were made up of 1 Premier Division with 8 lower divisions - 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 3A and 3B; 1 Junior Premier Division with 6 lower divisions - 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D; 1 Veterans Premier Division with 9 lower divisions - 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 3A, 3B and 3C. Total county leagues: 193. This does not include the numerous non-championship leagues operating at lower than county and intra-club levels. One major problem which currently baffles even long-established national organizations such as the ETTA is the way to classify and rate players. This subject will be covered shortly.

The larger the recreational base of a country, the more service it provides the general population, the larger the audience for the professional players, and the greater their financial rewards, enough to draw our top players to Sweden, Germany, etc.

XIV. PROBLEM DEFINITION - THE THWARTING OF A RECREATIONAL BASE.

For reasons unbeknown to me - and the USATT's extraordinary historian, Tim Boggan might enlighten us - table tennis in the United States started out in reverse. At its inception, elite players created a national organization, and ran it for their benefit, with clubs, programs and activities tailored to their needs, as recreational players served themselves in other nations.

Nothing wrong with that had it not suppressed recreational table tennis development. Unfortunately, it did. While elite fish thrive in recreational waters, recreational fish go belly up in elite waters. An ETTA News article (Dec. 92, p. 19) analyzed the reason for the decline of a local league in one area of England:

"it was likely that the main problem was of tournament standard young players disrupting the league...Well, perhaps the needs of counties and the country for excellence may not always be helpful to the local leagues. Of course, league disruption by high-fliers may not happen in larger, stronger leagues."

Now imagine an entire national organization controlled by and run for tournament standard players. They would disrupt and frustrate any and all recreational development. Their small numbers require small, earnest, quiet facilities for their intense exertions. Number of tables determines number of players. Elite players abhor the recreational environment, with its high-fives, boisterous atmosphere, laughter, shouting, etc. More tables only means inviting this foreign, undesirable and annoying element into their midst.

Absorbed in their own skill development, and with their "A" personality, 95 percent had no interest in developing table tennis facilities for recreational players. The 5 percent who did, found their efforts thoroughly blocked by this majority. The evolution of an organized recreational base in this country was effectively thwarted. What recreational clubs did develop were turned off by the paperwork and large fees extracted from their own tournaments by the elite players, with trophies won by outside "high-flyers." Currently clubs joining pay a $15.00 club affiliation, and then send 85% of their members' dues to the USATT, keeping 15% for themselves. In return they receive one free subscriptions to TTT, free USTTA Handbook, Tournament Guide and Club Handbook, some of which have good material. Instructor's Guides and Tournament Guides are not included in the free packet. A 50-member club would thus send the USATT $1250, plus $15.00, get back $187.50 of its own money, and about $10 worth of publications in return. Why join? The national organization never paid more than lip service to organized recreational table tennis. Organized play refers to leagues, not pick-up games, practice before tournaments, or even tournaments. The USTTA never studied well-run recreational clubs, to find out the reason for their success, so as to be able to pass on this information to other clubs.

Leagues, the mainstay of recreational programs the world over, were never promoted, intra-club or inter-club.

Recreational clubs found insufficient value to belonging to the USTTA/USATT, and dropped out or never joined. The preemptive use of the term USTTA by the elite players suppressed any nascent thoughts by recreational players of developing the sport from the ground up. Many thought that this was what the organization was doing all along. Organized recreational table tennis thus never got started in the United States, never became available to the general public, never became a major sport to be enjoyed by the millions, never attained national prestige, status, political clout.

The rating system selected by the USTTA, after much prompting from me and others, unfortunately was one utterly devastating to recreational players and the vast majority of elite players. It is only suitable for the very pinnacle of professional players (see below).

You cannot bake a cake by making icing, spreading on the dough, and then placing both in the oven. The icing will crush the dough and stop it from ever rising. That is the story of table tennis cake in the U.S.

A large body of casual players did develop - the famous "19.8 million" -because the sport is so much fun, with or without an organization. These players never bothered with the USTTA, and the USTTA never bothered them.

XV. RESULTS OF THE ELITE PREOCCUPATION AND FIXATION.

The tangled development of table tennis in the U.S. has harmed everyone. It deprives millions the pleasure of playing this fascinating sport.

It deprives the elite players the audience of club players before which to show-case their considerable talents, to bask in the their adulation, to enjoy the publicity, to win the major trophies and prizes.

It deprives the quasi-professionals of their just rewards in wealth and fame. The elite/professional players have suffered grievously for over 60 years because a recreational base has been missing. Fine athletes spent and are currently spending their entire lives laboring in obscurity. Top players must emigrate, or find full-time work outside of table tennis, or die paupers, the hat needing to be passed around for burial expenses (I was a mourner at one). Such a situation is tragic, unnecessary, inexcusable.

The current situation harms all table tennis participants. All ships rise on a good tide, run aground on a low one.

Am I alone in this assessment?

"I love the sport called table tennis but unfortunately it has not reached the stature of a sport in this country and for the very first time in my life I believe it never will in this country..." (Bill Cross, Pres. New Jersey TTA, TTT, 3-63). "Table tennis as a sport has made great forward progress internationally in the last ten years, and has left the U.S.A. in its wake (Bill Dean, Dorchester, Mass, TTT, 6-67). "We must admit that most people are interested in nothing more than their weekly game at the club - which they want to win, so they don't really want new blood around to steal the glory - and they have no interest in doing anything else." (J. R. Harrison, Newark, Del. TTT, 6-67). "Today, when one attends a tournament, a close look around the audience will reveal the sad fact that most of the spectators are the very same players who had entered the tournament. There are no crowds." (Lionel Ovelton, TTT, 4-62). Unfortunately, he then falls into the trickle down hypothesis: "A healthy professional organization operating successfully, a goodly portion of the success would rub off on the amateur branch - which is good."

"It appears that in America table tennis occupies a place little below that of tiddly-winks, and table tennis players are considered to be either 'nuts' or people who could not make good in any other sport." (Chris Faye, TTT, 3-62). Then onto the cart before the horse theory: "[the reason is] due to the lack of promotion."

"Table tennis should receive more widespread recognition and acceptance in this country, not only as a sport, but as an activity of pleasure, health, and sportsmanlike competition," (Milt Forrest, TTT, 3-62). "I think that we need many more affiliated clubs and leagues in order to expand table tennis. At the same time we need more clubs that are real active, conducting well organized leagues...." (Richard Feuerstein, TTT, 3-62).

"It's a disappointing thing to see how few people are presently serious Table Tennis players in the United States. We read in TABLE TENNIS TOPICS about hundreds of thousands of players who participate in China, Japan, England, etc. and check our U.S. listing to find only 1 or 2 thousand members. There is NO immediate hope for improvement...A final difficulty with the national organization involves the continuous lack of common sense in coping with the administrative problems...from my experience have refused local club help...Also, our national committee must be willing to study other very well administered groups in the U.S., to see how they get the membership, financial, and printing problems solved. We must copy wherever possible, and invent wherever necessary...All tournaments should cater to the AVERAGE player, and disregard the champ! Both pay the same entry fee, and are entitled to the same consideration, but there are lots more average players in each tournament paying fees (Fred Danner, Long Island TTC, TTT, 2-62). "The main point is that this sport is not run for prima donnas." TTT, 2-62.

A final quote from Pauline Somael, past V-P of the USTTA:

"Table tennis is a basement, poolroom game, NOT a sport, and will remain so. I see these hopeful articles popping up periodically in Topics suggesting this, that and the other for "improving the game"...None of these suggestions will ever work because none of them can ever be backed up. No one CARES. No one wants to get-in-there-and-make-something-out-of-the-game. They only want to play TT themselves personally and couldn't care less WHERE they play and who fixes it up so that they CAN play. Do you know how many well-intentioned people have tried to do something for and about the game only to retire from the fray with bruised and bleeding feelings?

Well, this is how it IS, a game, NOT a SPORT...No members, no clubs, no leagues, no spectators and no MONEY. When most players grow up a little they realize that there is no future, nor fame and glory, and certainly no cash in table tennis.

To sum up - table tennis is moribund and having been around for twenty years seeing it happen, I am sad. If any of you know me then you also know that I have been active in many ways during these years and so know whereof I speak.

Is there any hope for table tennis? I think not. We can, of course, and no doubt will, continue just as we are, indefinitely, UNLESS?" TTT, 5-67.

Has there been an "unless" since Pauline Somael wrote her poignant critique, 29 years ago. NO! Does the USATT have a responsibility to change? Emphatically: YES!                                                                           

XVI. TABLE TENNIS IN THE U. S.: BENEFITS FROM NEW DIRECTION.

Those in table tennis in the United States today have many different reasons for their involvement in the game. What they all have in common is a love for the sport. Another thing they have in common is that all will benefit if table tennis becomes a major sport in this country.

What represents the achievement of major sport status for table tennis? NUMBERS, NUMBERS, NUMBERS. These numbers cannot come from the elite or the professional players. They can only come from one source: RECREATIONAL PLAYERS.

How will everyone benefit from major sport status for table tennis?

A. Millions of citizens will benefit from the emergence of table tennis, as a major and valuable recreational activity. A primary function of local government is to provide public recreational services - and what better service than table tennis activities.

B. The nation's economy will benefit from the greatly increased demand for table tennis supplies, equipment, clothing, publications, etc.

Manufacturing, distribution and sales of billions of dollars of new table tennis products and services will bring employment to tens of thousands, and enormous profits to a myriad of commercial enterprises.

Financial World recognizing that sports economics is very big business, devoted its entire Feb 14, 1995 issue to the subject:

"Retail sales of licensed merchandise for pro baseball, basketball, football and hockey: $8.7 billion. U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, 2-26-96 noted that "The snowshoe market has nearly tripled in the past six years, and it's estimated that half a million people participate...Snowboarders now number 2 million." U.S. N. & W.R. 12-11-95, relates that 47 million people played [basketball] last year, and consumers bought nearly $2 billion worth of basketball shoes in 1994. With over $1 billion in gross revenues, the NBA has seen sales of its licensed retail products quadruple in the past five years to $3 billion." The magazine reports on "Spaulding, the $850 million equipment maker.." FW, 2-14-95 reports:

"Television offers a link among the country's nearly 25 million golfers and the hundreds of golf product manufacturers anxious to satisfy those duffers' desire to become better players. And they do want to improve. The National Golf Foundation, the research arm for the golf industry, recently conducted a consumer survey that showed the average golfer had a desired score of 84 for 18 holes, far better than his actual score of 100. This bodes well for U.S. manufacturers, whose wholesale shipments of golf equipment totalled $1.4 billion in 1993, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce...

The Golf Channel, which teed off Jan. 17, will provide golfers with plenty of advice on how to better their game. With Arnold Palmer as its backer, the channel will broadcast 24 hours a day, featuring tournaments, instruction and classic footage, among other things...

The industry is bulging at the seams with willing corporate participants. According to Golf Pro magazine, there were 59 club manufacturers, with combined sales of $1 billion in 1993. Chip in makers of shoes, gloves, clothing, balls and bags and you have a multibillion-dollar business."

C. Vacation resorts will benefit from featuring Table Tennis, as hundreds currently feature tennis and golf. Example: Smugglers' Notch Resort, in Vermont, featured in Tennis, July, 1995, offers:

"four levels of children's [tennis] programs, from age 3 [?] to teenagers (and a child-care center for those as young as six weeks)...among the country's foremost family destinations...tennis...on 12 hard and clay courts (two indoors beneath a bubble)...Beginners and low-intermediates outnumber stronger players in the 90-minute morning clinics. Those are supplemented by conditioning sessions and almost daily round robins."

Such resorts saw a lucrative tennis market and proactively set about meeting the need. Tennis numbers warranted the investment. Generate similar table tennis numbers, at a far lesser investment than tennis, Table Tennis Resorts will mushroom all over the nation and the world. Count on me to be among the first to patronize them, if I'm not too old by then.

D. Youths. Millions of youths need accessibility to quality recreational outlets, as represented by table tennis. They need us, and we need them.

Mrs. Richard J. Ross asks in Sports Illustrated "Why does such a large percentage of our youth enjoy sports only from the grandstands? I believe I have a partial answer. We make room for the 'average' individual in any other field, but we cannot abide this in sports...Let's give sports back to the ill-coordinated and the imperfect."

E. Youths at risk will be well served by table tennis as a diversionary activity. A LAT article of 3-19-95 relates how, after 3 years, a Little League for boys and girls from 5 to 15 will start in South-Central L.A., with a $200,000 stadium,

"as part of efforts to expand into inner cities nationwide...The hope, said Tom Boyle, a special projects consultant with Little League International, was to offer at-risk youths an alternative to crime and gang violence and help foster a sense of self-esteem and community respect."

Listen to Robin Roberts, big league pitcher for 14 years for the Philadelphia Phillies on Little Leagues:

"At least 25,000 teams, in about 5,000 leagues, compete for a chance to go to the Little League World Series in Williamsport each summer...It would appear that Little League has been a tremendous success. More that 600,000 boys from 8 to 12 are involved. But I say Little League is wrong - and I'll try to explain why...

Youngsters eligible for Little League are of the age when their concentration lasts, at most, for five seconds - and without sustained concentration, organized athletic programs are a farce.

Most instructors will never understand this. As a result there is a lot of pressure on these young people to do something that is unnatural for their age - so there will always be hollering and tremendous disappointment for most of these players.. For acting their age, they are made to feel incompetent. This is the basic fault of Little League." Newsweek or Time, 7-21-75.

Table tennis can serve youths in this nation better than any other sport. But the national organization must attend to all players, not just champions.

F. Communities throughout the nation will benefit from these diversionary programs in lessened crime, drugs, violence, a safer America. The Kips Bay Spartans Table Tennis Team, featured in TTT, 7-96, is a fine example of a long-term program, whose goal "is to keep kids off the streets, drugs, and out of trouble. We also want to provide leadership, sportsmanship, and a safe haven to develop our future stars and leaders." My hat is off to Mr. E. Roll.

G. Casual players will benefit from organized table tennis clubs, to secure benefits they cannot obtain at home. This includes spacious, well-lighted, air-conditioned, attractive, reasonably priced facilities, open seven days a week, morning to night. Such clubs provides them the opportunity to play numerous opponents of like skill, make new friends, and participate in safe and dynamic exercise. League play provides enjoyable low-level competition on an on-going, regular, weekly basis. A national supportive, motivational classification and rating system (not our current one) provides continuous goals to strive for, making table tennis a life-long, primary avocation for millions of players at all levels.

H. As mentioned above, elite players will benefit from large club audiences in front of which to show-case their considerable talents, to bask in the their adulation, to enjoy the local publicity, to win the major trophies and prizes. Many will choose to become coaches and instructors, with incomes in the six figures, or prefer to open lucrative table tennis retail stores. A substantial number will qualify as professionals, and with an enormous pie to share, their earnings will be in the five and six figures.

I. The would-be professionals at the top of the game will finally have the backing of a huge base of registered players which will bring them the attention of sponsors and media. Tournament prize money, endorsement contracts and appearance fees will provide them with earnings in the millions. These superb athletes will become affluent professionals. Fame will become part of their lives, recognized wherever they go, their pictures on magazine covers, featured in TV ads. Some will diversify into other fields such as movies (John Weissmuller, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Jordan) or invest earnings into restaurants, sports franchises (Wayne Gretsky, Jerry West, Jack Kramer), etc. The top PGA money leader up to the end of October, 1996 was Phil Mickelson with $1.62 million. We can expect tournaments to regularly draw top players from around the world. Soon thereafter, I predict leagues to develop in various cities, competing against each other.

J. Senior skilled elite and would-be professionals currently have no place to go but down. If they and the national organization develop millions of recreational players eager to see them perform, sponsors and media will just as eagerly respond, and these high-level seniors will become wealthy from Senior tournaments, Senior circuits, endorsements, advertising, etc.

Until 1978, senior golfers "practically disappeared. Some fell on hard times," writes Dan Hafner (LAT, 4-18-95). Then came the Senior Tour. By 1985, there were 27 events for the 50-and-older set. By 1994, Hafner writes, "six seniors earned $1 million and [in 1995] there were 44 tournaments and purses of $33 million. Senior PGA leader (Oct. 1996) was Jim Colbert: $1.49 million.

K. Skilled elite and would-be professional women players currently derive negligible economic benefits from their efforts. Some spend enormous time and energy traveling great distances to teach small classes of players. They need the huge media audience to assure their financial success.

If either Karrie Webb or Laura Davies wins the ITT LPGA Tour Championship and the $150,000 prize in Nov. 1996, she would become the first woman golfer to pass the $1,000,000 in one year on the LPGA tour.

Do only a handful of professional golfers make this kind of money? Through October, 1994: 50th on the PGA list: Nick Price, $402,467; 50th Sr PGA: Butch Baird, $269,913; 50th LPGA: Trish Johnson, $120,832.

Poor John Daly had a dreadful year in 1996, finishing last in driving accuracy, had only one top-10 finish, missed 9 cuts in 23 tournaments, and finished 121st on the money list. He only earned $173,557!

The All-Time PGA Tour Money Leader through Feb 18, 1996 was Greg Norman at $9,612,829, Tim Simpson was 50th on the list at $3,351,476 (LAT 2-21-96).

In October, 1996, Gabriela Sabatini announced her retirement from tennis, having won but one Grand Slam, but having earned $8,785,850, in prize money alone, and millions more in endorsements and other revenues. Stefan Edberg retired in November, 1996, having earned $20.6 million in prize money.

L. Thousands of table tennis enthusiasts, mostly

recreational players, but also about 5 percent of elite players, devoted to promoting the sport for the nation will finally see their dreams come true. Having spent years and huge amounts of energy and often considerable funds of their own trying to advance the sport without noticeable results, this practical, effective, and clear plan will see their visions realized. Seeing millions of players enjoying organized table tennis will bring them a deep sense of personal accomplishment and satisfaction.

M. Whatever national body develops the recreational component of the sport will benefit from the prestige and status of being one of the primary sports in the United States, its voice heard around the world.

N. The USOC and the USATT will benefit by fielding the finest table tennis players in the world, drafted from the ranks of professional and elite players who came up the ranks from the huge pool of recreational players. Various national Olympic Committees simply picked up the phone and asked Magic Johnson (1992 Olympic basketball star, and his team-mates), Marc Rosset (1992 Summer Olympics tennis champion), Boris Becker and Michael Stich, (1992 Olympic Dbls tennis champions), Jan Waldner (1992 Olympic table tennis champion): "Would you like to play in the Olympics for us?" The answer was "Yes." No years of sweat and tears. The USATT will be able to do the same!                                      

XVII. IMPLEMENTATION.

THE BALANCE OF THIS PROPOSAL WILL CONCENTRATE SOLELY ON THE DEVELOPMENT, MAINTENANCE AND GROWTH OF A HUGE RECREATIONAL TABLE TENNIS CONSTITUENCY.

We must construct a table tennis skyscraper, with all but the top two floors designed solely for recreational players. The next to the top floor is reserved for the top elite players, and the penthouse is for professional players. As long as such a building does not exist, the penthouse will be in the basement, giving professionals and top elite players a look at the parade passing them by only if they stand on tiptoe. The building must not be just recreational-player friendly. It must be entirely recreational player functional, in every aspect, from the material of construction, to the size of the rooms, the carpets, drapes, the color scheme, down to the food in the refrigerators. Recreational players are the landlords, they pay everyone's bills, they are the boss. Get the picture?

XVIII. WHAT'S IN A NAME? WHO SHOULD REPRESENT RECREATIONAL PLAYERS?

What's in a name? Answer: Everything. Companies spend millions creating user-friendly names and logos. They motivate and communicate positive messages. When wrong, they impart a negative message. To generate millions of players, our name and logo must carry a warm, welcoming message.

A. USATT: In correspondence, I was advised that "Effective January 1, 1994, U.S. Table Tennis Association (USTTA) changed its name to USA Table Tennis (USATT). This change was made to more accurately reflect our association with the Olympics and the United States Olympic Committee." The inside cover of the 1994 Annual Report reads: "USATT is responsible for organizing and training teams for national and international events including national and world championships, U.S.Olympic Festivals, Pan American Games and the Olympics. It is based at the U.S.Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO."

The above title and mission are forbidding to recreational players, interested in fun, exercise and camaraderie. The only role they see in such an organization is as contributors, to fund it. And they are right.

The 1994 Annual Report's inside cover does state that the USATT's goal "is to promote table tennis, the world's most popular racquet sport, in America and to provide all participants with the best possible experience by advancing and administering the sport." As a former trainer in Behavioral Objectives, I would like the USATT's Board to specify exactly how it will "promote table tennis...in America;" how will it determine that it "provides participants the best possible experience;" by what means will it "advance and administer the sport," and by what benchmarks will it determine if it has achieved its objectives. Absent such information, the above are empty buzz words, similar to those used for years by the former USTTA.

B. USTTA: Dan Seemiller's President's Report in the 1994 USTTA Annual Report lists the following achievements, starting with: "The year 1994 was an excellent one for USA Table Tennis." Subjects covered were:

The U.S. Open, the U.S. Closed, the U.S. Open Team Championships, the All-Star events, sanctioned tournaments, our top man and woman's performances at the World Cup and World Team Cup, the change in Executive Directors, the National Training Center available full time for National Team Training, with its two national coaches, which "will help our athletes close the gap on the Europeans and Asians....USATT will also utilize this center for junior training, certification of coaches, and other regional and national projects."

The report concludes: "The future looks good for the growth of the United States in the sport of table tennis and in international competitiveness."

The report is an excellent one, written by a Championship President to his Championship constituency. Ignored however, are goals, needs, aspirations and services for the 7,200 recreational players in the organization and the needs of millions of would-be recreational table tennis players waiting in the wings. We must face the fact that neither the USATT or USTTA are organizations committed to serving recreational players. Such an organization has been the missing link in the United States for over 60 years.

How can such an organization come into being, and what should be its title?

A. The USATT could convert its Clubs Committee into a separate USTTA affiliate, dedicated to the development of recreational table tennis in the United States. It would have its own Recreational Membership Committee. The title USTTA, meaning what it says, would be user-friendly.

The USTTA would serve all table tennis recreational players in the United States, providing vital services in this area for millions of citizens - adults, youths, seniors, the handicapped, in anti-gang and anti-drug diversionary programs.

The USATT would serve its current constituency, the up and coming world champions and Olympic champions. The USTTA's program would funnel many such prospects into the USATT from its vast pool of recreational youths.

The two organizations would become major players in the sports firmament, working closely with other major recreational and sports organizations.

The two organizations would thus be complementary and non-competitive, and could work well together. The larger the USTTA would grow, the more world class players would emerge from its ranks, which the USATT could tap for World and Olympic competition, garnering prestige and honor with each medal. Using this option, the USTTA NGB would need to include a significant number of recreational players in the USTTA affiliate (there goes the neighborhood) until elections were held, to assure recreational focus. Some members of the USATT NGB, with greater interest in recreational player development than Olympic prospect development might wish to become full-time members of the USTTA NGB.

B. The USATT could relinquish the USTTA title and logo to a separate organization made up of individuals committed to serving a recreational constituency.

C. If the current USATT NGB was uninterested in changes "A" or "B," a group of dedicated individuals could create its own organization with a new title. Several come to mind.

What I cannot visualize is the USATT, an affiliate of the USOC, developing Olympic prospects and a 20-million recreational membership base simultaneously. It cannot be done. The development of a major new sports organization in the United States cannot be achieved as a side-line or addendum to the development of two dozen Olympic prospects.

As an aside, Paul Montville, Executive Director of the USATT writes that "our name change put us alongside USA Hockey, USA Gymnastics, USA Baseball, etc." The NBA, the NHL, the USTA, and numerous other sports organizations did not change their names because they fielded Olympic teams. Nor did the English, French, German, Swedish and other national table tennis organizations change their titles.

Furthermore, we are not only the black sheep of all sports, we are even black sheep of the USOC. The LAT of August 6, 1996 had a big spread about "The California State Games, a nonprofit sports festival under the auspices of the U.S. Olympic Committee...Forty six states hold similar events...The games...will feature approximately 5,500 athletes ranging from age 5 to 69 competing in 17 Olympic and Pan American Games events." Included were Judo, Badminton, Fencing, Field Hockey, Roller Hockey, Soccer, Weightlifting and Wrestling, Synchronized Swimming, Taekwondo, Water Polo. NO TABLE TENNIS!

I will from this point on use the name USTTA for the organization of recreational players, regardless of ultimate name selected.

XIX. COMPARISON OF BENEFITS: TABLE TENNIS VS OTHER SPORTS.

Terry Timmins, in his "President's View" column in TTT, July, 1996, calls the USATT a business. It is both that and a recreational pursuit or sport. As "a business," I recall from my own sales background years ago, the truisms that "you can't sell a product if you don't know it, don't know who your customers are, or don't believe in your product."

Those in table tennis who don't believe that table tennis is good enough to ever become a major sport in the United States; who don't think it is superior to such endeavors as badminton, billiards, bobsledding, darts, shuffleboard, horseshoe pitching, lacrosse or POG; and who declare that there is nothing anyone can do about it, are part of the problem, not part of the solution. Table tennis players and officials should follow the advise taken from the title of Jim Lundy's book: Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way.

Let us enumerate some sports benefits, and measure table tennis against other sports, using a scale of 1-to-10. The ratings are subjective, and the reader is free to assign his/her own numbers.

The list is almost endless. I suggest that the reader make his/her own additions, and changes in rating as he/she sees fit. As a seminal proposal, the above material is valuable for purposes of discussion and debate.             

XX. TARGET POPULATION IDENTIFICATION.

Where are millions of players going to come from and what must be their qualifications? Such numbers can only come from recreational players. They must become members of the national organization for the sport to receive national status and prestige, and for the sport to become relevant to sponsors and media.

1. Casual players: Adults must be the USTTA's first target population. They form the majority of virtually all sports organizations, such as tennis, golf, bowling. Sports do need children inductees, for the future, but they come into sports through their parents, who encourage their children to take up "their" sport. Golf and tennis have adult established bases. We do not.

So we must first develop this foundation, which will take 3-5 years. Fortunately, we have 19.8 million casual players available as a ready-made foundation. Soccer achieved quick success because it had millions of foreign-born parents eager to induct their children into their sport. We can do the same with the 19.8 million casual players, if we offer them the right incentives.

Table tennis has major advantages over virtually all other sports in that we can provide hands-on training to our children. Soccer, golf, tennis do not provide such easy opportunities. Once we establish the recreational infrastructure, with recreational clubs in which to play, I project that 10 million of the 19.8 million casual players will affiliate. And with them will come their children. Target: 10 million.

2. Disenchanted adults from other sports: Exercise clubs experience millions of lapsed memberships each year. "Bowling's popularity is waning. ABC membership stood at just under 2.5 million men in 1994, down from 3.8 million 10 years ago. The ranks of the WIBC fell from 3.9 million to 2.2 million in the same period..."

Tennis ranks have thinned over the past several years. Millions more recreational players in other sports are cross-over prospects for various reasons: boredom (running, exercise clubs), lack of exercise (bowling, archery, etc), too strenuous, safety hazards. In 1995, 12 in-line skaters died, and an estimated 99,400 reported to hospital emergency rooms (Consumer Report, 7-96). Enter safe, fun table tennis. Target: 20 million.

3. Children: Pee wee football, softball, skiing and many other sports participated in by children cause numerous injuries, and even deaths. Dr. Thomas Tutko, San Jose Psychology Professor, believes that:

"The prime concern of the average youngster just starting out in the Little League is not to get hurt by the ball...As for winning, the boy is usually ambivalent, but he finds out in a hurry that his parents want to win. He may not realize that they're trying to live through him - [and] he doesn't want to displease them. But if he loses he can't help displeasing them. He feels they don't accept him then, and a boy must feel accepted to do his best..."

Scott Harris calls Little League "a pressure cooker for tiny egos." In a 6-8-95 LAT article, he quotes little Kathy, a 10-year old retiring from the game: "I didn't really like baseball at all. I didn't like being in the outfield, alone and bored. I didn't like batting in case I got hit [by a pitch]." Pitching has been shown to cause permanent injury to the arm of many children. "The U.S. Consumer Product Safely Commission reports that the number of baseball-related deaths is rising, with children from 5 to 14 years old accounting for about one-third the 254 deaths reported since 1973." (LAT Editorial, 5-14-95). Would table tennis not suit these children far better?

An editorial in the LAT, 9-25-96 revealed that 9 high school football players died and about 400,000 suffered injuries in 1995, even with inflatable padded helmets. Dr. Stephen E. Reid told the National Safety Congress that "A football player crashing into an opponent subjects his helmet to blows of more than 5,000 time the force of gravity." A Time article of 12-12-94 headlines that "Doctors warn that relentless blows to the head may be giving football players lasting brain damage." And yet, this is a national sport we induct our children into as young as five and six. Atlanta pediatrician Sanford Matthews reports on a common ailment for such children which he calls "Little League Tummy," brought on by the pressure to perform. "It produces a kind of tension or stress that's inappropriate for an 8-year-old and obscene for a 5-year-old" he says. Matthews also worries about the physical punishment to a young body. "in a child the knee ligaments are loose, and a violent push can tear them," he explains. "If that happens, the child is destroyed as an athlete." Yet, the article quotes Coach Norman Woods exhorting his team of 5 and 6-year-olds: "You're not hitting 'em. I don't hear anything popping out there! Those guys think you're a bunch of pansies..." When the ball landed at Charlie's feet, the coach's son, "He looked at it questioningly, then left it and trotted aimlessly back and forth looking for someone to block. 'Charlie's tired, look at him,' muttered his father on the sidelines. 'He ain't even moving. And Jamie, with that dislocated finger, he's afraid to hit anybody. And Jason's got strep throat'...After the next play, two Eagles lay writhing on the field, much to coach Wood's dismay. 'We've got five out there crying,' he said. 'They don't want to play anymore.'" (Newsweek, 12-4-78).

As a former Staff Development Specialist for L.A. County training social workers to recognize child abuse and child neglect incidents, I would have cited the above scenario an appropriate case for investigation.

Does table tennis not have far more to offer the 955,000 high schoolers, and the thousands more playing grade school and Pee Wee football? Target: 20 million.

4. Youths at risk would find table tennis an excellent outlet. Cities would financially support such a diversionary program: Target: 2 million.

5. Seniors: Table tennis, next to swimming is an ideal sport, with the added benefits of fun, camaraderie, and low-intensity competition.

Dr. Olga Feingold, who has made an in-depth study of the relationship between gerontology and sports, considers table tennis to be an excellent sports outlet for seniors. As President of the 415-member Laguna Hills Leisure World Table Tennis Club, with its 12-table, 7-days a week facility (soon to be modernized), Dr. Feingold is putting theory into practice, with a full monthly organized activities program, including leagues, tournaments, ladders, coaching for all levels of players, and many social events.

Seniors are the fastest growing population segment in the U.S. USTTA membership potential is enormous. Target: 40 million.

6. Women: this segment of the population is becoming a major power in sports, both as participants and spectators. Yet table tennis in the United States has few women players.

FW asks "Today's pop quiz: It's a winter Sunday. More people watching: a) Football, b) golf, c) figure skating, d) college basketball. The answer is "c"...Unbelievable. Not really. Figure skating is the most popular sport among American woman and their teenage daughters and during the 1994 Winter Olympics, the ladies' technical program was watched by an estimated 127 million Americans and received a 48.5 share...Where this kind of audience - read younger women - goes, advertisers, marketers and broadcast executives follow. What is drawing women to televised sports? First, there are more women participating in sports than ever before."

In table tennis? Most table tennis facilities have not one women player. Many women's draws are small and often canceled. The club I frequent has 30-50 men players, and one women, whom I introduced to the club. In the 1995 U.S. Nationals, 3 women entered their -1900 event (vs 103 men in Men's -1900 ); 12 Sr. Women, 7 50+ Esquire Women (vs 61 50+ Esquire Men) and 4 Sr. Mxd Dbls participated.

U.S. N & W.R., 12-11-95 reports that "Last year's NCAA championship final, featuring the victorious University of Connecticut [women] Huskies, pulled a 5.7 TV rating, which surpassed the 4 rating generated by an NBA game that same day. During the season, nearly 4 million people attended women's basketball games, up from 1.5 million a decade ago...Rutgers University's women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer now earns a base salary of $150,000 a year, more than her male counterpart...Companies are especially attracted to women's basketball because the sport appeals to crucial segments of the market: young professional women and young families." Is table tennis tapping this "crucial segment?" Not yet. Target: 40 Million.                                                                                                                       

XXI. PROJECTED NUMBERS AND TIME FRAMES.

Based on the above inventory of target populations, the above analysis of the exceptional quality of our sport, and the support of numerous individuals and organizations, including informed elite and professional players - once they become fully aware that their destiny, prosperity and prominence are inextricably entwined with the development of a huge recreational player foundation - the following projections of numbers of new USTTA members and time frames for their affiliating w