Minutes for February 8, 2022 Board Meeting
Start 7:05 P.M.

All board members present with June Lim, Danny Williams, Behnam Kazemi, Ruben Guilloty, Thu Tran and Perry Schwartzberg in person, Jean Shi coming in remotely.

Also present is Dennis Seisun.

New business:

June: Thanks Danny, Behnam, and Thu for coming to the club on Saturday to help clean out the storage room. All agree that it looks great and has never been this organized and clean. Everyone vows to keep it as similar to the current state as possible for the future.

Danny: Debate about what to do about the shirts that were purchased by the club a few years ago. It is agreed upon that since most of the sizes are not the popular ones, the board should try to get rid of the existing supply of shirts at $10 each and then discuss obtaining new ones. Voted yes 5/1/1 with Ruben voting no, Perry abstaining.

June: Wants to make sure that the membership continues to be updated and would like all of the board members to have access to the master list. This will make it simple to know who is currently paid up and who is not.

Ruben: Gives the financial report.

Dennis: Suggests to the board members that it would be a good idea to purchase an accounting software such as Quicken in order to facilitate a smooth transition for the new treasurer to keep the bookkeeping up to date. All agree that this is a good idea.

June: Discusses finding an auditor to review the boards finances in March. This must be someone not on the current board but would most likely be one of our club members and possibly even a couple.

Ruben: Asks about the prorated fees that are lessened each month. It is pointed out that this is already on the SDTTA website with the first step down occurring in June.

June: Wants to make certain that all board members take seriously the $5 daily pass fee so as to not promote the feeling that some people are paying dues while others are not. All agree that this is an important thing to do but trying to implement it on a daily basis will require effort by all.

June: Reiterates that he will be running a monthly Saturday morning tournament event with prizes (balls) that will help to get everyone comfortable with running a tournament. Hopefully, this will allow the club to run its large four star tournament in the future.

June: Would like to allocate Nittaku 3* Premium Balls currently in possession of the club for his Saturday event. All agree that a two month supply is warranted to see how the event progresses.

Vote 7-0 approved.

Jean: Mentions that our USATT club affiliation expires in March and needs to be updated.

Jean: Brings to the board’s attention that the Team League run by Jeff Ruiz is having difficulty in finishing and also in dispensing funds. Jean is tasked by the board to talk to Jeff and have him meet with the board members for review.

Board votes 5-1-1 to allow previous year’s board members to have the following year free membership in acknowledgement of their service. Ruben no, Behnam abstaining

Perry: Lets the board know that he will be stepping down from his position as Secretary on the board due to his inability to frequent the club regularly. He mentions that his inability to be present at the club makes the work harder for the other board members. All understand and will find a replacement for him as soon as possible.

Meeting closes 8:20 p.m.

Minutes for January 10 Board Meeting
Start 7:05 P.M.

All board members present with June Lim, Danny Williams, Behnam Kazemi, and Perry Schwartzberg in person. Ruben Guilloty, Jean Shi, and Thu Tran coming in remotely.

Also present is Dennis Seisun to welcome the new board and hand over stickers and membership cards.

First order of business is to pick positions for the board.

June Lim – Chairman
Danny Williams – Vice Chairman
Ruben Guilloty – Treasurer
Perry Schwartzberg – Secretary
Jean Shi – Member Relations Director
Thu Tran – Executive Director
Behnam Kazemi – Public Relations Director

New business:

June: Would like to increase membership dues for the coming year to $70. His idea is to use the money to support schools for table tennis activities and build a better relationship with entities like the fire and police departments. All think that the idea bears serious merit but also the consensus is that in these times many are having hardships and it would not be the moment to do so. All think that this idea should be considered perhaps later in the year. Voted down 6-1.

June: Has the idea to run a Saturday morning tournament that would be similar to Phil’s Sunday tournament and to do it weekly. He wants to give out prizes (Nittaku Premium 40+ balls) and perhaps to have doubles as well. All agree that this would be good for the club and agree to support the endeavor.

June: Has the idea to increase the quality of the membership card and make it more presentable. All agree and the decision is made to do more research to find the best quality item at a good price point.

June: Mentions that the SDTTA website is outdated and needs to be addressed. It has unreliable information and that makes it difficult for members and others to trust the information on it.

Thu: Mentions that Maurizio has software that may benefit the club’s website so to help players find partners and perhaps find a way for people to more easily join the club on the website. All agree that much needs to be done to increase the websites visibility and to make it more of a universal place for communication of our members.

Ruben: Gives the financial report.

Perry: Talks a bit about the status of the upcoming May tournament. There are various ideas as to who can be tournament director. Perry makes sure to let everyone know that this year’s event will be somewhat different than the past events as Attila Malek has moved out of state and no longer will be able to attend to the front end of the tournament. All agree that this is an important part of the event and will need to be addressed by the determined tournament director or others.

Meeting closes 8:18 p.m.

Meeting closes at 8:00

Minutes for December 6 Board Meeting
Start 6:37 P.M.

All board members present except Dennis Seisun. Jeff Ruiz and Jean Shi show up just a bit late due to traffic.
Also present are new board members Behnam Kazemi, Thu Tran, Danny Williams, and Jun Lim.

Steve: Minutes are approved with a 4-0 vote (Jeff and Jean not yet present).

The current board welcomes the new board members.

Tournament: The new board needs to get going immediately on the yearly Memorial Day tournament planning. Confirmation of a date and tournament director are paramount. It will also be necessary to evaluate barriers, tables, and nets for the event. Committees need to be formed in order to implement all that needs done including set up and set down after the event.

Jeff Ruiz: Jeff informs the board that he will be leaving the board for personal reasons. He still plans to assist the club in many different capacities including the team league and coaching. June Lim will replace him for the one year term. Jun is voted in 6-0 (Dennis absent) to replace Jeff.

General agreement that the website needs to be upgraded as it has outdated information and lacks clarity on the calendar and current events.

Ruben: A rough draft of next year’s budget is offered and will be discussed more thoroughly by the next board in the coming year.

Danny: Would like to build on the current tournament prize structure by obtaining sponsorship from businesses in the community. All agree that this is a great idea and will be further explored early in the year.

Jean: Presents a general plan for 2022 including Chairman’s responsibilities, budget ideas, as well as more acknowledgement for those contributing to the club.

Shirts will be given to players attending the U.S., Open representing our club. 6-0 approved. Behnam will identify those who are playing and desiring of the SDTTA logo shirt.

Steve McGrew, Phil Van De Wiele, and Jeff Ruiz all say their goodbyes and are acknowledged for all of their hard work over the years.

Meeting closes at 8:00

Meeting called to order by Chairperson at 6:36 p.m.

All current board members present along with Behnam Kazemi for initial 15 minutes.

New News:

Steve begins the meeting with the need to try to get the next election in gear and the need to find as many potential candidates as possible. Suresh Kanekar who has been indispensable in running the elections for many terms has volunteered to assist in this election but no longer wants to be the point man. Both Dennis Seisun and Phil Van De Wiele, who will not be running, volunteer to coordinate the election. Phil mentions that he will contact prospective candidates to confirm their intention to run. Dennis will e-mail members to alert them of the election.

The board votes to extend the terms of Jeff Ruiz, Jean Shi, and Ruben Guilloty for another year due to the covid stoppage. Perry Schwartzberg will take over for Phil Van De Wiele in the final year of his term. All four will be up for election next year.

As of now, coaching availability is still on hold due to difficulties with the city administration. Perry volunteers to try to deal with the difficulties in getting the coaches the proper credentials to do so.

The big annual tournament is brought up as a point of concern and the initial ideas of sponsorship are mentioned. Much needs to be done to get ready for it including deciding who will run it and when and if the city is still allowing us the facility. Work is facilitated.

It is mentioned that the club should run more tournaments. This is an ongoing discussion and perhaps in the coming year an extra tournament can be organized to benefit the members.

The league has already started but needs more exposure as many on the board are unaware of it’s resumption and wondering why there is not a bigger push to advertise it. It has started but players can join until the end of October according to Jeff.

Dennis give the monthly financial report.

Meeting closes at 7:20.

After the meeting, business occurs when Jeff Ruiz mentions that our top junior player, 15 year old Keenan Zhou, would like to attend the North American Team Championships in Baltimore on Thanksgiving weekend but does not have the funds to do so. As the board has done similarly in previous years, the board extends a $500 maximum payment for airfare for Keenan to attend. This is passed 6-0-1. Perry abstains as one of his coaches.

Meeting closes for a second time at 7:30

Meeting called to order by Chairperson at 6:10 p.m.

Members present: Steve McGrew, Phil Van De Wiele Dennis Seisun, Ruben Guilloty. and Jean Shi. Perry Schwartzberg and Jeff Ruiz join later.

New News:

Steve informs the board that the ‘kitchen’ where the meeting comfortably takes place monthly has been reserved for rest of 2021 at no charge to the club.

Concerning elections, there will be three positions open for new candidates.

Dennis will make certain to issue an announcement on the website to alert members.

Jaxon Farris will create the ballots with input from board member Jeff Ruiz.

The Thursday Night Tournament will resume on September 30, 2021 with much thanks for Jaxon Farris for his continued support. Anyone interested in assisting Jaxon on Thursday nights should get in touch with him to contribute.

The large annual tournament is discussed and Memorial Day in May seems to be a good date for it.

Jeff Ruiz as director of the Team League is requested by Dennis Suisen the treasurer to make sure to itemize expenses and provide receipts. Jeff mentions that he has these and will be glad to submit them to Dennis.

Jeff also says that he is ready to go with the team league and suggests that it will get started in mid October. Jeff also would like to have a page on the club website to post league results and news. All think that this is a very good idea and approve.

Sponsorship for league of $2500 is decided upon and a vote of 7-0 approves it.

Steve suggests that we inquire with the park about having our bi-annual picnic and what if any new measures would be required. It may be necessary to get a food truck in the future due to covid or other park limitations. All agree that this might be a good solution if needed.

Phil has revised the by-laws as had previously been discussed and approved by the board and will distribute them when they are available.

In order to stay on the good side of the park & recreation staff, all members will be required to wear a mask when not playing. This is a city rule and must be adhered to. Our club could lose days/hours and there could be other potential ramifications if we do not follow these simple rules.

Meeting closes at 7:20.

Meeting called to order by Chairperson  at 6::30 p.m.

Members present:   Phil Van De Wiele, Perry Schwartzberg, Dennis Seisun and Ruben Guilloty. Steve McGrew joins a bit later. Jean Shi, and Jeff Ruiz absent

Also in attendance Mauizio Bassi.

Discussion begins on options for moving forward with the yearly election of officers. Due to the pandemic, few players have returned and it is understood that the election should be addressed immediately. It is agreed to run an election in November or December of this year. Suresh Kanekar will be notified and asked to once again help with the running of the election. Revision to article 10 of the by-laws is approved. 4-0 unanimous members in attendance. 

Due to previous issues, it is once again reiterated that members in good standing as of January of the year of the election are eligible for candidacy. Also, membership payment must be renewed by January 31 of the election year to be eligible.

New News

It is discussed that more needs to be done to bring the website and sections associated with it up to date and as informative as possible. This includes online payment options which were previously agreed upon to be proportioned based on when during the year a person joins. This as of this meeting has not been posted on the website and needs to be addressed.

It is agreed to that Daryl Sterling, the website manager, should be acknowledged with a gift of $500 from the SDTTA as a show of thanks for his unending help. Also, the same gift is to be given to Maurizio Bassi for his vast amount of work in getting our online reservation system working. All members present agree with a vote of 4-0.

Phil Van De Wiele will put together a list of things needed to update the website and present it to Darryl Sterling for attention.

Talk of the reservation system entails by Maurizio Bassi about the reservation system including growing pains and current status. All agree that it seems to be working well and Dennis Seisun suggests incorporating the system full time. Perry Schwartzberg suggests using it for only a portion of the tables allowing the others to be used for walk-ins. All agree that 1/2 of the tables should be used for reservations even after the restrictions are lifted.

Meeting closes at 7:45.

SDTTA Monthly Board Meeting February 11, 2020

Balboa Park Activity Center Board Meeting Room

Call to order at 7:09PM

• Board Members present: Steve McGrew, Phil Van De Wiele, Jeff Ruiz, Jean Shi, Dennis Seisum, Perry Shwartzberg, Ruben Guilloty
• Other Members: Mustafa Ucozler

• Steve submitted the January Minutes for approval. All approved except Dennis and Ruben because they were not present, otherwise the minutes were approved unanimously.
• Mustafa and Chi Sun Incident
  • Mustafa described the incident that occurred on January 23^rd between Chi Sun Chui and him following a summary he prepared and brought copies to the meeting. In addition the Board was provided with write ups from Jaxon, Chi Sun, Vadim and Puneet. Details of these will be kept in the Board files.
  • At the end of the discussion, Steve recommended (and board agreed) for Ruben to issue a summary letter of the investigation (attached) describing the incident . During the week,  other commentary has come forth on how to communicate the warning to both players, but in summary agreed to not take further disciplinary action and we will document the Verbal action.  
• SDDTTA OPEN
  • Steve/Perry discussed that we will get a $1,000 gift Certificate from Paddle Palace to print their Logo in the SDTTA Open Tournament Entry Form.  All members agreed.
  • There were other recommendations submitted by Perry to increase the prizes on some of the events. All recommendations were accepted and will be included in the Omnipong SD Open page.
  • Discussed the options for lunch or vouchers and agreed that we will provide FREE lunch vouchers to participants for the day of their events. At the time of Registration the participants can purchase additional vouches for family and friends at $8.00 per person. NO VOUCHERS WILL BE SOLD AT THE TOURNAMENT, only sold during Registration.
  • Perry and Dennis suggested we hire Clean and Pick up resources to help at the end of the tournament. There was agreement to proceed with this option. In addition we also agreed to solicit the help of volunteers to also help us pick up and that we would compensate them with Dinner right after the event covered by the Club. 
  • Perry suggested the purchase of a Swifter to clean the floors. It was approved by the Board.
• OUTREACH PROGRAM
  • Jeff brought a general overview of his proposed Table Tennis Outreach Program (attached). There was consensus that the outreach program will be a good thing to do and we agreed that Jeff will be in contact with the different City Community Activity Centers to initiate communications with Management to see how they can participate, support and help us finance this program. Jeff also has certain potential sponsors in mind that can help financially, He will approach them. Jeff ‘s preference is to start with the City of Chula Vista. He will be approaching them and will come back to the Board with their feedback.
• By Laws & Do’s and Don’ts
  • Phil indicated that he has some recommendations of changes the by laws and updates to the Do’s and Don’ts. Phil will update at the next meeting. He also plans to combine the new brochure’s Dos and Don’ts with the Dos and Don’ts Jerry presented that he took from our website.
• October Sanctioned Tournament
  • With the experience gained with the Monthly Tournaments under Phil’s direction we believe that we can have a Sanctioned Tournament in the October timeframe. Phil will identify a Team to help him plan and execute the event.
• Board Organization
  • During the January meeting it was proposed for Ruben to be the Secretary, but during the February meeting Dennis indicated that he needs to transition out of the Treasury activities as he has been in the position for several years. The Board agreed to appoint Ruben (me) to begin a transition into treasurer and that by 2021 Ruben could take over the position and replace Dennis. The Board agreed.
  • Dennis to meet with Ruben to initiate Treasurer integration and transition process
  • As a result of this, Perry will take over the Secretary position moving forward.  All agreed.
• Miscellaneous / Others
  • Confirmed agreement of the SDTTA Subsidized Training at $75.00 X 2 sessions X 3 Trainers = $450.00 + $5.00 to be paid by each student.
  • Trainers (Perry, Pisa and Jean). Perry to post sign-up sheets and set up training schedule.
  • Steve indicated that Patrick and Jema were requesting training support for their upcoming competitions. We agreed that they can join the subsidized training program.
  • Patrick wants to see the P&L (Profit & Loss Statement). The board agreed that it is OK to do this. Dennis will bring the most recent P& L and will show it to Patrick. Timing is TBD

Meeting closed at 8:25 PM