Laguna Woods Table Tennis Club has invited our senior members (50 and above),  to a friendly tournament on  March 10th. Our club is going to have a 15 passenger van at 8am on Saturday the 10th of March in front of Activity Center to pick up members who like to go play in tournament. Space is limited to the first 15 members who reserve their place.

If you like to use your own transportation please let me know so that they will be ready at Laguna Hills. Lunch, fruits and drinks will be provided free of charge to our players courtesy of Laguna Woods Club. Each player will play at least 2 singles and one doubles. Send me a text: Behnam, the Public Relation Director, at  6198894922.   

Thanks

 

San Diego Table Tennis Association (SDTTA)
USA Table Tennis Member Club

USA Table Tennis (USATT) and affiliated clubs are committed to maintaining safe and healthy environments for all of our members to train and compete in. Taking and passing the SafeSport tutorial course is now a mandatory safety requirement for all USATT Committee Members, Tournament Directors, Referees, Umpires, Officials, Club Owners, Coaches and anyone else that works with minors.

All coaches working within USATT Affiliated Clubs must pass a background check and the USOC’s online SafeSport tutorial. Coaches not in compliance may not work or participate in Affiliated Club activities until such time as the background check and SafeSport training are complete. Failure to comply will result in immediate termination of the Club’s Affiliation including the associated member insurance program.

Simply put, every person who is in a position of actual, perceived, or implied authority over table tennis athletes at a member club and/or is in a position that requires frequent contact with table tennis athletes at a member club must become compliant.  

While child physical and sexual abuse is one type of misconduct, it is important to remember that this policy covers many inappropriate behaviors that do not involve children at all. This policy applies regardless of the ages of the individuals involved in the alleged activity.

Here, we identify six primary types of misconduct:

• Sexual Misconduct, including Child Sexual Abuse
• Emotional Misconduct
• Physical Misconduct
• Bullying
• Harassment
• Hazing

All forms of misconduct are intolerable and in direct conflict with USATT ideals.

Becoming SafeSport compliant is easy, can be cost free, and is described in the following documents from the USATT.org website:

• Safesport Information
• SafeSport Policies and Procedures
• SafeSport Background Check
• SafeSport Compliance Update
• SafeSport Tutorial Procedures 

 

February 13, 2018

Meeting called to order by Chairperson at 7 p.m.

Members present: Behnam Kazemi, Steve McGrew, Perry Schwartzberg Bob Koch, Jaxon Faris, Phil Van De Wiele, and Dennis Seisun

Kelly Byrne, San Diego Senior Games Commissioner present.

Motion made to approve last month’s minutes, motion carried.

Kelly Byrne informs the board about the San Diego Senior Games and the need for Volleyball to utilize the entire facility on the day that table tennis competes.

Issues include a cost for the facility if table tennis is moved to another day and who would and should pay for such costs. All agree that this should be the volleyball group since they are asking for the change. The best date found is September 15 but needs to be confirmed by checking the Balboa Park schedule.

The board thanks her for her work and that we will get back to her on the dates. She will contact volleyball to tell them that they must pay any excess costs for the table tennis tournament.

Kelly Byrne exits the meeting.

Old Business:

Bob: Need to check minutes before approval. Inquires if corrections are made prior to approval. Perry says that he will check on it.

Steve: Talks about tables. There are 27 made and in the storage room at Balboa Park, 5 still unmade and in our storage unit. We need 31 tables for the tournament in May to run properly. Steve suggests that at this point, we do not sell any more tables. All members agree.

Behnam: Inquires if the tables are still in storage.

Bob: Suggests that we get them out as the storage contract ends at the end of March.

Steve: Inquires if we have room for 5 more tables in our storage at Balboa.

Perry: Suggest we get rid of the desk to make more room

General agreement that we need to see how many tables we can comfortably get into the room.

Steve: We may be needing short barriers. A count needs to be made to make certain we have enough for the tournament.
Phil: Shows a diagram of the tournament layout for May showing tables and barriers needed.
Further study needs to be done to confirm that we have substantial barriers for the tournament.

Steve: Mentions the new ball machine and that we need a committee for set up and set down and also to show members how to use it.
Perry: More balls are needed for the machine
Vote on getting more balls for the machine unanimous 7-0.

Steve: Talks about the BPAC meeting that he and Phil attended. “Not much to say”
Steve and Phil will show up regularly so that they get a voice to vote on matters.
It appears that after June, it will be more difficult to get things done as dealing with the City of San Diego will be more difficult than our previous contact, the Balboa Park Athletic Council.

Steve: Talks about lighting, and wish that we could improve dark areas including the front row and corners.
Phil: Mentions that we need a certain brightness in order to hold a 4 star tourney.

Steve: We sold 2 tables, those will be the last that we are currently going to sell.

Steve: We may need trophies for the tournament and don’t want cheap little trophies.
Bob: Have books with trophy options and will look into it.
Steve: Kids should get trophies at our tournament.
Board consensus agrees.
Dennis: $350 should go to trophies for 8 events, 1st and 2nd places.
Agreed by all.

Steve: Subsidized coaching thoughts?
Dennis: Good idea. Many people liked it, club money spent well for the members.
Phil: Great idea.
Board: Two coaches, six weeks, same thing as last time. Perry and Pisa coaches.

Steve: Half price entry costs to our big tournament for kids? Baja kids and other kids?
Do we need to change the entry fees for kids? Need to ask Attila how this affects him.

Phil: Second Sunday tournament went well.
Jaxon: Really enjoyed playing.
Phil Second Sunday scrubbed in March due to closure at Balboa.
Steve: Let’s continue it. Next events: u-700, u-1100, u-1550, and Open.
Phil: Let’s give a Balboa rating bonus for winners and runner-ups.
Also, we should go ahead and get a larger number of trophies to cut the costs, maybe 50 trophies.
Board agrees.

Steve: Is Bob continuing streaming video at the Thursday night tournament?
Bob: Since the level has gone down on the first table, I have not done it lately.
Dennis: Let Bob decide when to do it.
Steve: Maybe give prizes to boost the top table? Maybe equipment?
Jaxon: Participation is going down somewhat, and the top level is low currently.
Dennis: Does a stronger player bring in more top players?
Jaxon: Yes
Board agrees to discuss further means to build participation and level on Thursday tournament.

Behnam: The Laguna Hills club wants to do an inner-club event for competition. Can we get a bus? Players eligible are to be over 55 years old and up to 1900 level.
Board agrees that this is a great event and Benham agrees to organize it.

Behnam: Let’s subsidize shirts for the club.
Board wants nice shirts but Steve suggests that they are not easily found at a decent price.
More work will be done to locate something that will work for all.

Dennis: Let’s have our meeting in March at Simon Lee’s restaurant in Mira Mesa.
Board agrees.

Meeting adjourned 8:30 p.m.

Submitted by:
Perry Schwartzberg
Secretary

Looking for somewhere to play while the club is closed?

Here are a few suggestions:

December 12, 2017
Meeting called to order at 7.05 p.m.

Members present: Behnam Kazemi, Steve McGrew, Dennis Seisun, Perry Schwartzberg plus three new board members: Bob Koch, Jaxon Faris, and Phil Van de Wiele.

New members voted in by board. Approved unanimously.

Discussed positions to be filled and adjusted. Agreed upon:

• Steve McGrew: Chairperson
• Jaxon Faris:  Vice-Chairperson
• Dennis Suisen:  Treasurer
• Phil Van De Wiele:  Executive Director
• Perry Schwartzberg:  Secretary
• Bob Koch Member:  Relations
• Benham Kazemi:  Public Relations

All voted in 7-0 approved by board.

SDTTA member June Lim brings up ideas to better the club including:

Changing the Thursday Tournament to a different day or perhaps adding another day for a different Tournament. Board agrees that Thursday night Tournament is a staple but also that another day, most likely on the weekend, would be looked into. According to the survey taken during the vote submitted by Phil Van de Wiele, Saturday would be the best day for another Tournament.

Showing up late for the Thursday tournament also is discussed as a problem for Jaxon who runs the event and also as inconsiderate to the participants who have to wait for contestants to play against.

Bob Koch would like the club to purchase balls for the membership. Also something that the board is willing to consider.

Benham inquires to Steve if we have talked to Craig Crum about running the May tournament along with Gao Jun. Steve replies that he has not and that we need to be looking into other options for a tournament director.

Benham inquires about the issue with our storage for the tables which is up in February. Currently have 5 new tables in storage. Soon only 3 and the thought is to use better storage in our room at Balboa and perhaps bring those three tables into this room. Bob thinks it can be done.

Bob suggests selling the tables we currently have that are not in good shape for $300 ea. to make room for the new ones.

Dennis motions to sell tables at $300, Bob seconds the motion. Vote 7-0 in favor.

Board discusses subsidized coaching which was one of the desired programs according to the survey mentioned previously. The board would like to do so on a limited basis, perhaps on a fixed day of the month. More talk of this program in the new year.

Membership fee is approved to stay at $50/mo., free for Juniors under 17 years old.

Bob suggests upping the prize money for the May tournament. Suggestion to be considered at the next meeting.

Perry suggested that the first time free is somewhat problematic. Others agree but no action is taken.

Phil suggests that the Web Calendar needs ‘help’, and that he should be able to handle it.

Bob suggests that the introduction pamphlet needs updated – hours, days, etc. Perhaps put it on a larger legal size paper.

Board discusses:

1. Renewal of the phone for Jaxon who mentions that he mostly uses his own phone on Thursday night for the Tournament.
2. Video instruction for new members on club etiquette, equipment usage, etc.
3. Thoughts on a ‘member spotlight’ interview for the website is discussed.
4. At the big tournament, we would look more professional if we had the umpire stands and towel stands. Most agreed that this was a good idea.

Last issues included buying a robot and also a white board for the club as the robots currently used are not working properly. The robot would be used for those who are looking to play but can’t as of yet find a game. A robot committee would need to be formed to help with the set up, set down, and general usage.

All agreed and vote was 7-0 for.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.

Submitted by

Perry Schwartzberg

SDTTA Board Secretary