San Diego Table Tennis Association

The Mission of SDTTA is to foster a community of table tennis enthusiasts; a place where players of all levels can discover their passion for the sport, develop their skills and health, and compete regularly in a friendly atmosphere.

Meeting Minutes: 2-21-2012

February 21st, 2012

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San Diego Table Tennis Association

Board Meeting, 2012

February 21, 2012

7:05 PM

Balboa Park Activity Center Board Room

This meeting is open to all members of the SDTTA. Call to order 7:12 pm by Ron. SDTTA Board Members Present: Ron Spencer, Bill Chang, James Kahn, Borko Dragojlovic, Shelley Hardy, Earl Alto and Shariq Ansari The approval of January 10, 2012 minutes was made by Shelley and seconded by Borko. Communications not on the agenda have a limit of 3 minutes. Action Items:

Treasurer’s Report: Bill Chang passed out the Treasurer’s Report that has reconciled us through January 31, 2012.
Webmaster Report – Daryl Sterling: Daryl would like all concerns regarding website to be emailed to him.
Peewee / Jr Report / Angie – Brana – Earl: Earl is on the board so he has volunteered to be the go between for communications to Stell/Angie coaching group. The discussion regarding Jr team will be tabled until the next board meeting.
Equipment/Executive Director’s report: Borko stated that players are breaking the nets at a rapid rate. He needs help with care of equipment and James will be working with him. It was suggested to protect the net assembly by keeping the assembly in the metal cabinet and then taken to the tables. This action will be put on the SDTTA website with a sign posted for members to obtain the nets. Ron and Shelley will meet to clean the metal cabinet out making space for the nets.
Membership report – Borko: Not available. Borko will contact Mark Adelman to get the website to order membership covers.

Old Business:

Tournament Update: Earl has come up with Columbus Day weekend October 6 – 7th to have the Neal Smythe Memorial Tournament. Earl consulted with Sungil and Angie about having a Giant round robin on Saturday limiting it to 60 people then having a small regular tournament on Sunday. The fee for Saturday’s round robin would be $45.
Membership Enforcement – Everyone’s Duty – Thursday night is a good night for membership collection. Phil can print a current membership on Thursday night round robin. Board members can go to players that night and get them signed up during play. Borko has been volunteering his time Thursday night to collect daily play fees and taking new membership fees.

New issues:

1 Tournament request from Anthony LaChica who represents San Diego fire fighters who want to have a small table tennis tournament at our facility. The request has been approved by the San Diego Table Tennis Board Members.

2 SDTTA sign up for membership to USTTA. USTTA gives our club a 15% discount when we send our members forms to join and be a member of USTTA. The fee to join is now $49. SDTTA voted to pass this discount to the members who want to join USTTA. The cost to each SDTTA member is $42 and the member will pay to a SDTTA board member with the form that amount.

No sitting on tables enforcement: The SDTTA board members want to enforce that no one should be sitting on the tables for any reason.
Sample barriers and table from HiQua TT. Ron spoke to a sales representative of HiQua who has tables and barriers that our club may want to check for future needs and quality. The rep has not gotten back to Ron. Ron will email the board about getting sample barriers which can have the SDTTA name on them.

James made a motion to adjourn and it was seconded by Borko.

The next meeting is March 13, 2012.

Respectfully Submitted,

Shelley Hardy, SDTTA Secretary

SDTTA Member on Fox 5 News!

February 11th, 2012

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Were you at the club last Monday wondering why there was a man filming inside the club? Well, it was Troy Hirsch and his crew doing a segment for Fox 5 News! They came to do a story on our very own Paralympic hopeful, Daryl Sterling Jr., and tell the community what he’s trying to accomplish with his training, traveling, and international competitions. If you didn’t catch it live during the Fox 5 News, you can view it online here. View the full story here: http://pingponghero.com/fox5news

“Memories” by Brana Vlašić

January 29th, 2012

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Our club lost an irreplaceable leader last year. The list of Mr. Neil Smyth’s achievements is endless. From attending Yale University and being a member of the U.S. Navy, to being a Vice-President of the Las Vegas hotel Caesars Palace, he left an impact on a lot of people. Next to all this, he was a great family man. He may not be with us anymore, but the footprint he left on our lives is too big to be ignored. It was a fall day when Mr. Neil approached and welcomed me to the San Diego Table Tennis Club. I don’t remember the details, but the truth is that very often we forget the first encounter with those we end up being close with.

I have never seen someone of that age being so good and active in our sport. He said that table tennis is the only sport where he can still beat those younger and faster than him. He had a strange way of holding the paddle, and managed to keep it that way even though many suggested that he should change it. His serves seemed simple, but a lot of people had trouble returning them. He loved playing doubles. After a won point, he would celebrate quietly, without provoking his opponent. At the end of a won match he would just say victoriously: “That’s it!” Every won match was important to him. He would talk about these victories with people close to him, and after them he would go home satisfied. On the other hand, we knew that even if he lost, Mr. Neil would be rushing back to Balboa Park the next day ready to challenge some other people.

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I heard that he left his hometown New York and the other cities in which he lived, and moved to San Diego because of the beach and table tennis. Most likely the latter being the bigger motive. No matter how fancy an occasion, Mr. Neil always wore a table tennis pin on his coat. The love he had for the sport was enormous and many of us know this. I had the honor of being his doubles partner many times, but this was only when his favorite partner, Borko, wasn’t there.He wasn’t just respected in the table tennis world. During one of the USATT Nationals in Las Vegas, after I had lost my room key and was wondering around the hotel clueless, I luckily ran into Mr. Neil and the problem was solved. He told the security to contact some important guy of the hotel, don’t remember who, and after about a minute of explaining who he was and what he has done I received my new room key and a huge smile. Mr. Neil was the treasurer on the San Diego Table Tennis Board of Directors. Phil Van De Wiele recalls that during the board meetings when Mr. Neil spoke everybody listened. He was the one collecting the daily fees from all the players and he always knew who paid, and who didn’t, and who needs to be charged the daily fee and who doesn’t. He was serious about it, but very respectful. His handwritten membership database was always extremely accurate and in the alphabetical order. Mr. Neil asked Phil to run the Senior Olympics one year. Just like in picking his doubles partners and choosing which serve to serve, this wasn’t an accident. He trusted Phil as someone who will do the job right. But just in case he sent Phil “a hand written detailed description on seven pages of yellow legal sized paper covering every facet of the preparation and execution of a quality tournament.” Even though our club can’t be compared with the Navy or with the Caesars Palace, everything Mr. Neil did was in a very professional manner. Mr. Neil was approachable to everybody. As a new member of the club Ms. Lyndelle Fairlie first talked to him about joining the club. With his kind words he urged Ms. Lyndelle to start attending the Thursday night tournaments and to play the Senior Olympics. His warmth allowed her to become a great senior athlete of our club. Mark Adelman describes Mr. Neil in the most fitting words: “He was man of extraordinary character and integrity, with a fierce competitive instinct. He was also a man of tremendous empathy. He cared very much about his fellow men. He had an air of grace & dignity about him. That’s a rare combination for any man.” Many members agree with Mark and say that Mr. Neil’s presence will be greatly missed, but that his legacy is something that will remain forever. The last tournament Mr. Neil played was the 2011 San Diego Senior Games. This time he played doubles with Micha Vlašić. They made it to the finals but were defeated by Aharon Shapiro and Mark Adelman. This silver medal was important for Mr. Neil especially because all of the men at the table were players younger and much higher rated than he was. Mr. Neil did a lot in his life. He is an inspiration and an example of hard work and dedication towards the things one loves. The thought that we won’t see him at the club anymore is strange. The end of life of those that meant a lot to us always comes as a surprise. It finds us unprepared. At first it takes away our words and later we slowly get used to the loss. We will carry the memories of our friend and mentor Mr. Neil Smyth for a long time. He will never be forgotten.

Brana Vlašić January, 2012

Meeting Minutes: 1-10-2012

January 19th, 2012

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San Diego Table Tennis Association

Board Meeting, 2012

January 10, 2012

7:05 PM

Balboa Park Activity Center Board Room

This meeting is open to all members of the SDTTA

Call to order by James.

SDTTA Board Members Present: Bill Chang, James Kahn, Borko Dragojlovic, Shelley Hardy, Earl Alto and Shariq Ansari SDTTA Members not present: Ron Spencer The approval of December 13, 2011 minutes was made by James and seconded by Borko. Communications not on the agenda have a limit of 3 minutes. Treasurer’s Report: Bill Chang passed out the Treasurer’s Report that has reconciled us through December 31, 2011. Bill wrote a check for the 2012 monthly SDTTA Board Meetings to BPAC. One more Board Member was needed to be on the checking account and Shelley volunteered. SDTTA Board Member Positions were voted on unanimously by the board members present. Chairman of the Board – Ron Spencer Vice Chairman- James Kahn Member Relations Director – Borko Dragojlovic Executive Director – Shariq Ansari Secretary – Shelley Hardy Treasurer – Bill Chang Public Relations Director – Earl Alto Action Items:

Earl came up with three possible dates to have the Smythe Memorial tournament take place which are Labor Day Weekend, Columbus Day or Veteran’s Day weekend. He will be presenting the board with more information at the next board meeting.
2012 SDTTA Membership Drive: Recommendations were made by the board to put up a sign that membership is due and a $5 daily fee applies after February 1st with members displaying their new membership stamps visibly while playing and having this also posted on the website.
Shelley volunteered to look for a sign/stand to put out for all players to read about membership and fees.
Members of the board will get together to learn how to post the members who have paid this next Fri at 6 pm here at the activity center.

New Business: There is a newly purchased table that is broken. James, Borko and Earl volunteered to check over the table to see if it can be repaired.

The next meeting of the SDTTA board will be February 14, 2012.

James made a motion to adjourn and it was seconded by Bill.

Respectfully Submitted,

Shelley Hardy, SDTTA Secretary

Best Table Tennis Shots of 2011 (Xmas Edition)

December 25th, 2011

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Meeting Minutes: 12-13-2011

December 13th, 2011

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San Diego Table Tennis Association

Board Meeting, 2011

December 13, 2011

Balboa Park Activity Center Board Room

This meeting is open to all members of the SDTTA. Call to order by Ron at 7:07 pm. SDTTA Board Members Present: Mark, James, Borko, Ron Spencer, Bill, Earl and Shelley SDTTA Member Present: Sungil, Phil Vanderlin, and Emilion SDTTA Board Member minutes for the month of November, 2011 were passed. The motion to pass was made by Mark and seconded by Borko Treasurers Report: Bill passed out the treasurer’s report which is reconciled through November 30, 2011. Communications not on the agenda have a limit of 3 minutes. Current Items:

Congratulations to the newly elected board members for the years 2012 & 21013. Bill Chang, Shelley Hardy, Borko and Shariq Ansari were elected. It was decided to vote on positions at January’s meeting.

New Business: Ron invited SDTTA members who have experience with running tournaments to give input on hosting a 3 to 4 star Neil Smythe Memorial Tournament. The intention is to host this tournament annually. Sungil explained that we can explore different avenues to center the tournament around such as: a national champion invitational, honoring veterans, or a charity event. The discussion included trying to determine how big of a tournament did we want. The range included a 4 star through to a 2 star. Earl Alto was elected by the board to be Tournament Director. The motion to nominate Earl was made by Shelley and seconded by Mark. The tournament committee needed to support Earl volunteered are:

Angie Bengston

Mark Adelman – help

Phil Van der phil – help

Emilion – promotion

Ron Spencer-sponsorship

Cameron

All SDTTA members are invited to help and are needed to help make this tournament a success.

Equipment/membership report: Borko stated that the current membership is around 300.
Webmaster Report/Daryl Sterling: no report
Pewee/Jr Report/Angie- Brana-Earl. No report.
Executive Director’s report: No report.

The next meeting is January 10, 2012. The motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Mark and seconded by James. Respectfully Submitted, Shelley Hardy, SDTTA Secretary

Andre Scott Brings Home TWO Medals!

November 19th, 2011

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Our very own Andre Scott, member of the 2011 United States Parapan Am team, just came back from Guadalajara, Mexico. He was there competing in the 2011 Parapan Am Games and won two medals! First, he clinched the silver in the singles event, and a few days later captured the bronze medal in the team event! Be sure to congratulate our club super star when you see him! You can read more details on the Team USA website by clicking here!

Meeting Minutes: 2-21-2012

San Diego Table Tennis Association

Board Meeting, 2012

SDTTA Member on Fox 5 News!

“Memories” by Brana Vlašić

Meeting Minutes: 1-10-2012

San Diego Table Tennis Association

Board Meeting, 2012

Best Table Tennis Shots of 2011 (Xmas Edition)

Meeting Minutes: 12-13-2011

San Diego Table Tennis Association

Board Meeting, 2011

Andre Scott Brings Home TWO Medals!

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