(1) WELCOME AND OPENING ADDRESS (George Braithwaite)
(1A) Election of a Secretary:
George nominated Kyna Fong for Secretary and Gary Steadman seconded the motion. Kyna was elected
Secretary
(2) ROLL CALL (Kyna Fong)
USERTTL Members Present: George Braithwaite, Douglas Haynes, Charlene Xiaoying Liu, Gary Steadman,
Kyna Fong5/1/2000, 8 p.m.
USATT Reps Present: Larry Hodges, Sheri Pittman
Absent: Lily Yip, Barry Dattel, Adam Goodman,
Desiree' Diaz
Desiree' has to work late and Adam has an unexpected but mandatory class to attend.
Lily and Barry have left a message that they
will join at 8:30.
(3) FUNDING REPORT (George Braithwaite)
George reports that at the Nov. 12-14,1999
USATT Board Meeting in Colorado Springs, he submitted
a presentation requesting USATT funding of $8000. The
Board approved a seed money grant of $1000, pending
submission of a complete plan, after which the Board
will consider approving the remaining balance of
funding ($7000) for implementation of the league
hopefully in 9/00. After tonight's meeting, George
will draw up a complete plan for league operation that
he hopes to submit at the next Board of Directors
meeting on May 5-7, the upcoming weekend.
Sherry mentions that she is doubtful that
additional funding can be approved this weekend.
George says that getting the additional
funding later in the year is fine since implementation
of the league is scheduled to begin around the 3rd
week of September. If by that time the necessary
amount is not available from the Board, he will accept
whatever it takes to get the program off the ground,
which is the most important task. The initial support
of USATT in the first season is imperative, after
which hopefully the league will be self-sustaining.
(4) DATE OF IMPLEMENTATION (Barry Dattel)
Barry has not yet arrived at this point in
the conference.
(5) STATES COORDINATORS (Douglas Haynes)
Doug suggests that the league choose
representatives from each state whose main function
would be to serve as contacts in the area for those
interested in the league, to help spread the word
about the league and to help mail out to all USATT
members in the area.
Gary suggests that the State Coordinators
also eventually be responsible for scheduling events,
and filtering and reporting results of league matches
to league leaders.
Both suggestions are accepted
Coordinators-
- NH and VT: Douglas Haynes
- ME: Doug has someone in mind
- NY George Braithwaite and
- NJ Gary Steadman and Barry Dattel
- MA Adam Goodman and Lin Ming Chui
- PA Hank McCoullun (awaiting Hank's response)
So, coordinators are still needed for CT, DE, VA, WVA, and RI.
Sheri mentions that if Olympians are to
participate in the league, the date of implementation
will have to be moved back since the Olympics are from
Sept. 15-27. George agrees, so the league starting
date is moved back to end of September/beginning of
October.
Barry and Lily join conference: 8:30.
(6) MAILING FOR EASTERN REGION MEMBERSHIP (Adam
Goodman)
Adam is not present.
(7) NUMBER OF DIVISIONS FOR FIRST SEASON (Gary
Steadman)
For maximum participation, Gary suggests four
divisions, A-D, A consisting of the highest-level
players down to D, stopping around 1300 for the first
year. We need 1300 level players for the league to be
successful since the majority of the USATT membership
is around 1300-1400.
Barry objects to the plan, advocating
starting off small in a certain area, ideally New York
City since George is there, for the first season and
expanding from there will be the key to success. The
advantage of this method is that a small group of us
could have complete control over every operation and
function of the league and be able to work out kinks,
etc., creating a model for future divisions to follow.
This small NYC division would feature only top-level
players because they would create an entertaining and
interesting show that would build up exposure and
encourage people to get involved.
Doug objects to Barry's idea because many
people are not able to travel all the way to New York,
and also many regions are unable to field premier
players. Maximum participation should be key. He
suggests combining Gary's and Barry's ideas by having
elite divisions that put on a show and popularize the
sport while still having 3rd and 4th division players
getting together without audiences.
George reminds us that travel will only occur
in the top 2 divisions. The other two divisions will
meet in their own states without much travel.
Gary also brings up the point that USATT
funding is limited so maximum participation is
important for financial reasons as well.
In response to Sheri's question of what $8000
is needed for, George lists the following:
- Funding travel expenses for elite teams
- Prize money, awards
- Official umpires
- Advertising, publicizing to promote a well-structured organization
- Paying for venues to hold league meets
- Etc. (many miscellaneous items as well)
Sheri notes that $8000 doesn't seem
sufficient. George replies that he could not have
asked for more without fearing rejection from the
Board. He went in with an amount that would at least
get the program off the ground, hoping to get
additional funds from other sources.
Barry maintains that starting small is better
both in order to provide a prototype as well as to not
spread ourselves too thin. The problem with starting
big is that we can't do it all ourselves and will have
to rely on others, which may not work out quite so
well. He suggests for the first season, keeping the
league in one area with a specified number of teams.
George agrees with Barry that marketing the
league is of top priority and that starting small
would accomplish that goal. Rather than spreading
ourselves thin and falling apart due to improper
management, we want to be a success. The first season
can be a prototype, paving the way for others to
follow.
A decision has yet to be reached, pending
further research.
(8) PROPORTIONATE DISTRIBUTION OF TEAMS IN ALL
DIVISIONS? (Barry Dattel)
George suggests that to prevent one or two
teams from being overly dominant, which may deter some
players from getting involved, we should consider
setting maximum and minimum number of rating points
per team. Teams should be balanced to maintain
competitiveness.
Barry notes that a problem with that idea is
less quality matches for people to watch and thus a
poorer show.
George believes equalizing the strength of
teams is important because if teams come at full
strength, only three or four states will be able to
compete. Still, he concedes that a decision on team
distribution is conditional on who is interested in
participating in the league. So we need to gauge
interest through a mass mailing.
Charlene suggests just sending to players
2400 and above to save budget because proportional
distribution depends only upon those players
participation.
Larry suggests mailing out to top 100 players
in the NE for a $33 flat rate.
George states that the incentive for top
players to play in the league will be season-end prize
money. He also stresses that if the league is going
to be a professional one, it must be kept separate
from USATT tournaments.
(9) LEAGUE FORMAT (Charlene Xiaoying Liu)
Three formats are presented: best of 5, best
of 7 and best of 9.
George favors best of 7 because it also has a
doubles match and each of the three players gets to
play at least two matches each.
Larry suggests that best of 7 may be too
tiresome for spectators and supports best of 5.
Decision is made to hold best of 5 team ties
in the higher divisions and best of 7 team ties in the
lower divisions. The finals of all divisions will be
best of 7.
(10) ENTRY AND RATING FEES PER TEAM (Gary Steadman)
Gary suggests $60-70 season fee per team,
plus a $15 rating fee.
A decision is made that all league
participants must become full USATT members.
(11) POINTS SYSTEM FOR TEAM MATCH RESULTS
A decision is made to award 5 points per win,
3 points per loss and 0 points per default.
Regarding substitutes, the favored idea is to
allow each team to have a roster of players from which
they can choose; this roster must be set by a certain
date.
(12) POSTING OF RESULTS
Results will be posted on the website, as
well as in the newsletter.
(13) FREQUENCY OF PLAY WEEKLY/BI-MONTHLY/MONTHLY (Kyna
Fong)
Kyna suggests bi-monthly meetings to maximize
participation rate.
George suggests having monthly meets but with
teams not having to go to every meet so that on
average each team travels once every two months. A
schedule will have to be established and distributed
to teams.
Barry suggests shorter seasons, 3 or 4
months, in order to keep up interest because people
lose interest when they are out of contention; plus, a
shorter season is a shorter and more attractive length
of commitment.
Decision on frequency of play has yet to be
reached, pending further discussion and research.
The first set of league finals will be held
in NYC.
(14) SHOULD RESULTS BE PROCESSED FOR USATT RATING (Charlene Xiaoying Liu)
Results will not be processed for USATT
ratings. League ratings that won't affect national
ratings will be developed. However, George adds that,
included in the mailing would be a questionnaire to
find out what processing system players would prefer.
(15) RULES AND OTHER COMMITTEES:
Due to time constraints, this topic is left
for later discussion.
(16) NEWSLETTER
A newsletter will be sent out once every two
or three months. George's contacts at the UN will
print these newsletters free of charge.
(17) INCENTIVES FOR PLAYERS
This topic was touched upon previously and
the main incentive was decided to be season-end prize
money, as well as some money to help defray expenses
for teams to travel.
(18) DISCUSSION ON BECOMING A NON-PROFIT AFFILIATE OF
THE USATT (Charlene Xiaoying Liu)
George would like to have non-profit status
but is worried about taxes, liability, etc.
Larry strongly suggests becoming a USATT
affiliate because the major benefits of USATT already
having coverage and liability are indispensable.
The league will be autonomous but will stay
under the USATT umbrella. Sheri and George will
discuss this topic more with the USATT attorney.
(19) SHOULD ALL PARTICIPANTS BE USATT MEMBERS (Douglas
Haynes)
Decision previously reached is that all
participants must become USATT members.
To open up the league to unrated players and
to fit them into divisions, we decide to have rating
assessors to give assessed ratings.
We also decided that there will be no moving
between divisions during a season no matter what
results are achieved during the season.
(20) OPPORTUNITY FOR OFFICERS TO MAKE ADDITIONAL
PRESENTATIONS
Team uniforms will be required.
Barry suggests that the league fund league
shirts to be given to finalists to wear during the
finals. These shirts can easily be donated by
sponsors.
The league will use whatever size balls USATT
decides to use.
(21) ADJOURNMENT
George thanks everyone for coming and motions
for the meeting to be adjourned.
The motion is seconded and the meeting is
adjourned at 10:20 p.m.
