June 26, 2002
USATT News a Canupnet Editorial
Ms. Pittman is forced to deal with the shocking resignation of Ray Essick and try to spin it to the membership. Canupnet Editor, Terry Canup, had the great good fortune to interface with Mr. Essick while we were blessed with his stewardship as USATT Executive Director. It is quite unfortunate that we lost him as he is an outstanding leader and administrator. Had we been able to keep him, he could have done great things for our sport and our association. Mr. Canup was working with Ray in Terry's capacity as Sport Coordinator for Houston 2012, the Olympic Bid Committee for the City of Houston for the Summer Olympics. The USOC Bid Selection Committee is due to make its final inspection of Houston in mid July. Ray was dynamic and positive and earned the respect of everyone at Houston 2012.
His loss is a crushing blow for us in USATT.
President Pittman is very enlightening in her report. She admits (begrudgingly) that she has not done what she said she would while she campaigned for office. This is not surprising. She is a consummate politician, and politicians rarely do what they say. However, if we examine what she says closely, we see a little bit more of where Sheri comes from.
She says she campaigned on a platform of reform. She says she has not made those reforms. We say she has indeed "reformed us". When Sheri took office, USATT was in the black financially, had multiple players in the top 100 in the world, had a world team ranked near the top, and was developing a strong stable of junior and youth players to enhance our position. We had a resident training program and a National Training Center. There were regular training camps held by USATT for team members to prepare them for major competitions. USATT was well respected internationally for our world class officiating/refereeing crew which was highly sought after the world over. Our friends to the north, the CTTA thought of us as equals and battled us (in a positive way) for supremacy of leadership in directing table tennis in North America. 19,000,000 Americans claimed table tennis as an active sport in which they participated.
Sheri has successfully eliminated all of these encumbrances to USATT. No top players, teams with horrendous results in world competition, no money, no training center, no training at all! We now have a decimated junior program, and a dissolved officiating organization. The world now laughs at, rather than respects USATT. Our neighbors to the north now offer us hand outs as if food to vagrants. Participation in the US is down dramatically. Sheri sells herself short on her work in this regards. She has become personally very powerful in the ITTF by selling out her association, its members, and its players. Let's give credit where credit is due.
She speaks of Ray Essick's resignation and points out that he had very bad experiences with many members while he was here. She says Ray worked with too many people interested in their own individual gain. (she calls it the what's in it for me concept). We agree. What Sheri fails to mention is that MOST OF RAY'S DEALINGS WERE WITH HER AND THE BOARD!!!! Anyone surprised that he left after experiencing that?
She says that things can now change, that we should not be pointing guns at each other. This is all well and good, but why, oh why, do we get the feeling that she will unleash the same vicious attack dogs in this upcoming election that she has successfully used in the last two? She continues to hire, appoint, affiliate with, and promote those that use devastating personal attacks to better themselves at the expense of the sport, the association, and other members. Attacks that time and again prove baseless and with no substance, but linger long enough to destroy reputations and volunteer's desires to participate? She makes reference to the negative "culture of our association". What she does not admit is that it is Sheri herself that is the master practitioner of this culture.
She says in this time of trouble
she has been greatly humbled. We think she meant humiliated.
Humbleness is not part of President Pittman's, or any good politician's
makeup. Will she and her crew survive this humiliation? Probably,
after all, Clinton survived humiliation after humiliation, and he is the
model politician she is emulating.