Programs

See bottom for a list of resources for your club

Developing Programs for Your Club

Three major programs for clubs:

• Beginning Classes (See Beginning Class Primer).
• Junior Training Programs (See Junior Training Primer).
• USATT League, which started in September, 2003. 

USA Table Tennis invites you to join us in promoting table tennis with these programs. Why not set up a Beginning Class, a Junior Training Program, or a USATT League at your club? You'll bring in new players for your club and USATT, while getting well paid for your work as a promoter or coach. See the Beginning Class Primer or Junior Training Primer for more info, and the USATT League page, or contact USATT Executive Director Doru Gheorghe.

The Problem

It happens over and over in clubs all over the country.

Someone walks into a table tennis club. Either he is avoided by the experienced players, who don't want to play a beginner, or he plays someone and gets killed. You never see him again.

A mom walks into a club with two kids. She asks if there are any programs for her kids. There aren't any, and so she leaves and enrolls her kids in little league baseball. Or a kid shows up at a club, gets killed by an experienced adult, and he leaves to find a program in another sport where he can play against other kids his age and level.

A regular club player gradually plays less and less, and finally doesn't show up at all. We have no programs for him, just disorganized open play.

How do we keep these players?

The Solution

Let's look at the three cases above. In the first, the new player couldn't compete and didn't have any way of learning about the sport. The solution? A beginning class where he learns about the game, develops basic techniques, and gets to play his own peer group - the other beginners in the class. The Beginning Class Primer was written for this.

In the second case, the club needs to have a junior training program. The Junior Training Primer was written for this.

In the third case, the club needs a league to hold current players' interest. That's what the USATT League is for. 

The Result

Everybody wins!

• New Players learn the basics of the sport and become part of their own peer group.
• Junior Players join a training program with their peers.
• Continuing Players play in a weekly league.
• The Club gets new members while making a profit.
• USA Table Tennis gets new members.
• The Coach/Promoter who sets up and runs the program gets paid.

The Goal

• Beginning Classes in clubs all over the country.
• Junior Training Programs in clubs all over the country.
• USATT Leagues in clubs and other locations all over the country. Not only can these leagues be run in clubs, but they can be run anywhere there are tables. 

Helpful Resources

• USATT Home Page
• USATT League
• USATT Junior Training Primer
• USATT Beginning Class Primer
• Professional Table Tennis Coaches Primer (pdf format)
• USATT Instructor's Guide to Table Tennis (pdf format)
• USATT Junior Page
• USATT Tournament Guide
• USATT Certified Coaches
• USATT Certified Clubs
• USATT Club Handbook
• Sample USATT Club Bylaws (in Word format)
• USATT Certified Equipment Dealers
• Would you like to affiliate your club with USA Table Tennis?

Need Help in Setting Up Your Programs?

Contact USATT Executive Director Doru Gheorghe.