I'm on this group....
https://www.facebook.com/BayAreaTableTennisFederation/
its shocking to read and it doesn't feel like the author is trash talking - he doesn't have anything to win by change the rules back to 2016 selection (ie he isn't doing it for his kids)
Progress or Regress - USATT Athletes Selection Procedures
By Bruce Liu
USATT released a statement in response to the controversies of the 2020 Olympic Selection Procedures. It seems that USATT will back up a policy clearly violating the spirit of the sport. Here is USATT's statement:
https://www.teamusa.org/…/USATT-Statement-on-2020-Olympic-S…
On my further investigation on the various USATT selection procedures on TTTeam and 2019 Pan Am, there is at least one thing in common - enormous discretionary power. It seems that USATT has changed its direction completely. USATT considers the change progress in their statement. I consider it regress. You may read USATT in its entirety yourself. I'm not gonna do a word-for-word analysis. I'd make it short here.
- No dispute in athlete selection in previous olympics. Why? Because it was performance based. Athletes got fair chances to fight for their slots. They cheered for their wins. They accepted the outcomes if they did not make it.
- Few people made important decisions without checks and balances. Larry Hodges, an at-large USATT Board member, said that he did not know the Olympic selection procedures until he read it online.
- "...athletes would be added to the team through a special committee comprised of the High Performance Director, two National Team Coaches,,the head of the HPC, and an athlete representative."
I believe these people have good intention for the sport. However, how many days a year they get to see our players? It may be reasonable in China because athletes and coaches practically train together year round. Also, I have my suspect that all five people here are not weighed equally. In fact, someone questioned that this arrangement is an afterthought that it does not exist in any document.
- "This has resulted in a change in our team selection procedures across the board to emphasize the commitment and sustained training and performance by athletes that is needed to succeed on the world stage."
Nothing wrong with the above sentence. However, competition is the ultimate examination of athletes. If USATT's criteria is so ironclad, they should not worry about athletes not excel at the competition. Olympic medals have always been earned through competition. Can you imagine only Gold medals are earned. Silver and Bronze medals are determined by a "special committee"?
- Discretionary selection is not necessarily evil. However, it is unfathomable that up to two thirds of athletes will be selected that way.
I'm glad to hear that all three at-large USATT Board member candidates, Mike Babuin, Lily Yip, and myself, have expressed their doubt on the the olympic selection procedures. In addition, both current USATT at-large board members, Larry Hodges and Rajul Sheth, also have shown their concerns. Not sure about the position of other USATT board members. I wrote a couple emails to all board members but did not hear from them.
Here is someone with a law degree from Harvard and Columbia commenting:
== Gail Kendalls comments ==
My comments below come directly from the Act of Congress establishing and funding the United States Olympic Committee.
The Act clearly requires that national governing bodies like the USATT must send the players who are currently our very best to represent our nation in each and every Pan Am and Olympic Game.
All our athletes must have an equal opportunity to participate in competition without discrimination. No sports organization like the USATT will continue to be recognized as a national governing body if it fails to comply with this requirement.
The customary open Trials clearly comply with US law; discretionary selection, by its nature, can never be proven to be compliant. I recommend that the USATT continue to use the customary open Trials in order to avoid disruptive controversy and possible injury to its standing as a national governing body.
Relevant excerpts from the law regarding the purpose of, and requirements for, the USOC and its national governing bodies follow:
36 U.S.C. Section 374(4):
“obtain for the United States, either directly or by delegation to the appropriate national governing body, the most competent amateur representation possible in each competition and event of the Olympic Games and of the Pan-American Games;”
36 U.S.C. Section 391(b):
"No amateur sports organization...is eligible to continue to be recognized as a national governing body unless it…provides an equal opportunity to amateur athletes…to participate in…competition…without discrimination on the basis of…age…or national origin….”
