USATT Teleconference Minutes

February 25, 2009 - 4:00 P.M. Eastern Time

Board Members Present:  Peter Scudner, Mike Babuin, Ashu Jain, David Del Vecchio, Linda Leaf, Christian Lillieroos, Harold Jeffcoat, Jim Kahler. Han Xiao excused for professional reasons.

USATT Staff Present:  Michael Cavanaugh, Doru Gheorghe, Joyce Grooms,
                                      Secretary Gray absent due to illness

USOC Website: 
USOC Website Presentation by Scott Cronk and Lauern Pasquale.
Discussion followed and consensus reached.
Motion: CEO to pursue USOC website opportunities to full extent
Motion by Dr. Jeffcoat,   Passed: Vote 8 -0

Budget:       
 A balanced budget was proposed and it included a ratings fee increase of $2. 
 Motion by Dr. Jeffcoat, Motion second by Mike Babuin -  Passed: Vote 7 – 1
 
Motion by Ashu Jain to rename Ratings Fee to Tournament Processing Fee, Motion second by David Del  Vecchio – Passed:  Vote 7 -1
 
ITTF Nominations: 
Discussion on the candidates for nomination to ITTF Committees
Tim Boggan (ITTF Media), Dr. Azmy Ibrahim (ITTF Rules), Olga Kahan (ITTF Veterans) and Linda Hsing (ITTF Technical) to be nominated.
Motion by Dr. Jeffcoat to approve above members to ITTF Committees, Motion second by Christian Lillieroos.   Passed: Vote 8 – 0
                                     
Mike Cavanaugh will check with ITTF about a possible 5th nomination as Ray Cavicchio expressed an interest.
Motion by Christian Lillieroos, Motion second by Ashu Jain  - Passed:  Vote 8 - 0

Para TT Committee Nominations:
                                    Continental Representative – Christian Lilleroos
                                     Athlete Representative – Mitchell Seidenfeld
                                     Motion by Dr. Jeffcoat to approved above members, Motion second                        
                                     by Ashu Jain  -  Passed:  Vote 7 – 0, 1 Abstention

ITTF Commissions Nominations:
                                     Athlete Representative – Jasna Reed
                                     Junior Representative – Dennis Davis
                                     Motion by Linda Leaf,  Motion second by Ashu Jain,   
                                     Passed: Vote 8 - 0

 NATTU Continental President:
 Candidates- Christian Lillieroos and Mike Cavanaugh
Discussion took place about the merit of each candidate, the level of international experience and the significance or lack of significance of the USATT ByLaw’s reference about the CEO acting as the Secretary General.  Moved to end of the agenda for Executive Session without the candidates being present.

USATT Advisory Committee Approvals:
 The committees needing approval for members are Junior and Senior Advisory Committees. The Committees’ Chairs submitted their recommendations as follows:
-Senior Committee: Azmy Ibrahim, David Sakai, Lily Yip
- Junior Committee: Sean O’Neil, Stellan Bengtsson, Ben Nisbet
Motion made by Linda Leaf to approve the above members of the  Senior and Junior  Committee.  Motion second by Jim Kahler, Passed: Vote - 8-0

It was decided that for Hardbat and Tournaments Advisory Committee members and chair approval to be done through electronic vote and the deadline for Hardbat applications to be extended until March 4th, 2009.
   
For the Ethics Committee it was decided that a Task Force composed of  Linda Leaf (Chairwoman), Christian Lillieroos, and Ashu Jain are to study the Bylaws and make recommendations to the Board for Chair and members and if necessary review the Bylaws regarding this matter. The issue is the standard of independency language.

Advisory Committee Scope of responsibilities:
After review it was agreed that more work has to be done and the decision was to re-circulate the draft to all Board members. The Board members will have until March 4th to make comments on the document  and send them to CEO.  The CEO will incorporate all comments in the final draft and send it back to all Board members by March 6th. The vote will be done electronically.

Business Plan Update:
 It was agreed to be postponed and schedule a time to receive a presentation on the Business Plan during the next conference call with the TSE consultants.

US Open Program and Marketing Rights:
 There were discussions about 44 mm events to be held or not at the US Open.  It was decided not to hold the 44mm events due to the confusion and the message such events might signal among our members.  Also it was decided that the High Performance Advisory Committee to review the US Open & Nationals events and make suggestions on events that might be interesting for our members and help develop our sport. Christian Lillieroos made some comments on the marketing aspects for US Open and agreed that now it is too late for the 2009 US Open but the Board should consider addressing the marketing rights for the 2010 US Open.
It was agreed to have this issue addressed in the next conference call.

Athletes

Robert Mahler
Discussions on the Robert Mahler situation were held and the Board supports the Ethics Committee’s decision in line with the Bylaws and rules in place .

Barney Reed, Jr.
After discussions, it was decided that the CEO will write a letter to USADA with copies to USOC and Barney informing them that USATT will attempt to recover the prize money awarded during the time of his suspension extension. However, USATT feels that there is an added burden placed on the athlete as result of the USADA appeal to CAS resulting in the suspension extension.

Other Items:
The other items of the meeting’s agenda were postponed to be dealt with through emails.
For the next conference call the Chairman and the CEO will work on the date and send out necessary notice in due time.

Board Adjourned to Executive Session at 6:10 p.m. Christian Lillieroos and Mike Cavanaugh were excused from the call. CEO Mike Cavanaugh was selected to serve as NATTU Continental President for the next term.