This letter was sent to the Chancellors of all the Wisconsin State Universities except:
UW La Crosse ( They turn out new Phy. Ed.. teachers with knowledge of table tennis.)
UW Milwaukee ( They have the Wisconsins only intercollegiate team.)

Dear Chancellor,

Please summon your Athletic Director and ask he/she if they subscribe to the “Lifetime Sports Concept”. Your AD will obviously respond with an enthusiastic yes. All the AD’s I have queried in my travels have answered yes but will go into a defensive mode when I continue my line of questioning. For instance I will ask what particular sports or activities that they promote actually have lifetime value. Tennis and Golf are usually the first two sports mentioned by the AD’s . Depending on the situation I will use the following criteria when analyzing their offerings:

• Activity does not end upon graduation
• Non gender specific
• Culture diverse
• non seasonal
• Fun
• Safe
• Economical
• Family oriented
• Not favoring the taller and stronger students
• Aerobic, reflexes, and eye-hand coordination
• Competitive
• Olympic

I specifically ask Athletic Directors why the Lifetime sport of Olympic Table Tennis isn’t represented on their campus. I have had answers such as :

• “Didn't know it was an Olympic sport.”
• “You mean ping pong.”
• “Never had any interest on our campus.”
• “My staff isn't familiar with it.”
• “We teach activities the public wants us to.”

In my opinion:
• Most Athletic Directors are ex -football coaches and idolize Vince Lombardi.
• Many athletes only correlate exercise and fitness with competition.
• In most sports practical competition ends very early in ones life and people are left to their own devices.

Katie Couric asked our Olympians why Table Tennis isn't popular in the USA. Our team members answered because table tennis isn't in our schools. Except for UW Lacrosse, an aspiring Phy Ed. teacher can’t even learn Table Tennis anywhere in this State as part of their Phy Ed. degree. UWM Milwaukee has this states only intercollegiate team. The cycle of using Physical Education resources just for temporary purposes needs to be stopped. We need to redirect some those resources and promote lifetime sports activities such as Table Tennis in Wisconsin. In doing so, more parents and children can reap the benefits of our educational system. Table tennis is the second only to soccer as the most popular participant sport in the world. This request is asking for more than just putting up a couple tables next to a video game in the student lounge but giving it the sport Olympic status with proper conditions and instructions.

Ever so often our educational system is scrutinized and called on the carpet by societal watch dogs. The Physical Education (Sports) component always get a free pass and are never held accountable to society. I will be persistent in alerting the Board of Regents and the news media regarding the poor use of the publics resourses in this matter.

If you so desire, please be assured that I can be of assistance in the training your staff in Olympic style table tennis.

Sincerely yours,

Donald Winze
4245 S. Tie Ave New Berlin WI 53151
Telephone 262 782 0126 Email : donw@execpc.com

UW Milwaukee Collegiate Team Coach ( Over 120 intercollegiate teams in the USA )
USATT Wisconsin Director, USATT Certified Regional Coach
USA National Senior Olympic Sliver Medalist, Wisconsin State Senior Olympic Gold Medalist
Web site: http://www.tabletennispro.com/
Blog site: http://tabletenniswisconsin.blogspot.com/

Letter of help and concern from the Dr. Harold Jeffcoat President of Texas Wesleyan University.
Texas Wesleyan University has the nations finest collegiate table tennis program. HERE