USTSF Regional and State Directo

USTSF Regional and State Directors

The following is a listing of the USTSF State and Regional Directors, including individual contact information.

This is an email distribution list (StateDirectors@foosball.com) for contacting all the USTSF State and Regional Directors at once.

See also the United States Table Soccer Federation (USTSF) Forums for public discussions related to USA/USTSF - State Specific Posting.

The Regional and State Directors are part of the USTSF National Congress (See the "USTSF National Congress" document on the Bylaws/Documents page).

7/8/09: The USTSF will be holding elections this year for 6 positions on the USTSF Board of Directors. Four of the positions will be voted on by the USTSF State and Regional Directors (the USTSF General Assembly - the voting will take place via e-mail so that all State and Regional Directors have a chance to vote). The other 2 positions are “Athlete Representatives” (player reps - one male and one female), those 2 athlete rep positions are to be elected DIRECTLY by the players a the General Assembly meeting). Applications and Nominations for all 6 positions are being accepted through the month of July. The 4 positions (not the player rep positions) are USTSF Secretary, USTSF Treasurer, and 2 Director-at-Large positions. If you would like to be a candidate, please read the document and submit your name!

8/21/09: 2009 USTSF Board of Directors Candidates Announcement (All Regional and State Directors should have received an email on how to vote)

8/25/09: The purpose of the "Player Representative positions" is as follows. The term for the positions (as written in the bylaws) is actually "Athlete's Representative". Because the USTSF is set up as a membership organization which is also a governing body for the sport of Table Soccer, anyone can join the USTSF, not just tour players. The "Athlete's Representative" positions are meant to give the ELITE level "Athletes" representation on the Board of Directors. And by ELITE, that does not mean just the "master" or "Pro" ranked players. Elite is meant as players (athletes) proficient enough to be competitive at the "elite" level of the sport, in this case, the Pro Tour level. They have all of the rights and responsibilities of regular Board members. And their purpose is to be the voice of the tour players on the Board of Directors of the USTSF, and should vote accordingly, in the best interests of the players. Additionally, these particular members of the Board of Directors MUST be elected DIRECTLY by the touring players (other athletes). This is one of the requirements to become recognized as a sport. Additional requirements are that the number of representatives elected directly by the athletes (players) make up not less that 20% of the voting members of the Board. In the case of the USTSF, there are a total of 9 voting members, and 2 of them are elected directly by the players (more than 20%).

Here are links a high quality USTSF logo graphic (in 2 formats) that can be used to create a USTSF branded item (similar graphics for ITSF are available on the ITSF website): USTSFlogo.jpg (for use on websites, etc), USTSFlogo.eps (used to make banners, flags, posters, etc). Note: These graphics are NOT to be used without explicit permission from the USTSF (See the "USTSF Logo Usage Agreement" on the Bylaws/Documents page).

Here is a link to a USTSF Regional/State Directors business card template (in Microsoft Word). The Director would need to put in their own name, number and state, and print them.

Here is a link (PDF version, Word version) to the "What Is The USTSF?" Document. It is included in all our media and sponsorship info kits, and is further provided to our Regional and State Directors as part of our tool kit to help them organize and run more, bigger and better tournament events that actively engage the community and the media (you can use it as part of your own media and sponsorship kits). Most of you have seen the earlier version at our booth at tour events. This new one has been slightly revised to apply regardless of year, etc. so it shouldn't need much more in the way of updates/changes for awhile.

Here is a link to the (11/09 updated) USTSF Request for Proposal (RFP) State Championships (Word version, PDF version) document. It is a template provided to our Regional and State Directors as part of our tool kit to help them organize and run more, bigger and better tournament events that actively engage the community and the media. This updated/latest one has been revised based on comments, questions and feedback USTSF has received from Convention and Visitors Bureaus, Sports Authorities, and hotels/venues interested in hosting table soccer tournaments. The Microsoft Word version is for the Reg/St Directors to use to insert their state-specific info into.

****STATE & REGIONAL DIRECTORS NEWSLETTERS (from USTSF Staff): February 2009, July 2009.****

Sample Regional/State Director Projects:

October 22, 2009:

All (Regional & State Directors),

Some of you may already be receiving emails from various hotel chains, event centers, Convention & Visitors Bureaus and Sports Authorities in your area. Those of you who have been directors for some time will recall the email I sent to all of you last February or so which included my very strong recommendation that you all actively engage with these sorts of organizations. The intent of my recommendations has been to empower you all to be able to run more, bigger, and more effective state and regional sized tournaments that more actively engage the local communities they are held in and create substantially more visibility for the sport. Sure, I believe that most all of you are in fact already outstanding at running a good, efficient tournament -- within the walls of whatever tournament room/hall/sports bar you're using. But outside those walls, the resources these entities bring to the table can help you to really make a much bigger impact, not only for the players but for the surrounding community and even for the recognition of the sport. So, here's your chance.

The reason I've advocated this so strongly and so frequently is that these organizations have a huge amount of resources they can provide in supporting your events -- most of which you are probably not aware of (especially if you didn't read my email, its attachments, or the USTSF website where copies of that email and those attachment and much more are located, or the USTSF discussion areas on the foosball.com forum). So, I again ask that you all do (or review) just that, and do it very soon. That's because last week I attended the TEAMS Conference in New Orleans, where I met with over 50 CVB/SAs and provided them with your contact information. If you take the time to talk with them, I believe you'll find they will help you in a big way to find better venues at better rates, to include hotel travel agency booking fee rebates, competitive bids to hold your event, media attendance, charity involvement, sponsorship leads, signage, and much more -- services that are all provided to you for free.

While the couple of you who have tried this have reported back having had amazing success, the rest really need to investigate what's possible. In particular, it's in the interest of the CVB/SA's to ensure your event is a success and that it gains as much community and media visibility as possible, since they want you to come back every year and even grow your event into regional/national majors. As such, they'll actually guide you through the process.

In any case, they'll be emailing and in some cases calling you. Some of you will find that you receive calls from more than one city/county CVB, in which case you can get competitive bidding for your event. One thing I need to mention is that some state directors will receive calls from CVBs in adjacent states (usually where USTSF doesn't currently have a director). Feel free to either refer them to someone in that state who might be interested in running a state-level or higher tournament, or go ahead and run the tournament in that state yourself. (Example: USTSF doesn't currently have a state director for Vermont, but there's no reason that directors from surrounding states can't hold one there if so motivated.) Alternatively, for states having no director, I've provided the CVBs with the regional director's contact info, and the regional director can either take direct action or refer the CVBs to player/promoter/operators who are not state directors but may be interested nonetheless.

In December, USTSF's Pat Ryan will be attending the U.S. Sports Congress, so you'll again receive another round of inquiries from contacts he makes there; then I'll be at the National Sports Forum in February, and at the National Association of Sports Commissions conference in April. We are making every effort to provide you with the tools, contacts and resources you need to make a difference for the players, your communities, and the sport. Please take advantage of these efforts.

And again, please catch up on all the info I constantly put out and let's see what we can do to make our tournaments and our sport better and more enjoyable for everyone!!

Very respectfully,

Larry Davis, President

United States Table Soccer Federation

larry.davis@ustsf.foosball.com

www.ustsf.org

August 21, 2009:

See the new Sponsorship Best Practices page for ides for promoters who want to learn more about how to run that significantly more successful tournament, and for Players to obtain individual sponsorships to events.

July 2, 2009

Thanks to the efforts of Harold Hutchison (USTSF State Director for Oregon), the State Games of Oregon will this year feature Table Soccer. Check out this link: http://www.stategamesoforegon.org/sportdetail.php?id=64

March 10, 2009:

Getting the "Foosball" word out (Michael Donaldson, Wa.State Dir. - USTSF):

Last week I was at a training school in Ellensburg, and I found out where the foos tables were in town. Only one unfortunately, at a little Pizza joint right across from the Central Washington University campus. So, after my class on Wed.. I went to check it out. It was a Tornado in really bad condition. The surface was a mess and there were only 3 balls that looked and felt like ping-pong balls. So...I told the staff who I was and if I could give the table a make-over (free of charge of course) and they said "have at it". So I did my thing. Cleaned the surface, lubed the rods, tweaked the bearings, wiped down the top and sides, and donated 6 of my own freshly cleaned balls. It only took a few minutes and "Presto"!, almost new looking table. I figured if the table looked like crap, nobody would even take a second look at it.

Now here's where it gets better! All the while I'm doing this, more and more people are coming in for pizza & whatever and they see me doing this and some come over to watch/ask me what's up. I told them that I'm trying to promote more Foosball to the masses, especially the younger generation instead of just sitting on their butts in front of a TV watching or playing videos, and I hand out a few USTSF business cards and tell them a little about us and the Northwest Foosball site. Now nothing is wrong with the aforementioned in moderation of course, just that there's so much fun to be had with this table and it gets your body moving as well as your mind. I add that there is a lot of hand-eye coordination involved so it can help with your gaming too!

When I'm done with the clean-up, I gave a little demo of how fun Foos can be and I ending up playing with a bunch of "now interested in Foosball" college kids till way past my bedtime. It was a blast! I've got one more week of training over there so I plan on going back next Wed. (it was ladies night too!) and see if I can stir up some more interest.

I know it was just a little "hole-in-the-wall" place in a little "hole-in-the-wall" town, but I figure if even a small percent of the interested tell a few friends and they get interested and so on, it could help perpetuate our Foosball species. I guess I'm trying to say that I've found promoting Foosball isn't just throwing tournaments, hanging up posters, etc., but getting out to the people themselves with just a little face time, and a table clean-up won't hurt either.

February 17,2009

2009 USTSF STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS PROGRAM

We want to encourage each and every one of you to run some sort of 2009 USTSF State Championship event this year! By the end of 2009, we would love to have a list of USTSF State Champions from all 50 states!

If we can get this (foos)ball rolling, there is the possibility of a national playoff event. But we need to hear from you--can you make this happen?

Please read the above Guidelines! If you have questions, please contact Mark Winker mwinker@netfoos.com , who has agreed to serve as the National Program Director for the 2009 USTSF State Championships Program.

February 9, 2009:

USTSF President's Letter to State and Regional Directors. This letter gives MANY great ideas on ways State & Regional Directors can help foosball grow at the grass roots level in their states, as well as holding state championship tournaments, etc. Here are the attachments listed in the letter: SAMPLE USTSF Request for Proposal State Championships (updated 11/2009),
USTSF FOOS DATA SHEET, and
USTSF 501c(3) Approval Ltr.

September 8, 2008:

Listed on the Sponsorships page are programs for which USTSF must seek sponsors/donors and volunteers in order to fully realize their contributions to the community and to the future of the sport. As Regional and State Directors, you are part of a further USTSF program that most importantly informs the foosball world -- the every day grass roots players -- about such meaningful projects, goals and events, and are invited to actively help in any ways you find appropriate. Among upcoming fundraisers: USTSF Raffle at 2008 Tornado Worlds (now taking prize donations, with proceeds going to support Juniors and Women's teams in international competition); Larry Davis' memorabilia eBay auctions (beginning again on September 11th, 2008 featuring everything from bumper stickers to rare autographed shirts, books and Tournament Soccer posters); and USTSF's ongoing PayPal Donations button (see: www.ustsf.org; PayPal donors may specify any/all of the above programs they want to apply funds toward).

September 6, 2008:

One of the first things the USTSF Board of Directors thought of that State and Regional Directors could help with was to provide for your players (and traveling players everywhere) an accurate up-to-date listing of places to play in your state (or at least places that have weekly tournaments). These should be posted as a "sticky" message in the USTSF state forum message board for your state listed at the top of this page. Once created, please also strive to check it every couple months to be sure it stays up-to-date and doesn't have old info like most other attempts to have such a list have been in the past. If players feel they can trust the data it will be a very positive service USTSF can provide. Consider this one of the responsibilities of the USTSF Regional/State Directors. Thanks for your help.

July 15, 2008:

Here is a project for all State and Regional Directors to get involved with in their home states (Kathy Brainard has already volunteered as 
initial point of contact for the State of Washington).  Shelly Langley, Mary Moore and a number of others have already successfully
been involved with this, and most State Games organizations are anxious to provide more sports categories/events.  Most states strive for
amateur only competitions, but Shelly has run separate events for amateur and pro.  This year, Nebraska is the only state participating
that we know about but as I understand it a total of 17 states have at one time or another had foosball among their competitions.  

As a USOC endorsed organization, the National Congress of State Games provides an exceptional means to provide visibility to our sport (not to
mention a precedent/pre-Olympic validation step for our sport and many others at a similar level to ours), and many of the individual State
Games organizations will even arrange a venue appropriate to each sport's competitions.  If promoters are looking to increase their player
bases at the grass roots level, this is just another great idea...

Note: Like Washington State's, many of the State Games organizations will be taking on proposed sports for 2009 very soon if not right away!! 

Here is Nebraska's list of sports for this year: 
https://www.cornhuskerstategames.com/ecomm/Sports/index.sp

And here is the foosball specific page, with contacts:  
https://www.cornhuskerstategames.com/ecomm/Sports/showSportDetail.sp?EVENT_GROUP_NO=298

And here are the NCSG and State Games of America websites: 
http://www.stategames.org/link.sp?page=index2
http://www.thesportscorp.org/html/sportsCorp/SGA2009/index.html

July 2, 2008:

USTSF,

I wanted to forward some of the pictures from our first youth tournament held in Oxnard, California this past weekend. Our nephew is in the first picture (black shirt playing forward). This was a neighborhood gathering with the foosball tournament being one of many events for the day. We had 6 entrants and ran a (double-elimination) singles tournament. Brendan Flaherty from Warrior Custom Golf/Warrior Foosball donated really cool hats and skateboards which we awarded for prizes. Jim Stevens donated an instructional foosball video which we gave to one little guy who showed an exceptional interest in the game. I wanted to list a few things we did so that it may provide ideas for others trying to promote the sport to local youth. Please feel free to forward to the appropriate state directors.

First, we displayed the prizes during sign-ups which seemed to really be a nice, tangible way of showing them what they were playing for. We also began with a few basic rules before beginning the tournament. We talked about not spinning and clearing the points back to zero before beginning a match. There were no available coins, so we used the good ol' "Rock, Paper, Scissors" (which I found best for this age - 9 to 12 yrs) and reminded them to wish their opponents "Good Luck" before the match. They were also asked to congratulate their opponent afterwards.

I felt that by teaching good sportsmanship, it made for a more friendly rival between the players. Each game was a race to seven until the finals where it changed to a match of 2/3. We felt this held their interest better. There was one table which everyone seemed to congregate around even when they weren't playing. Soon, the players began to cheer each other on and we were very amazed at the intensity of the final matches. Henry (my husband) would also help out with some defense techniques in between matches. We let them see how we advanced the players on the paper chart and gave the winner (which happened to be our nephew) the chart to keep at the end.

Our experience was so fun and the kids continued to play foosball even after the tournament with Henry, his brother and I. We are also working on our local Boys & Girls Club (promoting/setting up donated tables) so I will post photos and more feedback once we have established more of a relationship with them.

Thanks!

~Terri

From: Terri Serate

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