(By USATT)
USATT Announces 2017 National Coaches of the Year Awards

USA Table Tennis (USATT) announced today the recipients of its 2017 USATT Coaches of the Year:

– Coach of the Year: Jörg Bitzigeio (Colorado Springs, CA)
– Mark Nordby Developmental Coach of the Year: Pieke Franssen (Alameda, CA)
– Paralympic Coach of the Year: Mitch Seidenfeld (Lakeville, MN)
– Doc Counsilman Technology Coach of the Year: Samson Dubina (Akron, OH)
– Volunteer Coach of the Year: (No nominations)

Selection Committee for the 2017 Coaches of the Year were:

• Jörg Bitzigeio, USATT High Performance Director
• Carl Danner, Chair, USATT High Performance Committee
• Larry Hodges, Chair, USATT Coaching Committee
• Tara Profitt, Chair, Athletes Advisory Council

(Note – during discussions regarding Coach of the Year, Bitzigeio left the phone conference and did not participate in the decision.)

“These were some of the toughest selections ever,” said Hodges. “There were many deserving coaches. We even considered having joint winners before finally getting it down to one for each category. In the end, we had four fantastic selections.”

Jörg Bitzigeio (Coach of the Year) was honored for his role in coaching USATT teams internationally at the World Championships, Pan Am Cup, Pan Am Adult & Junior Championships, and World Junior Championships.
Some results:

• World Championships: Lily Zhang and Wu Yue reached the quarterfinals of Women’s Doubles.
• Pan Am Cup: Lily Zhang won Women’s Singles.
• Pan Am Junior Championships: Team USA won both Boys’ and Girls’ Teams, Kanak Jha won Junior Singles, and Kanak Jha/ Sharon Alguetti won Junior Boys’ Doubles.
• World Junior Championships: Team USA made the quarterfinals of Boys’ and Girls’ Teams.

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