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Palmer Page Sets Technology Goals
by Rob Dinerman and Ron Beck © 2003; all rights of
reproduction reserved.
Oct 28 2003
 |
| Palmer Page was in Brooklyn to enjoy the final and present Cassie Jackman and Carol Owens their trophies at the 2003 Weymuller US Open. (photo:©2003, Debra Tessier) |
Seeking to reverse a several-year decline in membership and awareness of the USSRA, Palmer Page believes that technology can play a key role in getting all generations and levels of squash players more involved in the national association. At the same time technology can help build a national squash community.
There are several goals for this technology initiative. The first is to begin to build a system of local, regional and national match reporting, incorporating everything from local club matches, to local leagues, to college and school matches, to tournaments. The idea is to get all levels of players to report their competition results, and be rewarded by instant updates to their playing ratings.
The second is to create a better communication system between members and the USSRA. The objective is to make it easier to become a member, contribute to the USSRA, and get better and faster service from the USSRA.
It's a broad sweeping plan and if successful it could be a crucial element in the resurgance of the USSRA. The challenge will be to create such a technology platform that is affordable, powerful enough, and easy to use for all age groups. Some of the technology "pieces" exist in the marketplace. The entire package that Page envisions does not.
To that end, he announced the formation late last week of an 12-member Technology Committee, the first of its kind in USSRA history, to develop a host of online capabilities that would actively address the needs of both the USSRA as a whole and the regional associations under its aegis.
Some of the specific functionality
that the Committee members are charged with evaluating include the management
of leagues and challenge ladders; the ability to
create and update ratings and rankings based on incoming up-to-the-minute
results, and to calculate and promulgate any changes to these standings
even while a
tournament is still in progress; and the online dispensation of all administrative
functions, such as membership sign-up, registration and
communication.
The Committee has already "met"
by conference call earlier this week and will be
aggressively addressing its various requirements this fall with an eye
towards presenting a set of proposals seeking feedback from the regional
associations later this season.
Page also envisions the propagation
of a national system that would
allow any pertinent information to be disseminated to all members of any
District,
as well as a District page that would be connected to that District's
web site. Describing this project as "arguably the most important
advancement in recent history for the USSRA squash-playing community,"
in his statement, Page also named the members comprising this Committee,
who are as follows: Kevin Jernigan, immediate past president of the USSRA,
Faraz Hussain of Chicago, Bill
Fenton of the National Capital association, Rajan Munshi and Pravin Thakur
of Pittsburgh, Paul Begeman and Aditya Sharma of Michigan, Paul Chastanet
of
Massachusetts, Kevin Darby of Houston, Alec Decker of New York, Lori
Cinnamond of Seattle and Jason Blanchard from the Northern California
association.
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