"In any moment of decision," wrote President Teddy Roosevelt, "the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." Tough decisions are the stock-in-trade of leaders in all fields, and their degree of difficulty has increased by a factor of 2020. With the third wave of COVID-19 wreaking havoc around the world, and nowhere worse than in the United States, the need for swift, judicious action has never been greater. For national governing bodies of sports such as USA Table Tennis (USATT), this year has been a crash course in protecting their constituents from themselves. Thus, it is with your safety and mine in mind that the USATT has announced the suspension of all sanctioned tournaments, leagues and training camps until January 15, 2021. Virginia Sung, the CEO of USATT, explained her tough decision. "It goes without saying that our primary concern is the safety, health and well-being of our members, as well as our staff, coaches, volunteers and the entire table tennis community," said Sung. "We understand that this suspension of activity may create hardship for some people and businesses, but we believe that at this moment we all should take every precaution possible until public health circumstances improve. "We’re hopeful that we’ll all be able to turn a positive corner as we head into 2021, and we want to do all we can to ensure that everyone remains healthy until we can safely return to hosting table tennis activities again." The consequences of inaction in the face of the pandemic have been made tragically clear. While it is never easy to shut down a party, it is the responsibility of leaders to determine if and when it is safe to gather. While so many in positions of power either do nothing or actively advocate doing the wrong thing, we applaud Virginia Sung for having the courage to do the right thing.

More at USATT