A 2008 Hall of Fame member, Sean O’Neill (President) has represented the United States in the Pan Am Games, Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, and various international championships.
A five-time U.S. Men’s Singles, Men’s Doubles Champion, and six-time U.S. Mixed Doubles Champion a member of four Pan Am Games teams, Sean won two Gold, five Silver, and one Bronze medals.
Upon retiring from full-time play, O’Neill began a coaching career that has led to work with the top US Para Table Tennis Players. The head coach for the 2004 – 2012 US Table Tennis Paralympic teams and the Para Pan Am Games/Championships in 2003 – 2007.
Brian Pace (Member At-Large) is a native of North Carolina, and grew up in the famed Butterfly Table Tennis Program in Wilson. After just 2 years, Brian was selected to move to Colorado Springs to live and train at the resident program at the Olympic Training Center. Brian accumulated Junior and National Titles before finishing high school. He moved back to the Southern region to continue table tennis by attending Augusta College in Georgia. After 4 years and multiple collegiate titles in Team, Mixed Doubles, and Singles, Brian branched into coaching.
He had success with developing his first National Champion at 24 years old. He took a year off to train abroad, and developed another National Champion as soon as he returned to coaching. He then spent the next 4 years training and competing in Europe in the Romanian League. He reached a rating of 2612, which makes him the highest rated player that was raised in the South. He has over 65 Tournament wins, as well as 14 National Championship titles.
Since retiring from competition, he has been a full-time coach with a focus on grassroots table tennis and the goal of increasing overall participation in table tennis at all levels. Brian is a USATT National Level Coach, and has had over 17 Elite level coaches during his career that range from National Champion to Olympic Medalists.
Derek May (Member At-Large) is a native of Augusta, Georgia. As a junior player, he played mostly Georgia and southeast regional events, winning multiple Georgia state junior titles.
Derek got serious about the sport after joining the Anderson College table tennis team his freshman year, and he began moving quickly up the rankings. The following year, Derek helped launch the Augusta College table tennis team, which recruited elite players from the U.S. and abroad and won multiple collegiate team championships. Derek won the North American Collegiate Men’s Singles title in 1991.
Derek participated on the US National team, competing at international events in North America, South America, Europe and Japan. Derek was part of US Men’s Team which won the silver medal at the 1995 Pan American Games. Throughout the 1990’s, Derek was the best U.S. defensive player.
After taking a sixteen-year break to focus on family and career, Derek rejoined the sport as a veteran player. Since returning, Derek has won multiple 50+ men’s singles and doubles titles at the US Nationals and US Open Championships.
Patty Martinez-Wasserman (Member At-Large) is a renowned table tennis player, known for her instinctive strategy and quick, unpredictable style of play. Her skills developed rapidly as a child due to regular competition at home with her siblings, and she was brought to the San Diego Table Tennis Club at a young age by her father, who saw her extraordinary talent.
Patty won the Women’s Championship at the 1961 San Diego Open at just 9 years old, and went on to win numerous National and Canadian titles, including the U.S. Women’s title at the 1965 U.S. Open when she was just 13. Her unique set of table tennis skills were developed on her own, without formal instruction or a coach.
Patty’s intelligence and composure, combined with her obsessive desire to win, make her a formidable opponent on the table, and she continues to win National titles in her age group and Open titles in Hard Bat events to this day.
Lily Yip (Member At-Large), a revered figure in American table tennis, embodies a journey that spans continents and generations, leaving an indelible mark on the sport’s landscape. Hailing from China, Yip discovered her passion for table tennis at a tender age, honing her skills to represent her home country in international competitions. Upon immigrating to the United States in the late 1980s, she brought her wealth of experience and expertise, elevating the American table tennis scene and nurturing its growth.
Beyond her own illustrious playing career as a two-time US Olympian, Lily Yip transitioned seamlessly into coaching, becoming a pivotal force in shaping the next generation of table tennis talents. Her coaching acumen was showcased vividly as she guided and mentored young athletes, notably coaching Lily Zhang to a bronze medal in the Youth Olympics, demonstrating Yip’s ability to nurture and inspire excellence in others. Her impact extends far beyond medals and accolades, as her dedication to grassroots development and coaching clinics continues to shape the future of table tennis in the United States.
Lily Yip stands tall not just for her achievements on the table but for her enduring commitment to the sport’s growth and development. Her legacy as a player, mentor, and ambassador for table tennis in the United States remains a testament to her unwavering passion and dedication.
Scott Gordon (Member At-Large) is a professor of Computer Science at California State University. He started playing table tennis in 1978 at Jeff Mason’s “Table Tennis World” in Sacramento. He is past-chairman of the USATT Hardbat Committee, and writes articles periodically for the USATT Magazine.
He founded the Santa Rosa table tennis club in 1996, and taught table tennis at Sonoma State University. He has also recovered and restored historic 16mm films for both the USTTA and for the ITTF. Scott is the color commentator for ESPN’s BudLite Hardbat Classic.
As a player, Scott was the 2009 Over-40 U.S. Open Hardbat Champion and is a four-time U.S. Hardbat Doubles Champion. He hopes to raise awareness of table tennis’ legacy and its past champions.
Mal Anderson (Secretary) started playing table tennis in grade school and high school and thought he was pretty good, but when he got to college at the University of Wisconsin, he met Steve Isaacson and started to learn from him. Mal began bringing his camera to tournaments and took photos of the top players to learn how they played. He wanted to become the best table tennis player in the US but ended up becoming the best table tennis photographer in the US. He served as the first Chairman of the USTTA Photographic Committee for 23 years.
Mal was the first to pass the USTTA Official Umpires exam and served as Eastern Region Tournament Director for three years. He also served on the USTTA Executive Committee for ten years, eight as VP and two as Recording Secretary. Mal became Chairman of the USTTA Nominating Committee and the Rules Committee for 23 years each. He was also the first USTTA International Umpire and one of the first International Referees.
Mal has served as referee for numerous table tennis tournaments, including the US Open, US Closed, and USOTCs, and has been a member of the ITTF Rules Committee and Secretary of it. He has donated his vast collection of table tennis photos to USATT and the ITTF Museum in Switzerland and was recently elected to the USTT Hall of Fame Board of Directors.
Christian Lillieroos (Member At-Large) is a highly accomplished table tennis coach with a wealth of experience in the sport. He currently works for the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) as a coaching course conductor and trainer for level 1, 2 and 3 coaches in both English and Spanish. Over 800 coaches from 21 countries have attended his courses, and he has worked with table tennis in 53 different countries. He is a certified ITTF level 3 coach and has coached 19 different national teams.
Throughout his career, Lillieroos has achieved many notable accomplishments. He has coached seven world Para table tennis champions from three different countries and served as the head coach for the Texas Wesleyan University table tennis team, which won an impressive 16 national titles out of a possible 25 in just four years. He has also been recognized with numerous coaching awards, including the USOC National Table Tennis Coach of the Year in 1997 and 2002 and the USATT Coaching Development Director for four years. Lillieroos has also been involved in the Paralympic movement, serving as the Director of Sport for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and Chairman of the International Paralympic Table Tennis Committee for ten years. Overall, Lillieroos has made an immense contribution to the development and promotion of table tennis worldwide.
Donna Sakai (former President) is both a Hall of Fame inductee and Mark Matthews Lifetime Achievement Award winner. In January at the World Veteran Table Tennis Championships in Muscat, Oman she won both World Veteran Mixed and Women’s Doubles Gold Medals in the in addition to a bronze medal in Singles. Donna is married to David Sakai, her World Champion mixed doubles partner and 2021 Mark Mathews Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient.
- U.S. Open Women’s Singles Finalist
- 2-time U.S. Open Women’s Doubles Champion
- U.S. Open Mixed Doubles Champion
- 2-time USOTC’s Winning Women’s Team Member & 2-time USOTC’s Most Valuable Player Award Winner
- Control Desk Administrator at plethora of major tournaments—U.S. Open, U.S. Closed, U.S. Olympic Festival…
- Director of multiple U.S. Opens and Closeds
- Served 3-terms (6-years) as USTTA Secretary
- Serves on the USATT Foundation
- Inducted into U.S. Hall of Fame (1996)