I started playing Trek in 2003 after the debut of 2nd Edition. When 1E was out, I'd collected the cards like mad but I'd never been able to play anyone, so I'd eventually stopped. With the debut of 2E, I was in college and in Columbus, and I was able to find a group of players. From there, I moved into running tournaments, becoming an Ambassador and then a dAgent, and finally a Level 4 Judge. I love this game and I am passionate about it's future.

Part Man, Part Pizza, James Hoskin was introduced to Star Trek TNG CCG by his brother, Will, shortly after it was released. At the time he wasn't a fan of Star Trek at all, but the pretty pictures on the cards began to change his opinion. James started watching the Next Generation, looking for a scene that matched the cards, and before long was a huge fan of the television show. For many years, James only had his brother to play against, and he likes to tell people that he was undefeated by Will. The accuracy of that claim cannot be verified.

Things changed in the year 2000, when James discovered Star Trek CCG was being played at Gen Con UK. The convention had moved to a venue about 30 minutes travel from where he lived, and he felt he could no longer use travel time as an excuse for not attending. Despite using a supposedly good deck that he found on the Internet, he was soundly beaten. The experience changed him though, and he wanted to play on a more regular basis.

With the introduction of Second Edition, James started playing a lot. He began by organising local tournaments in his desire to play more often. When that wasn't enough, he started travelling to tournaments. First, to other parts of the United Kingdom; then to parts of Europe; and finally, to parts of the United States. He still plans to visit Australia at some point in the future, and complete the trifecta of continental championships. To date, James has travelled the equivalent of one and a half times around the world to play Star Trek CCG. No, he does not own an airline.

When he is playing, he'll sometimes win the coin toss to see who goes first. Sometimes, he'll win a game. Sometimes, he'll even win a tournament. Once in a while, he'll also forget who took the first turn. Yes, he still has issues about that one.

As the years have passed, James has become more involved with the game. In 2004, he began judging the UK nationals. In 2005, he wrote his first multi-page tournament report. In 2006, he started writing articles for Decipher's website; and later that year, became a playtester. In 2007, he began making statements that were not true, and then he legally changed his middle name to "RedDwarf". In 2008, he helped design the Raise the Stakes expansion; and in 2009, he was made an offer that he couldn't refuse, and took the position of Director of Organised Play in the Continuing Committee.

James often can't believe how lucky he has been to be involved with this fantastic game for such a long period of time. He is honoured to be the Director of Organised Play, and he can't wait to start abusing power by disqualifying Will from tournaments for any reason that he can think of.

Michael Keller began playing Star Trek with the original release of Premiere for 1E and was hooked when he got a Jean-Luc Picard in his batch of cards. He continued to play 1E through Dominion. When 2E was released, he came back into the fold.

Michael immediately began running demos and tournaments for 2E after its release. Eventually, he became more involved, first as an Ambassador, then a writer for DGMA, then a playtester, then an editor under Darren Lacoste for the writing team. He has had over a dozen card designs printed. All this time he continued to run tournaments, including North American Continentals, which earned him a Level 4 Judge position.

Michael is intensely analytical and has applied this trait to his judging efforts. He strives above all else to ensure that everyone is on a level playing field through consistency, not always an easy task with the shifting nature of Star Trek cards.

Nick began playing STCCG in 1997. Even though he tried many CCGs over the next few years, non of them could compare to STCCG. When Second Edition was released, Nick's local group switched over immediately, though First Edition events were still held regularly. Nick served as a backup judge for a time, and now runs the local 1E events while Tobin [Altoid] runs the 2E ones.

Nick has participated in several world championships Nick has made the top 16 for 2E twice, but has still managed to get eliminated from 2E in time to play 1E.

Since it was created, Nick has been serving as the chairman of the 1E rules committee and is proud to be able to help support the game he has loved for so long.

I started playing STCCG shortly after the release of 1E. But I would take up to the beginning of 2E to play my first tournament outside of my home town. Starting from there, I got involved in the German scene more and more as a player, and in the last years also as a member of the European organized play team and a tournament director for my home town.

When Thorsten had to retire from his position, he and Charlie asked me to become his successor as European OP coordinator and I was happy to accept.

Dave Kuck was born and raised in the great state of Minnesota. He was introduced to Star Trek: The Next Generation at a young age by his parents, who made it a Saturday tradition to order Pizza Hut and watch the show. He was introduced to Star Trek: The Next Generation CCG in 1994 by friends attending the local Junior High School. In his first booster pack, he pulled a Jean-Luc Picard, and his love of the game hasn't stopped since, although he took a brief hiatus in collecting new cards between high school and college. While attending North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota -- to get his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Computer Science -- he stumbled upon a local STCCG player group by accident while dabbling in some other CCGs. He got re-introduced to 1E and played that until 2E came out. Dave has been heavily involved with 2E from the get-go, playing in Fargo, then playing with the Twin Cities group once he moved to Rochester, MN to take a Software Engineer position at IBM.

Dave enjoys playing games for the fierce competition coupled with the close camaraderie that results. That is why STCCG 2E is his game of choice. He's played competitively, making it to the top 16 at the World Championships once and running a variety of tournaments, most notably the first Draft Regional and the US West National tournaments. Dave was humbled to be asked to join the Continuing Committee as the North American Organized Play Coordinator and will do his best to serve the players of North America and players of STCCG 2E and continue the legacy of the best CCG ever produced.

If all you know about John Corbett is "KillerB" then you don't know me yet. True, I am the persona in many ways. I'm a trash-talkin' competitive player. However, those who've met me know I'm a sportsman at the table. The real John Corbett loves to play the game. I'm also one hell of a promoter.

I started playing sometime in the mid-90's when I picked up a starter deck of 1E when vistiting my father in Norfolk. Over a decade later, I'm still here. I've gone from kitchen tables to three cameras and a room full of people watching with thousands of dollars at stake. But the best part of Trek has been the places it's taken me and the people I've met.

But who cares about me? The reason Charlie brought me into the fold is World Championship Trek. What that's been here in my area is basically a league-system. The formats and schedules have changed over time, and it will again. But for those players out there who like competition, there is nothing better. But don't think that's the only thing it's about. With the help of players in my area we've learned over time to balance the competitive with the fun. World Championship Trek (WCT) encourages creativity and diversity. Players who play different headquarters get bonuses, we have team events, we have theme tournaments. I urge you to check out our Dominion War Format, it's the most fun you could ever have in this game.

So with your help, I hope we can keep playing this game for a long time. The game is good, the people are good, I see no reason why the show has to end tonight.

Ever since opening his first Premier 1E booster way back in 1995, Tony has been a constant in the Trek community. Although Star Trek CCG was never a big hit in his hometown of 1,500 people (!), he took great pleasure in organizing tournaments for his friends who played the game. He soon realized that he loved running events just as much as he did playing the game itself.

Tony was given the role of Ambassador for Limerick Ireland in 2002, and soon began creating a play group which would go on to host some of the largest Trek tournaments ever held, with players traveling from Europe and the USA to attend. In 2004, Tony became a play tester for Star Trek CCG and began testing with Necessary Evil. In 2007, Tony was heavily involved in the organization of European Championships, which proved to be the rebirth of organized play in Europe.

Regarded by many as "The most optimistic man in Trek â„¢", Tony loves to whip up excitement for whatever tournament he is running, and believes that extensive preparation is vital to achieving the attendance that Star Trek CCG tournaments deserve. He also believes that Trek is a game that should be enjoyed by the masses, no matter what level of tournament you play in -- whether it's the World Championships or a small tournament held at a friend's house.

As Director of Public Relations for The Continuing Committee, Tony will work tirelessly to nurture the game at the local tournament level. Along with a hand-picked team of equally-enthusiastic volunteers from around the world, his goal is to create an environment that allows play groups all over the world to continue doing what they love -- playing the Star Trek CCG. Not only will he look out for current play groups, but with a little help, he hopes to reignite interest in the game in areas where Trek used to flourish.

Tony is also happy to provide his insight in other areas of The Continuing Committee, and will remain on board as one of the organizers of European organized play.

Tony is both proud and excited to be a part of The Continuing Committee, and looks forward to a bright future for the Star Trek CCG.

A native Floridian and life-long Star Trek and games enthusiast, Darren Lacoste was introduced to the Star Trek: Customizable Card Game on a blind date. Love blossomed immediately... starting with a passion for the First Edition product Rules of Acquisition. Along his journey from player, to tournament director, to "Ambassador" (and the eventual dAgent) and finally Content Coordinator, Darren established his voice within the playing community. He now expresses great gratitude at being the voice of The Continuing Committee, to both the players and the world at large.

Well, I first discovered the ST:TNG CCG shortly after its release, back in December of 1994. A couple guys in my classes at school played, and as soon as I saw them playing and learned that the game existed, I was hooked. It was just the three of us at that time, and we played for the rest of our Grade 11 time and part of Grade 12 before they dropped it. So although I was really interested, I was forced to set it aside at that point, for lack of anybody to play with. A couple years later (Spring of 1997), I found a website called "STCCG Online Headquarters" being run by a "Wesley Crusher." It became a new place to hang out in the evenings and chat, make some great friends, and get back into the game. I also found the Decipher website, the BBSs, and the great people, articles and conversations that took place there. That all got me re-energized into the game. A few months later, in the fall of that year, I moved to university and starting chatting online at any time of the day, and it was great. I managed to apply this new energy to start to build a player community at my university, even to the point of getting sanctioned tournaments. I remember following the 1997 Worlds coverage (what there was of it, at least), and cheering for the few players that I knew (one from local, a few more from the "Online HQ" or the BBSs). The following spring (1998) I applied to become, and was accepted as, an Ambassador.

The next fall (1998), although I didn't return to the same university, I continued to make the one-and-a-half-hour drive once a month to run the tournaments there, and loved it. I also found a local player base nearer to where I lived, and started attending tournaments there as well. Then, in November of 1998, with the help of some other nearby Ambassadors (Kim Burns/Logie in Michigan and Sean O'Reilly in New York), I managed to organize and run my first BIG event. One week before the Worlds of that year, I held a 50-player tournament with the players there including World Champ Defender David Bowling, and six or seven other "contenders" who had played in the 1997 Worlds and qualified for the 1998 Worlds. These powers that be were preparing their decks for the next weekend. All in all, it was a huge success, and the pinnacle of my "Trek career" up to that point.

That Christmas, I made another big jump for the game, flying to Germany for a week over the new year to take part in a huge "week of Trek:CCG" being organized by the same "Wesley Crusher" of the Online HQ. It was a lot of fun, and I got to meet seven other players from Ireland, Germany, and the US. I managed to place 3rd, which was strange considering I didn't count myself as a "good player" at that point. Over the next year, I continued to become more involved in my local scene (running a year-long promotional raffle for our tournaments and organizing other big events), and even more so involved in the online scene (posting constantly on the Decipher BBS, taking on larger roles in the Online STCCG HQ which soon became "Kedanya").

The following summer (August 1999) I managed to get to my first big convention, GenCon. I was thoroughly blown away by the size and scope of it, and delighted to meet all the great Decipher folks that were there as well as all of the other players. That fall, I managed to get to my first DecipherCon, and again met tons of great people there too... some of whom I'd already known online, and some who became completely new friends. That winter (Dec 1999), I managed to top my previous "bright points". I organized an international event in the local area, known as "Kedanyathon Y2K", inviting 20 players from around the world with the common bond being that we all played Trek, and we all met online. The event ran for two weeks, saw 20 players from Germany, Sweden, England, Ontario, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Illinois... and possibly others I forget now (sorry anybody I forgot!). We all had great fun at it, and made a lot of new friends.

Over the next few years, the trend generally continued. Lots of trips to GenCon and DecipherCon, lots of meeting people, and lots of time spent chatting with fellow enthusiasts online. But the best memory of my entire time in Trek has to be in the summer of 2001. That was when a long-time friend and fellow Trek player became even more than that. We'd met through the Online HQ years before, stayed in close contact since then, and in the summer of 2002, we were married. We continued to travel to GenCon/DecipherCon every year, and in both 2003 and 2004 I was proud to have been asked to run the World Championships. In 2005, they decided they needed my talents elsewhere instead (running the Trek RPGs for the weekend), and then in 2006 my first son was born the weekend right before GenCon (which, obviously, made it a lot harder to travel that year). Unfortunately since then (and especially since his brother was born a couple years later) I've been unable to travel for Trek anymore. So instead I've reimmersed myself in the online Trek community, first as a message board moderator for Decipher, and later becoming a moderator (and eventually programmer) here for The Continuing Committee. I'm proud to keep serving the community in any way I can, and happy to continue doing so for as long as my free time allows me.

I've played 1E since White Border Premiere, 2E from day one. I entered the "Design the Continuing Committee Logo" Contest, won, and became the Art Director for The Continuing Committee. My dream (volunteer) job. Pretty cool.

I've been a member of the Trek community for quite a while (and still have my first white border '94 set). I've been an Amabssador, a dAgent, and a tournament director all over California: Irvine, Modesto, Turlock, Fresno, San Francisco, and now San Diego and Carlsbad.

I volunteered to take the Shipping position so Charlie can focus on other important things, and to get the level of trust back up so that players and tournament directors can order with confidence.

Supposedly, he was born in a mental institution. They say he only sleeps one hour a night. It is said that he shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. Rumor is that men want to be him and women want to be with him.

Well, none of that is true. Who is he? No one will say a hero, 'cause, what's a hero? Sometimes, there's a man, well, he's the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that's Brad DeFruiter.

Brad has been designing Star Trek CCG cards since 2001 and enjoying every moment of it. Brad is thrilled to be a part of The Continuing Committee.