I fully agree. ATSAs are what keep our place running smoothly despite, or indeed because of, EFPS. Any flight planning or stand management query, anything non-standard in fact, the first person we turn to is the ATSA. They invariably know how to sort the problem out.
Most of them have been there a long time and have seen all there is to see in ATC, where as many of our controllers, albeit competent and keen, are new, young and a little green behind the ears (and I include myself in that). Long live the ATSA.