The $15/race USAT fee may not be a "barrier to entry," but it can contribute to the high costs that are a "barrier to frequent racing." These days, people tend to either race a bunch of short, local races, or a handful of longer destination races. Dropping $100 for a short, local race might be fine for one race--but maybe not for 3-5 over a season.

Not everyone drops $5000 to get into the sport. I remember the days when my biggest annual tri expense was race entry fees for cheap, non-sanctioned local sprint/oly races.

But the bigger barrier seems to be that USAT course certification opens up an entire hassle-apparatus-machine. Drive out to the race site the day before to pick up a timing chip. Remember your usat card, even if you paid the license in advance. Want to sign up for a race that happens after your current membership expires? Go spend an hour online trying to figure out how to do that without getting screwed by Active.

Here's usat's FAQ for becoming a member. 6400 words to learn how to be a member? No thanks, I'll just do a non-sanctioned race. Oh, there are no non-sanctioned races left because ironman has monopolized the sport? Okay fine, I'll just go out and swim/bike/run with my family and friends for free.

I'm not saying you suggested that; I'm saying it is a logical extension of the facts and your position: e.g., if USAT revenue is down due to the loss of memberships; and if you believe the one-day fee is nothing more than an annoyance, then USAT should raise it to $20 to make up some of the shortfall. It shouldn't have any impact, right?



I totally concur, and I don't want it any other way. I would hate to see triathlon 'dumbed down' in an effort to attract the younger generation. Better marketing, yes; changing the sport to increase numbers, no.

The length of the FAQs on membership is almost comical.

Yeah, I don't get why athlete's are required to do the USAT membership thing. If I sign up for any running race in the country, the insurance cost is built in to the race fee. There's no additional paperwork to fill out. That seems like a more efficient model than what tri is currently using.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I didn't bother to read all the responses so apologies if this has been covered.

If I was USAT I wouldn't be that concerned where the sport is in the next 3-5 years, those dice have been cast IMO, I'd be more worried were the sport is in 10-20 years when all the kids who aren't doing triathlon start earning money, have some disposable income are looking for some hobby that incorporates fitness and fun.

It seems to me, at least in my dealings with USAT this past year which have all centered around PEDs, there are a few very passionate, very hard working people at USAT while some there in the leadership are out of touch with some of the realities of the sport.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

How about having to join a organization and not even racing in said sport other than training.

That happens all the times at masters swim programs. They require you to join the organization (I think it's called US Master's) and for triathletes they likely won't even go near a swim meet in their career.

And I'd say many triathletes do masters swim teams.

ETA: and the master teams are usually very hard up and force you to join or pay an fee every day. I have no clue what it offers but it seems to be something many master swim programs force their swimmers to get.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

This. My kid is 20 y/o and has (finally) expressed a light interest in triathlons. I've been dragging him to races since he was a pup. Now that he has capped out with his water polo polo career (won't play beyond college) he is starting to eye other things. Unfortunately (fortunately?), cross-fit has a better marketing machine and a lower cost of entry so that is what he gravitated to. I keep telling him I'll help him get a bike, but he's just not being drawn in by the sport yet. When he hopped on my husband's bike he was putting down some serious power (egg beater legs!) and he can run a 10k in ~43 minutes without training (local fun run). This combined with his water speed makes me think - dang! Get out there and race kid! But no.... won't listen to mom. Why go to races with a bunch of old ladies and old dudes when he can go to cross-fit? "Not my scene" is what he tells me. <sigh> I have failed as a mom...

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Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
https://www.slogoing.net/

"The $15/race USAT fee may not be a "barrier to entry," but it can contribute to the high costs that are a "barrier to frequent racing......"

100% agree. And that active.com fee is a great case study in monopoly pricing.


Anyone know why triathlon, swimming, and bicycling have sanctioning bodies that control the insurance/registration, (i.e. you have to join the national governing body), but running or obstacle racing is different? Are the insurance costs that different for a bike race?

Honestly, I don't mind that USMS design. The fee covers coaches and athletes while they are practicing and continues to competition. USAT fees only cover you when racing, which covers only while racing. Does USAT membership provide supplemental insurance when I'm out riding my bike or running in training?

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

None of the races I did locally (in the Boston area) use active.com as their registration agent. Only the USAT AG National races used active.com. In all cases, the registration agent the local race directors use charges a fee (although, I don't know the percentage cut off the top of my head). Focusing on active.com is a red herring. This question should probably be framed as "should the registration fee be all-inclusive". I suspect if the race directors incorporated the registration agent's fee in the base race fee (thus hiding the "active.com fee"), the net price wouldn't change.

Edit: Even the local 5K road races have an add-on charge for the registration agent (the 5K Turkey Trot I ran had a $3.25 fee on top of the $30 race fee - ~11%) so it's not unique to triathlon.

Huh? Are you on a Masters team?

You pay a fee for Masters teams because those teams have a COACH, and a pool, and lifeguards that require resources to keep the program going. Also, for what it's worth, when I visit another team, I'm never "forced" to pay - but I can't imagine not paying the drop-in fee to support the coach that took time out of his or her day to coach a bunch of adult swimmers.

The USMS annual registration fee is pretty cheap - about $50 depending on where you live. It covers insurance for all practices, meets, open water swims, national championships, and various other sanctioned races throughout the year. It's well-worth the money. I pay the $50 for USAT and feel like I got ripped off because I only do 2-3 races a year. It's one of the reasons I've really backed off triathlon - I can't stomach paying the USAT day-fee plus the exorbitant race fee plus Active.com fees. Alternatively, I can pay the annual fee for USMS and participate in an entire summer's worth of open water races (13, to be exact - all results are tracked and awards given at the end of the season; each race is about $30) for less than the cost of one IM.

I've never heard a triathlete complain about the USMS registration fee while training with other swimmers at Masters...they're too busy enjoying the benefits of a coached work-out and a group training environment.

I just do not see why folks are so concerned about the 25-40 year olds. I had zero interest at that age to do a me me sport like Triathlon. My focus was my job, family, wife,
kids, and health.

When I hit 40, and was out of breath climbing stairs, I finally understood I needed to make exercise part of my life. I tried a number of sports and found Triathlon
was the best one I could find which allowed my entire family to be involved, and had values as close to mine as possible.

This is why, IMO, most in USAT just do not get it! There are fewer folks who care about the competitive stuff. But USAT and its AG committee have become, IMO,
more and more elitism. Rather than do things to get more folks involved, they put up more barriers like percentage cut offs for TeamUSA. I know a number of folks who
used to go to Nationals ever year but no longer go because of the cut off BS. And since they do not go to races, they do not bring their friends or talk it up
at the tri clubs. And then to change the ranking process to be on TeamUSA to only be top 20 in the running, rather than AA, and only 2, when I do not think
ever has USAT filled 100% all the AG team slots on TeamUSA. So rather again providing a carrot for folks to do at least 3 races, membership, to try and get AA
so they might have a chance to get on TeamUSA, they make it harder which just turns off so many folks to everything.

Seems USAT just think folks are made of money. I keep getting told but if there are other ways to get on TeamUSA, they will not go to Nationals. Well, guess what,
I know I do not have the money to fly to nationals each year. And most others I know have even less money than I do so they do not go. But then they complain that
their membership numbers are down. DAH.

USAT just needs some new blood in it. Too many of the folks have just been their too long and cannot see the changes that have been going on in our sport.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Okay it was a different era, but pretty sure I had plenty of fun doing Triathlon at the start of the 90s as a teenager without all that stuff, just like the guys in the late 70s. I never needed Triathlon to be a mass-participation sport enjoyed by tens of millions to enjoy it personally; but then my livelihood doesn't depend on it.

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29 years and counting

There actually is a way you can be covered when you workout in triathlon. It's similiar to the master's program; usat club membership. It works pretty similiar to the masters program in swimming. When you are working out as a group you are covered. If you are alone you arent covered.

That is what my daily team does. And the only fee is my own cost per year. Their monthly coaching plan gets them on the "club team", and thus when we work out as a group in s-b-r or tri stuff they are covered.

Of course masters swimming is much easier to do for triathletes than say tri club workouts, because of life situation. For instance, my AG athletes who like you would go out and bike alone or run alone, would not be covered by club insurance.

BUT, if you wanted to take the masters style practice to triathlon (group training), yes there is a way for you to be covered insurance wise. But that's unrealistic for adult, working triathletes.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Coming from a running background, I remember being bewildered by this when I registered for my first tri. I couldn't believe I was being required to get some one-day license nonsense to race as a middling AGer. Just build it directly the race price.

Been doing the sport for nearly 25 years. I used to know tons of folks who raced and was also member of an active tri club. Tri-club now defunct and I can count on one hand how many of my old racer buddies still at it. It is easy to just get burnt out on the high pressure racing scene. I still train 7 days a week but now just for exercise and other than one little Oly race in June, my racing days are over.

a couple more graphs to illustrate why youth and younger adults find it difficult to start in tri:





heck, I can't afford tri anymore.. one kid in college, one due in a couple of years, no raise since 2008.. only had $200 000 saved up for college, it's not nearly enough.
one race a year is about as much as I can afford (health permitting).

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"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview