over in the 3D racing thread someone posts the comment,
"If the only benefit I get from USAT is race insurance... then I can take it or leave it. There has got to be more than one way and one source to insure this type of event."
the fact that USAT is the only worthwhile insurance game in town doesn't mean that indurance is the only thing it provides. it just means that's the most visible thing it provides.
and while we're on the subject of insurance, i've heard a couple of people comment that they "already have insurance" and so why do they need insurance from the race? an intersection that ought to be manned goes unmanned, and you get T-boned by a car. you end up in a wheelchair and the driver is uninsured, or has low limits. do you have insurance for the several million in medical bills AND the loss of your job as a result? have you read the provisions of your long-term disability policy?
yes, the insurance is important. USA Cycling had insurance last year for its events. until (oops) they found out their insurance administrator was fraudulent, and it was this very same administrator providing insurance to a variety of non-sanctioned triathlons. in other words, these "insured" races really had no insurance. USAT is very proactive about insurance. that shouldn't be minimized.
the rules under which you race, the officials that are available to RDs (should the RDs choose to spend a couple of hundred bucks to hire the officials), the training and supervising of these officials, the championships you enter that qualify you for worlds, the uniforms you must wear to compete in worlds, the rankings ou look at from time to time to see how you're doing against those in your competitive set, the advocacy exercised on your behalf on the region's and world's poltical stage w/regard to triathlon, the congresses that train RDs, the commissions that provide advocacy for women triathletes, and regional athletes, are a FEW of the elements of USAT's work on your behalf.
there are plenty of things USAT ought to be doing that it isn't. there are services i've provided to RDs over the years that were really USAT's business to provide, and they just haven't done their job. i've had my run-ins with USAT.
but those are reasons to vote, not reasons to abandon USAT. come on guys, let's stop reminiscing for the 80s. the ME decade is an outdated idea.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman
"If the only benefit I get from USAT is race insurance... then I can take it or leave it. There has got to be more than one way and one source to insure this type of event."
the fact that USAT is the only worthwhile insurance game in town doesn't mean that indurance is the only thing it provides. it just means that's the most visible thing it provides.
and while we're on the subject of insurance, i've heard a couple of people comment that they "already have insurance" and so why do they need insurance from the race? an intersection that ought to be manned goes unmanned, and you get T-boned by a car. you end up in a wheelchair and the driver is uninsured, or has low limits. do you have insurance for the several million in medical bills AND the loss of your job as a result? have you read the provisions of your long-term disability policy?
yes, the insurance is important. USA Cycling had insurance last year for its events. until (oops) they found out their insurance administrator was fraudulent, and it was this very same administrator providing insurance to a variety of non-sanctioned triathlons. in other words, these "insured" races really had no insurance. USAT is very proactive about insurance. that shouldn't be minimized.
the rules under which you race, the officials that are available to RDs (should the RDs choose to spend a couple of hundred bucks to hire the officials), the training and supervising of these officials, the championships you enter that qualify you for worlds, the uniforms you must wear to compete in worlds, the rankings ou look at from time to time to see how you're doing against those in your competitive set, the advocacy exercised on your behalf on the region's and world's poltical stage w/regard to triathlon, the congresses that train RDs, the commissions that provide advocacy for women triathletes, and regional athletes, are a FEW of the elements of USAT's work on your behalf.
there are plenty of things USAT ought to be doing that it isn't. there are services i've provided to RDs over the years that were really USAT's business to provide, and they just haven't done their job. i've had my run-ins with USAT.
but those are reasons to vote, not reasons to abandon USAT. come on guys, let's stop reminiscing for the 80s. the ME decade is an outdated idea.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman