Today I received an email from an RD of one of the oldest multisport events in the country. Thought it was interesting. While I can’t vote (I dropped my USAT membership a few years ago because I thought it wasn’t worth the money…I wasn’t doing enough races to break even ;-), I do find that if I didn’t feel compelled that USAT was doing anything for me (read: the regular age groupers), and if the RD’s don’t feel like USAT is doing anything for them (although perhaps there may be some who do), who the heck is our national governing body actually doing anything for? (and remind me why they use the members money to do this?).
Anyway, here is the email (he already has said it was ok if I post this without his name):
"For What It’s Worth:
I’ve spent an unexpectedly long time talking with some old friends and acquaintances about the current USAT election and petition. These have turned out to be very involved discussions, because there are a group of interrelated issues involved as well as a group of individuals involved who have strong, personal and vested interests in USAT. My discussions remind me of the first three hours that we spent at all of the “x” Board regional meetings that I attended during my two terms of service on the Board. We used to talk amongst ourselves to try to understand what was going on at the national level so that we could act somewhat constructively as a regional board. I inevitably found the national level politics dirty and discouraging. Things are worse now.
So generalizations are difficult because so many issues and people (with agendas) are involved. When I put together everything that I’ve heard, my sense and my vote will come down to a matter of trust in the case of the board election and to a sense of disappointment with the path USAT has taken in the past 10 years in the case of the petition.
First the election. A few of us have been in this sport long enough to remember when Trifed was an organization run primarily for the benefit of its age group membership. In the past ten years or so, USAT has become an organization beholding primarily to the USOC, a national team, a state of the art national center that benefits a select few elite athletes and,
finally, a small cadre of people I call the “bigs. The bigs” are a group of people with very strong personal and financial interests in the administration of USAT and its treasures. Some of them were once heavy and valued contributors to the sport but have become dependent on triathlon personally and professionally. Some of the bigs have been in it only for themselves from the beginning. I’d like to see them all move on.
USAT does precious little for me as an athlete these days. USAT did even less for me as a race director. Perhaps the pivotal change in attitude & policy that I can recall in the organization was when USAT chose not to publish at their web site the minutes of board meetings. I recall several trumped up arguments for confidentiality and so forth that were pretty specious given the professionalism of most people in this sport. So the sunshine disappeared and USAT became an organization dominated by personally and financially motivated individuals… the “bigs.” They have made a living fighting over how best to put my dues in their pockets with little concern for me.
My response is to vote for an individual in our region (the Central region) who for 20 years has argued consistently on behalf of the age groupers: lew kidder. While I’ve disagreed with lew over some things in the past, I trust him to vote for the age grouper who pays most of the USAT bills. The sport either belongs to us or to the bigs. I’m voting for us.
As for the petition, I’m definitely supporting it, even though some elements of it may prove problematic and may have to be revised. This petition is intended most fundamentally to wrestle control away from the national board and the executive director and to return it to age groupers who pay the bills. It reflects a disagreement with current USAT administrative practice and procedures, with the board, with the former executive director and, most
fundamentally, with the direction that all of them have taken the sport in recent years. I share that disagreement.
…I’m mailing my ballot and petition tomorrow."
He did ask that nobody “out” him or circulate his email (which is why I asked permission because I believe it contributes to the debates here on Slowtwitch), so if you know who this is…please respect his request. No reason for the man to start receiving hate mail (or in his case being an RD, having the current board cause problems in the case they all win again and the petition gets voted down).
Just another viewpoint…use it at your discretion.
My favorite author has always been anon.