Truly no offense meant do anyone, but does anyone really care about USAT?
I don’t really see any impact on the average Joe racer, which seems to comprise 99% of the membership. I pay my 25 or 30 or whatever dollars it is each year so I don’t have to pay the 7 or 9$ at each race - that’s it. For me, all they are are insurance providers. I could care less about draft legal pro racing, my national ranking, the beautiful free window sticker I get each year with my 30$. I started racing in 1992 and haven’t noticed a single change.
I think it’s cool they built a training center in Clermont, but was it really worth it? I foresee big time monetary problems reguarding the upkeep/usage of the facility. Once again, just my opinion but I’ll never use it. How many out there plan on using it??
I do a few non-USAT events each year and they are cheaper and give better awards.
I’d listen for any feedback or suggestions of something I’ve missed.
USAT is a lot like the plumbing under your house. Most days you don’t give it a second thought, but it is very important.
You likely only notice it when something is wrong, if you’re an average athlete, you likely take USAT (and your plumbing) for granted.
For athletes trying to move to more elite staus in the sport, it is about the only game in town. Without them it would be tough to have any type of unified ranking or sanctioning or national team program
For athletes trying to move to more elite staus in the sport, it is about the only game in town. Without them it would be tough to have any type of unified ranking or sanctioning or national team program
That’s exactly what I mean, what percentage of US athletes are really trying to make the jump to elite status, less than one percent? Polls in magazines recently show that many, many more people prefer long-course, or non-drafting as opposed to ITU races. Most of my friends will won’t bother to set the vcr for an ITU race yet will come home from work (if possible) for lunch to tape an OLN iron/half.
And once again, not being sarcastic, but you refer to ‘only noticing or needing them when something is wrong’, what exactly would an example of this be?. Besides insuring a race where someone gets injured, which an insurance company could possibly handle, I really don’t see the point to the board and the lack of board votes returned each year seems to reflect this.
Don’t some board members get elected in their region by very low numbers, like 3-400 votes? And this is in a time where the USAT has greatly increased it’s membership.
I think there is a place for some type of smaller, more efficient, triathlon agency in the US to promote growth I just think we’d be better off without regional reps, a national training center and all the infighting and voting inconsitencies that have happened recently.
I could care less about USAT and the only reason I joined is to save money on races. Other than that they are of no benefit to me as a MOP 41 year old.
In my area the USAT races have been no different than the non-USAT races. But unfortunately, we just lost our best non-USAT race director, so depending on who purchases his races and how they are run USAT may be my only option. Time will tell.
(of course this will shift the onus onto you, the end-user, to pay attention to the sanction emblem, to notice the lack thereof, and to vote with your feet).
From Dan’s article is the above snippet. Until USAT actually sends someone qualified to actually check on the honesty of the permit application and ensure that permits for a race are granted BEFORE they approve sanctioning, the USAT sanction means only that someone sent in a check and filled in all the blanks.
Very, very few people, if any, will send in a report about the quality of race, or lack thereof, and can anyone name any race that has been denied a sanction unless the USAT check was not sent in on time? We hear all the time that poorly done races are back year after year with USAT sanctions. I agree it is a large and mainly impossible undertaking to ensure that all races are properly organized and conducted, but unless USAT takes that step, USAT sanctioning is worth nothing more than the paper it is printed on.
As I have said for years, the quality of a race is completely dependent on the race director. A good race director will manage a quality race whether USAT is emblazoned on the race application or not. Rankings are only important to about 5% of the field, but safety and price are important to everyone. Unless USAT does something to ensure that safety and all parts of the filed sanction package are adhered to, instead of USAT sanctioning the name should be changed to USAT Insured.
I’ve seen some races come under fire from USAT for races that went bad. I’m personally glad that we have USAT and although I might be convinced that the elites get more out of it than a mop or bop racer I think it benefits everyone. Without a national governing body there is no one to set race distance standards, rules standards and I know quite a few people who also follow the annual USAT rankings.
Also, I know that there are good races and bad races and those races are both sometimes USAT and sometimes nonsanctioned. But for the most part, I’ve found that non-USAT races that I’ve been too are usually the poorest organized and are even more draft crazy.
Also the annual cost for a USAT membership with the included insurance is lower than most other sports I’ve been in.
USAT is pretty much invisible during most of my year, but when it works, it works and it’s worth it to me.
I’ve gotta agree with you. The same RD in our area has put on both USAT and nonUSAT races, and they are indistinguishable. As far as money spent, I would rather have more bike racks and two more aid stations on the run, than a USAT official handing out draft penalties on the bike. (which could be done by a trained volunteer anyway.)
Someday, USAT will have shaped and molded the sport, and we will thank them. But for now I’ll just pay my dumb dues and watch them cater to the elite. USAT is the MAN keeping the age groupers down.
As far as draft marshalls, I see so few of them when I race they really don’t have any effect on my race. My draft marshall tends to be my mouth or my sarcastic glances behind me when I believe someone is getting a free ride.
I’m glad you mentioned bike racks. My main concerns when I go to a new race are: bike rack space, course safety and accuracy of the swim distance (you can always ride the bike/run to ensure accuracy). That’s about it. If there’s no draft marshalls and someone wants to draft, I say give it a shot. Sooner or later you’ll get a reputation and people will be watching you for it.
I’m not going to start up the whole drafting debate again but I just see some inconsistencies when our national body created a training center tailored to the elite racing the ITU drafting legal races when 99.9% of the members they are supposed to represent race non drafting races. Yes, as members we do have a reduced rate opportunity to use the center but I don’t see the frequency of our visits justifying the money pit that I see this facility becoming. South Lake Hospital gave the center zero cash last year (per Mike Greer). I’d be surprised if it’s doors are open for another 5 years.
Bewn;
You are right on the money bike racks and aid staions would be of more beneficial than some one handing out drafting penalties especially at low key local races.
Did a race earlier this year when the RD announced there would be no official on the bike course although was a USAT sanctioned race. Guess what ,lot of drafting from the top 3 finishers. Why bother being sanctioned if you are not going to follow the USAT guidelines and eenforce the rules.
See my post over on the “Dan resigned…” thread for why I think USAT is important. Don’t confuse problems in the USAT with reasons it doesn’t matter. We all have personal issues with certain decisions, persons, or entities of our national government…but we still subscribe to the fundemental promise of that government.
Also, don’t forget how young USAT really is in the grand scheme of things. If USAT had been around as long as, say, the swimming or football governing bodies…we’d have a few more things sorted out in our sport. Of course, even bodies as old as UCI (pro cycling) don’t have things fully sorted out yet. That doesn’t mean folks are ready to throw the baby out with the bath water. Well…maybe Manolo Saiz would like to…but he’s in the minority.
USAT is what we make it. And Dan, Susie, and the others seem to have gone a long way toward making it better…but now is NOT the time to stop, in my view. Stepping aside now, as Dan has decided, risks forfeiting all of the positive momentum they’ve created, despite Dan’s assurances to the contrary.
I don’t buy the argument that USAT just isn’t important. It IS important, even if you don’t realize it. That’s the reason Dan ran in the first place…because it IS important and needed to be fixed
The average american isn’t really involved or concerned about government outside of a few hotbutton issues (like war, abortion, etc, etc)…yet the government is far more important in their lives than they realize.
A properly functioning USAT will, indeed, appear not so important to the majority of athletes, because it does its job well and stays out of the way of the athletes. The disfunctioning USAT that we had was running amuck and out of tune with its main body of constituents. It was either in the way or not present at all. Its lack of vision is why non-USAT races could often be cheaper and better in most respects.
Understand that USAT is more than some nebulous org that demands that you pay it $25/year for a little sticker and no race day sanction fees.
Bri,
I’m not trolling or trying to start trouble for no reason. I went over to the ‘Dan’ thread and wanted to see your reasons why you think the USAT is important. The only things is see are that ‘it’s important and needed to be fixed’ and ‘understand that the USAT is more than some nebulous org that demands that you pay’… I could have missed a reply of yours, not sure.
I’m asking for specifics for they do for us. I’m open minded. If someone can provide me with some reason to return my vote ballot each year I’ll gladly complete it.
Once again, what do they do/what have they done/ what are they planning to do for the amateurs (besides insurance coverage) which comprise over 99% of their membership is what I’m asking for.
17. After paying the $30 for an annual membership, I am curious as to how that money is being used. Can you clarify this for me?
A: The membership dues are used for the development, research, and upkeep of USA Triathlon age-group programs, such as championships, event sanctioning, officiating, rankings, membership, media, etc. There is a common misconception that all or most of the money collected from the age-group athletes funds the professional athletes. This is simply not true. In reality, professional triathletes/duathletes are funded primarily through sponsorship and U.S. Olympic Committee funding.
Understood all. I cannot speak to all of the specifics. Frankly, the lack of specific applicability to the majority of constituents is precisely the reason why it needed to be fixed. Dan can give more specifics about how they are reorienting the organization to more specifically serve the needs of the average age grouper. Your criticism of the organization is appropriate…for the situation a year ago. The course should be corrected now.
The ironic thing about my questioning about the validity of the USAT is that I’d gladly pay double or even triple my yearly dues for 2 things: increased amnts highly trained draft marshalls (they should pay them if they already don’t) and safer courses (either closed roads - prob won’t happen) or paid safety marshalls at every dangerous intersection. Not neccesarily police due to the cost, but the local ‘safety patrol’ that’s lower cost but still in uniform and has the nice pretty flashing lights on their cars.
I’m for junior athlete development at a small scale. I’ve never really had much hope that a great middle school swimmer/runner would gravitate towards triathlon due to the very low prize money in this sport… which leads me into another thing that I question… low pro prize purses…
You can train your ass of a whole year, win Ironman Wisconsin and win $5000 !?!?!?
Our pros must really love our sport to kill themselves for such a pittance.
This has nothing to do with my original point - just think it’s a shame.
