Thanks for the feedback everyone and I hope others will chime in.
Great points about lowering entry fees. This is a problem not only for juniors, but adults too. It just costs a lot of money to close down parks and roads for races. USAT does offer a small stipend to race directors to put on youth and junior events so maybe that money can go to further reduce the fees to younger athletes. However, the race directors are still not fully behind adding special waves or doing new races for young athletes because so far, the athletes aren’t showing up. It’s a catch-22. However, we do have some race directors who should be thanked for putting on draft legal races around the country. And there are more and more starting up.
Some people said they didn’t know where to find the info. Start with www.usatriathlon.org and look under Age-Groupers- then Youth / Junior / U23. We are working on the website and it is not completely up to date. Another place to look is your regional usat website. Finally we have Regional Athlete Development Coordinators in each region who are there to help you find opportunities in your specific region of the country.
Draft-legal- yes, any junior or U23 athlete can compete in these races, they do not have to be “elite.” However, nationals are only draft-legal for juniors / U23 because that’s the way Worlds is. We have been a little behind on an international level because we have been so slow to adopt this format of racing. If our youth grow up in the sport with draft-legal racing, we will be much more competitive on the world stage. While there will probably always be non-drafting races locally for these age-groups as part of adult races, it’s best for our athletes, our country, and the spectators (parents and friends who come and watch) if the youth are racing on circuit courses where they can be seen multiple times in the race and are allowed and taught to draft.
Bad swimmers- don’t be scared of draft-legal racing. Just last weekend in Wisconsin the girl who finished second in the race came from way back from a slow swim with the fastest bike and run. Especially if there are other slower swimmers in the race (which there usually are), drafting allows you to work together to really ride fast and reel in the fast fish swimmers. Like someone else said, drafting makes it more fun with tactics. And don’t think that drafting means that it’s always easy or eliminates the bike, quite the opposite. If you’ve ever done one, you know.
Funding- USAT does offer some funding for our elite juniors and U23 athletes to train with our national coaches and attend races nationally and internationally. Regionally there are some grants available as well, but those come from the regional USAT federations, not national USAT. Promising juniors might also find support through their local bike shops, running stores, pizza places, etc. However, like any sport, triathlon is not free- bikes, shoes, travel, race entries. But, some local teams have been formed to help young athletes pool their resources to travel and compete. Heck, even a local swim meet is 20-30 bucks once you pay for each event. Hopefully race directors can find a way to off-set some costs and offer more race opportunities at lower entry fees around 20-30 dollars instead of 60-80 bucks.
Relays- great idea and one that has come up in my discussions with other Juniors. Great way to get more people into the sport and foster the “team” atmosphere.
College- USAT values the college system as the best place to “develop your weapon” in a single sport, and of course get an education! There are a few scholarships in Colorado Springs now for triathletes, but by and large, the USAT coaching staff encourages young athletes to go to college, get a degree (we all know you can’t make much of a living as a triathlete as it is), and still compete in triathlon in the summers and after college. We fully support the Collegiate Championships as well. But we also need the Junior and U23 programs and youth triathlons to wet the appetite of young athletes headed to college so they come back in the summers and after college. Without strong teams competing on the international stage at a young age, the learning curve can be steep for talented athletes once they end their single sport careers and focus on triathlon. The Junior and U23 programs give these athletes international experiences that they can build on in the future and pick right up at the top of the sport after college.
Keep the ideas flowing and feel free to contact me with your ideas. I have been the Regional Athlete Development Coordinator in the Mideast region for just over a year and have recently taken on a new position of National Athlete Development Coordinator. My job, a slightly funded contract position with USAT, is to help the Regional Coordinators (who are volunteers) get the word out about their programs and help distribute our limited funding to each region. I work with Ric Rosencranz, our National Select Team Junior Coach and Program Coordinator, and Libby Burrell, the National Teams Program Director, on these initiatives. I live in Cleveland, Ohio.
Scott Schnitzspahn
