Email from Skip Gilbert @ USAT re membership renewal

Triathlon Forum
1

I posed the same question to USAT that I did in a recent post on Slowtwitch: Why should I renew my annual membership? In response, I received an email from Skip Gilbert - he has given his approval for me to go ahead and post his answer.

Your e-mail was forwarded on to me.

While I can certainly understand your need to validate the benefits of your annual membership with USAT, I am surprised that the impetus to do so came from some rather misguided rants on Slowtwitch. As a member of USAT for 15+ years, we hope that you have seen firsthand how USAT has played a role in supporting the age-group athlete.

A primary benefit must be our focus on safety and fairness. With over 3,000 events sanctioned each year, USAT has a significant role in distributing information to Race Directors on the guidelines they should follow to provide a safe and fair race. USAT and our risk management program is one of the most respected programs within the Olympic Movement and the 46 sports under that umbrella. As one of the few sports that allows athletes and general public to share a race course, our focus on safety guidelines and working with RD’s to ensure they follow them is one of the reasons the insurance industry (and communities) views our sport so favorably.

Given the explosive growth of triathlon and the recent surge by age-group athletes to join clubs and utilize personal coaches, our work in this area has focused on creating a coaching education curriculum and a complete support toolbox to help clubs launch and grow. These areas will simply provide the fundamental groundwork that will allow the sport to continue its expanding popularity across the country.

Our focus on community and creating a link to members through our media properties has received strong reviews, especially with our magazine. The value of the magazine alone is worth a portion of the membership dues. On the website, we provide a gateway to information for many individuals looking to sharpen their knowledge of multisport or to provide the basic resources needed to compete in their first event. We are working on a significant upgrade to our electronic media that will provide even greater avenues of support and resources. Add to that a rebuild of our IT platforms, we plan to launch a more dynamic membership and ranking engine later this fall.

For age-group athletes aiming to be the best, our support of National Championship events that create a Super Bowl feel for the athletes and a TEAM USA support program for those competing in a World Championship underscore our commitment to showcase this sport at the very top. While this level of racing is for a small percentage of our constituency, the impact of our efforts will help shape the sport for years to come.

John, like every business, like every organization and like every membership program, we certainly can’t please everyone. While we outline specific policies, there are RD’s out there that cut corners and we are dependent on member feedback to help us better educate those in how to produce better events. While we try to get membership cards out within days of receiving an application, there are Race Directors that take weeks to get us the paperwork. While we try to stay current in our rankings, there are races where the uploading of information is delayed due to formatting errors. My point here is that there are times when specific concerns arise through all of the variables that we embrace that might not paint USAT in the best possible light. While that is unfortunate, what would be even more so is if USAT was unresponsive to these concerns or if USAT was not continually working to ensure that these issues are a distinct minority within our structure.

To hold USAT guilty of not being worth a membership fee investment based on specific examples stated by a few of our 125,000 members would be better understood if USAT did nothing to correct those problems or if USAT did not have measures in place that attempted to avoid those concerns at the onset. The bottom line is that every athlete chooses which sport to align with, everyone chooses how that sports defines them and at the end of the day, everyone must decide if the value of the investment in that sport and its National Governing Body is there. I mentioned just a few of the almost 100 specific programs that USAT embraces annually and given our role to help fuel the multisport lifestyle, I would respectfully counter your claim that a membership in USAT is well worth the investment.

Thanks for writing.

Skip

Skip Gilbert | CEO/Executive Director | USA TRIATHLON
1365 Garden of the Gods :: Suite 250 | Colorado Springs, Colorado 80907
office :: 719.955.2801 | fax :: 719.597.2121 | www.usatriathlon.org

2

I’m not sure I understand this sentence:

As one of the few sports that allows athletes and general public to share a race course, our focus on safety guidelines and working with RD’s to ensure they follow them is one of the reasons the insurance industry (and communities) views our sport so favorably.

If I enter a race reasonably trained, what am I? An athlete or the general public? I’m not really interested in rehashing safety guidelines and if RDs follow them (since the answer is generally “We Try”). I think the better response would be “As one of the few sports that allows all triathletes, ranging from professionals to first-time triathletes to share a race course…”

Skip shows a bias, no? Unfortunate. Skip, I’d revise your future responses to consider what I’ve suggested. I respond to two to three Congressional inquiries a day so I understand the importance of wording, and have been participating in tris for 6 years; I’m not sure I’d like to be included in the “general public” category which I think you consider me to be, according to the sentence you’ve approved for release. I consider the general public to be the folks watching and supporting the athletes who are out racing to the best of their abilities.

3

Might “general public” mean the cars and other vehicles on the open courses (most triathlons are not on closed courses, as far as I know)? This obviously presents a unique safety concern, which he refers to in the same sentence.

Are you just being sensitive?

4

I’m not sure I understand this sentence:

As one of the few sports that allows athletes and general public to share a race course, our focus on safety guidelines and working with RD�s to ensure they follow them is one of the reasons the insurance industry (and communities) views our sport so favorably.

If I enter a race reasonably trained, what am I? An athlete or the general public? I’m not really interested in rehashing safety guidelines and if RDs follow them (since the answer is generally “We Try”). I think the better response would be “As one of the few sports that allows all triathletes, ranging from professionals to first-time triathletes to share a race course…”

Skip shows a bias, no? Unfortunate. Skip, I’d revise your future responses to consider what I’ve suggested. I respond to two to three Congressional inquiries a day so I understand the importance of wording, and have been participating in tris for 6 years; I’m not sure I’d like to be included in the “general public” category which I think you consider me to be, according to the sentence you’ve approved for release. I consider the general public to be the folks watching and supporting the athletes who are out racing to the best of their abilities.

 I have not read the OP but just reading what you wrote could Skip mean the residents and motorists in and around the area going about their general business as General Public. Most races I have done have not had closed courses and the "general public" have had to share the race course with m eand all the other entrants.
5

I read it that way; however, I dug deep to come up with an alternative interpretation too. Some courses aren’t closed to the general public, so there might be vehicular traffic among the racers while on the bike.

6

First, I would commend Mr. Gilbert for allowing his letter to be posted here.

Second, I have to call bullshit on a couple things. Safety? Other than getting knocked out in the swim, which no one can really stop, it seems the main issue is traffic. The race directors have to work (pay $$ for permits) with the locality where the race is happening, i.e., the local police, for traffic controls, which is the biggest safety factor. How does USAT help in that??

Coaching education, support “toolbox” for tri teams = Red herring, bullshit, moot point. Doesn’t help the individual ONE BIT.

Community? Media? See above. Magazine? Lame. Website? Lame. Who cares: I can get my tri info online for free anywhere. Support for National Championship events? Lame and Who Cares. How many of you 125,000 USAT members out there go to the National Championship events??

Lookit, this happens with any new sport: Organize the sport, set up a “governing body” of some kind that legitimizes itself by charging fees, get a big enough base of the events so that in order to compete you literally have no choice but to join the governing body, and WHALLA! You have a cash-generating body that is all of a sudden a business based on the sport. The things Skip has mentioned are merely window dressing in this fictitious dance we are all forced into. Congratulations to him!

7

To you and Monica, that is the question. What does “athletes” and the “gereral public” mean? Are they captured in the Code of Federal Regulations?

Rage, I’m asking a fairly technical question. Email me, please.

8

I have never heard of the Code of Federal Regulations (!), but I assume, given the context that Skip Gilbert is the executive director of the USAT and since he is talking about triathlons, that “athletes” refers to people who are registered/participating in the triathlon and “general public” means everybody else.

9

A primary benefit must be our focus on safety and fairness. With over 3,000 events sanctioned each year, USAT has a significant role in distributing information to Race Directors on the guidelines they should follow to provide a safe and fair race.
What? Where? When? Did they start handing out Dans guide?

10

wow, thats a long response for such a vague, non concrete answer and never really answers the question why. (vague, non concrete imo anyway, ymmv)

if one person is saying something it’s a rant, when lots of people are saying something, maybe there is a point there that should be looked at.

11

that’s what I was ranting about… the trend.

12

I agree with your points, and in addition to that, considering we, as age group members, contribute 125,000 @ $35each=$4,375,000, not including the one day licenses sold. How much of that is invested in age group, vs trying to send a team of 4-6 athletes to the Olympics?

13

I don’t get anyof it the only answer unless you can find some non usat races is because I can’t race at any of the races I’d planned to do without it and its more expensive to buy day license
for that many races… pretty simple unless theres some mass protest yea like thats going to happen hasn’t with ironman yet and entry fees went up again despite the economy.

So pretty much because I have no choice if I want to race.

14

I am assuming his comments regarding the general public meant simply that many courses do not have “closed” bike portions, but instead drivers share the course with rider, that’s why the police have to block off lanes and enforce lights.

As to the CFR, I wouldn’t imagine any relevancy of the federal regs to triathlons, unless there are some federal laws governing sporting events held on federal land?? Usually the races take place within city or county limits, and I am unsure about federal interplay with those. I think the feds enforce highways, but don’t know about city or county streets. That’s my take.

15

honestly,

The only reason I have been a member in the past is because the events I did used USAT for their insurance.

In my area this is no longer the case. I am not a member because I determined the benefits are not greater than the cost.

end of story.

16

Thanks for posting this, and I have to agree with another poster who commended for Skip to agree having this email published.

That said, I have to call BS on a particular item … their support of Team USA. This year’s long course athletes have had a rather dismal experience on race equipment. For months there were repeated promises that uniform ordering would be opened ‘next week’, none of which were kept. When it finally opened (this week, 7 weeks before the race), the selection was pitiful, and the prices no better than what you can get from your local tri shop, if you have a good relationship with them. USAT and their supplier royally f*cked this up, at the cost of the athletes, who now - due to time constraints - have to order without being able to try, or race, in their gear. There were even direct mails to Skip on this topic, his reply to which was commented on as being ‘unacceptable’. As in this is no way to run an organization. While it may seem just a small detail, race uniforms are a very essential item come race day. And USAT performed pitiful on this issue, without as much as a commitment to improve. This year’s Team USA experience as managed by USAT so far for the long course championship in Perth has been a negative experience so far. Certainly not anywhere close to what Skip is trying to create the image of in the posted mail. The Perth team’s mailing list archive is witness to this statement.

  • S
17

I would say $50k-100k, and that pretty much covers junior and U23 programs. The Elite funding is almost exclusively from the USOC and Sponsors.

So about less than a 1/3rd of a cent from your membership probably goes to help a 14 year old kid get into triathlon. What a crime!!!

Spread the word to your friends, because this point comes up on slowtwitch about every other month, and it is simply not true.

18

My favorite part was reference to “misguided rants on Slowtwitch.” We are the ones out doing the races and experiencing these issues, so to call our concerns misguided is, well, misguided. I sent a message to USAT last week outlining some safety concerns I have with the Chicago Tri. The response put the onus completely on the race director, and expressed that they “hoped the RD had learned their lesson” regarding the events that led to the various bike crashes involving the pros. This after stating safety is their #1 priority.

19

yeah

RD RD RD RD RD RD RD

ok then why am I paying YOU!!!