There is no easy way to get to Huatulco from anywhere in the US. There is one flight a day in and out of the town to Mexico City (roughly $600) then another $600 to get from Mexico City to most other airports. Tack on luggage fees, hotel, and food and that is one expensive trip. With so many other expenses to worry about, how does USAT expect the average high schooler to make this trip without putting a strain on their family’s bank account? Last year this race was in Clermont, an easy drive from the Orlando airport, which is relatively easy to get to from around North America. The swim at Huatulco is not even that god; two years ago ITU had to change it to a duathlon because of ocean conditions. So why does the North American Championship keep going back to Huatulco? What’s wrong with some of the resort towns on the Gulf Coast in Mexico?
You just sign up and your first two posts are bitching and moaning. Why don’t you tell us who you are, you obviously care deeply about high school triathlon. I.m guessing that you must be one of the parents of one these aspiring athletes. Just a heads up, not really good form to sign up to bitch out USAT, ask a question, and then run and hide.
Well US triathlon will never make gains on the world stage until there begins to be easier access for Juniors and collegiates. I doubt the Brownlees were worrying about shelling out two grand just for a sprint race while they were rising through the ranks. Why would the average US parent agree to spend two grand for a race in Mexico (not exactly a popular topic in the US media) instead of a local swim meet or track meet, basically free (maybe the high school pays a minimal entry fee). But with USAT’s point system, if Juniors or Collegiates want to race at the big races, they have to shell out the big money and get points in order to race at the bigger races.
The race has to be accessible to everyone that competes for a “North American” team. At Clermont last year, Mexico brought a fairly large contingent. Doesn’t matter where you host it, some (or most) will have to travel to get there.
Junior Elite racing is still in its infancy here in the US. Last year was the first year that the race sold out without having to allow non-US citizens to fill it.
When the demand is high enough so that there can be races in opposing geographical locations on the same weekend, then I suspect that USAT will be able to have a bit more pull in choosing race locations but it is still an ITU (or PATCO) decision.
The full on Patco champs are up here in Edmonton.
The other thing that USAT has yet to figure out is the qualification for major races. It’s going to be hard to ever find the correct formula, but at least at the Junior level, there are still a lot of “discretionary” spots for major races. I understand that it can never be like track and swimming, where there is one olympic trials race or one PATCO race, but USAT needs to come up with the correct formula and stick to it. I feel like they change it every year, with every race having its own complicated equation.
Sucks to be under the USAT, they could learn from other countries on junior development. The problem in the US is that so much of the sport is long course centric.
The problem in the US is that so much of the sport is long course centric.
And non-drafting.
We have a fairly successful IronKids program and a few other programs but then you get to “high school age” the numbers dwindle.
I was on a coaching course this weekend… we did cover the development model for a bit. This is lacking for you guys. The development of age group elite draft legal racing might have the effect of towing juniors along a bit giving them more DL races to hone their skills at.
Also, USAT has relied on the formation of these “high performance teams” across the country, when in reality they are only in a few pockets of the country. If you don’t happen to live in the exact city of the coach, it is very difficult to get started in the national level races
This is USAT’s fault? Or the infancy of the sport? I’d be careful where you point fingers because I do believe the USAT junior system to be extremely successful in the last few years, yes there is framework that still needs to be built but as interest comes the framework will be built.
Also why does your athlete need to be in the national level races? I believe a lot can be learned from racing locally and building the blocks needed to succeed at the national level. I wasn’t near a coach and had to drive an hour there and back daily to train under him. Lukas is a similar situation and his parents made the same sacrifice. No it’s not easy, but it’s high performance, which by definition is not achieved easily. Yes there are lots of factors to success, access, funding, talent and good coaching, but all of those can be replaced by another if one is strong enough. Keith Dickinson had to start his own junior team and front 6 grand per athlete in order to build his successful program, I’m not saying that you need the money there now, but if you want something bad enough, build it. USAT does fund junior teams to a degree and perhaps you can use that money to eventually get to the national level.
I think it is even harder than “difficult” especially if you truly want to be competitive. You have to train as much as any high school sport.
and racing at the “local” level is a lot different then racing at the national level. Draft-legal racing is a completely different animal than a non-draft local race. You can do as many local sprint races as you want, but you will never get the experience of knocking wheels and being pushed around in a chase pack on the bike filled with people speaking a different language. Also, the coaching of a draft-legal vs a non-draft racer is very different: less biking (more tactics such as riding in a group and working on 180 degree turns), more swimming, and faster running. There are very few coaches in the US right now that know how to properly build up a distance swimmer or a distance runner into a national level triathlete. that’s why you need connections and money to succeed in this sport still.
Make connections, reach out to a cycling coach, do criteriums or local cycling races. Swim with a swim team, run with a track or XC program. All of these are things that are fairly easy to do and will build draft legal experience.
Probably the best advice I’ve gotten from slowtwitch, and it came from Mr. Rapp “If you want it, you find a way to make it work. Or you don’t” and the other is not really a quote, but something I’ve observed and this is if you don’t take the risk, don’t bitch and complain because there are still options available. You only have yourself to really blame if you don’t succeed, does the situation suck? Sure. But do something to change that.
There are very few coaches in the US right now that know how to properly build up a distance swimmer or a distance runner into a national level triathlete.
Probaly because that’s probaly not the best avenue to take to create a great ITU athlete. Being a great distance swimmer isnt all that important. It’s the shorter, quicker explosive swimmers that will make it in ITU events (being able to get out fast as you can and then settling in after the thrashing at the start). The issue becomes though, the “distance” athletes are the ones that usually win the local triathlons and thus seem to get the attention of people. And that is where we basically are as a nation. We simply take the best of the 2nd tier college athletes (the top end guys ususally turn professional runners for instance or are so burned out they just don’t want to continue to pursue professional athletes), and develope them into triathletes. The issue becomes, it usually takes time to develope the explosive speed and intensity that is necessary in order to perform at the world class level in ITU. So, it’s not really that coaches don’t know how to, I just think the system we have at play handicaps the development of the athlete and the chance for the coach to properly develope said athlete in comparison to other international federations.
WaterisOpen,
I’ve read every one of your posts, which wasn’t hard because you just signed up three days ago. Your frustration is palpable. I’m sorry you’re aggravated by these difficulties.It seems you are a parent of a good, young athlete. I wish I didn’t have to speculate on that. Identifying oneself is respectable.
It’s Friday morning here in Los Angeles and I have a full plate ahead of me today, tomorrow and Sunday when I fire the gun on the first Junior Draft Legal race series that LA has ever had. This first race is going to be incredibly small - less than 30 athletes and I felt it was the right thing to do to keep costs low (entry is $49). On one side of the financial sheet is the income for this race - barely $1000. And race sponsorship? It’s hard to imagine who would sponsor a race with 30 kids that will get little to no coverage in a sport that is very small. I wouldn’t be looking for a sponsor, I’d be looking for a patron and I can’t wait around for that generous person. On the other side of the sheet are all the costs: permits, cones & barricades, cops, radios, awards, t-shirts, fencing, racks, zipties, labels - you can’t imagine, it goes on and on.
It would be financial madness to do this if it weren’t for USAT. The make sanctioning a breeze - obtaining full coverage is pretty quick and it’s inexpensive. The make annual memberships for kids affordable too. The even scared up a small grant for me to help me through the first year. From my perspective they are aiding the youth and junior development greatly.
Perhaps we’ll cross paths at the Junior DL in Monroe, Washington or maybe at Nationals in Ohio. I’ll have my youth and junior teams there. Please come introduce yourself to me - you don’t have to reference this thread, we’ll start fresh.
Sincerely, Ian
Ian,
I’m so excited for you this weekend! May it go great, and the kids have an incredible time!!! Give ST a race recap some time! Best of luck to you and your race team!!!
-brooks
Thanks man, I’ll get back to ya.
Ian
Ian,
I have heard about the LA series you started and that is exactly what Juniors across the country need right now. Draft-legal experience with little pressure, no high entry fee, and a smaller field. I hope that more of those types of races can spring up around the country in the future.
Over the years working with USAT, they always seem to impress me with their grants/refunds they will give to coaches/athletes/race directors. Despite not having an excess of money, they also seem to be willing to help out in many ways if you ask them.
What makes you think that I am a parent?