The death of indoor USATF

itll be held on a 2ooM track at the Alb Conv Ctr

- Too many meets that are considered "national title" races when you combine xc, indoor, and outdoor.

- No "regular-season" matchups.

- No regionally based teams to inspire loyalty.

Is the picture starting to become clear?

It's athletics. It has many different disciplines.

Such as...

They call them "universities."

But please, how would this work on the professional level? Shannon Rowbury is drafted by Atlanta, so instead Cook coaching her she has someone of a different philosophy? And is this coach also coaching her competition? And who sponsors the team? She won't get the same money from Nike anymore given that she's not racing in their uniform. And how does this benefit her or any of the other athletes? We know that sprinters and stud distance runners are the stars of track and field, but field events are where most most meets are won. So are Trafton and Carter more valuable to the team than Rowbury? Or will Rowbury be doubling all the time (and thus saxrifice her chances at the major championship of the year)? What if training in Atlanta doesn't work for her?

Track doesn't work like soccer, football, baseball or basketball. There are no medals at the Olympics for best regional club.

No, please enlighten us.

Thank you. This whole idea of designing track like the big ball sports is tossed around here ALL THE TIME. It will never work. Track is not football/basketball/baseball. Stop trying to make it like those sports. Square peg, round hole.

This thread has gotten off topic. I am suggesting that the US Indoor National Meet is dead as it is being presented at the present time.

I don't know how to fix it, since it has been broken for many years. It just amazes me how a national organization can allow such "bad publicity" from continuing on.

Going down to Albuquerque may be somewhat better, but the last time they had meets down there back in the 70's, they failed to draw crowds.

I just hate seeing track looking like roller derby.

As someone else noted, this was a weekend where all three major track facilities in Boston had meets going on, including a major MA high school meet at the same location on Friday night and the Ivy League championship on Saturday and Sunday.

Suggesting to concentrate on outdoor track and have meets where people love track and field is just one possible way for USATF to build the sport. With the present economy, going to a track meet will be a lot less expensive than going to a pro baseball game. Work on making track and field attractive to sports fan, not just track fans.

Went last year expecting the "great" Boston running community to come out in full force, which was one of the arguments for moving Nike Indoor Nationals from PG Sportsplex in MD to Boston this year. Not only did they not show up. I stopped by one of the local running stores and none of the employees even knew it was going on. Worse yet, I left an extra ticket at the store hoping someone would want to use it. No luck.

Maybe location is part of the problem. I didn't notice Millrose or Tyson's having similar problems filling the stands, although I agree the competition was better at both.

Can someone say if the attendance on Saturday might have been better than Sunday... both 3000s and one of the 1500s were on Saturday. I thought maybe more Bostonians turned out for them.

Boston Indoors sold out as it always does.

on the runs wrote:

Boston Indoors sold out as it always does.

I think that can be part of the problem. Boston Indoor is well publicized in advance. Indoor Nationals was not. The fields at Boston Indoor are better. Boston Indoor happens on one night so you aren't forced to choose between two trips to the Reggie Lewis Center or missing some events. If you compare Indoor Nationals with Boston Indoor I think Nationals doesn't seem as attractive and that may make nationals a harder sell.

For my part I seriously considered going to Nationals. But I've been to the RLC (45 miles away from my house) so many times this year, including the day before Nationals started, at Boston Indoor or at my son's high school meets, that getting there has worn thin. On the Friday before Nationals, as I was inching my way through traffic in both directions from RLC and driving all over the neighborhood looking for a parking spot I just decided that I'd had enough of dealing with the place.

Obviously not everyone has the same experience. But I do think that Nationals come at time when interest in the indoor season is winding down rather than gearing up.

Then why did the USATF need to run a "Buy one, Get one Free" promotion a week before the meet.Is it a donation, or do people actually plan to attend the meet when they buy a ticket?"Hey [Name] of [Company], would you be interested in supporting the USATF this year by purchasing [Number] tickets to the Indoor National Championships?"Professional Sports Teams do this all the time to avoid local television blackouts.

on the runs wrote:

Boston Indoors sold out as it always does.

Isn't a very convincing argument, given what people will do just to "claim" that there event was popular enough to sell out.