USATF Coaches Education Meltdown

I can only speak for myself here and I have no knowledge of the inner workings of USATF but I had Mike Y as a bio-mechanics and sprint instructor a couple years back at the level 2 in TX and he was the best instructor of a great group of teachers and has helped me tons since then. He always answers my emails with thorough replies and has offered to let me come to his training sessions to watch. Almost all clinicians put up their contact information but very few actually take the time to deal with you afterwards. Mike's not like that. He's probably the best instructor I've had including all my years in college. If USATF is going to let him go they are seriously screwed up.

So Kamp resigned from Ga. St and not USATF???

Kamp resigned from both. She was coordinator of the proposed youth level 2 school to be held this summer.

Whoops! wrote:

The Overseer wrote:

I thought that when Congress got involved and we moved from AAU to TAC and then to USATF that the politics would take a back seat, but it is obvious that it has again reared it's

"its"

ugly head.

All you had to add was a nit picky assessment of a minor grammatical error????

F*** off

Little does she know, but the house of cards that Terry Crawford thinks she has control ove is rapidly falling apart and the troops are rallying.

God I hope so Coach!! Ask anyone in SLO how much they miss her!

1) From what I read, it does not take much to be self-sufficient---no one was getting paid. Pay the instructors for their time and knowledge. It is great that they do it cheap, but that also means it will down the pecking order in terms of a priority.

2) Besides the certification clinics, does USATF offer other educational opportunities? USA Triathlon and USA Cycling certainly do (others do as well, I am just less familiar with them).

3) $20K? USATF could not come up with that? Look at USA Triathlon---a much more niche sport---I think they have 3 people in their coaching education dept--all paid. If coaching education is really a high priority as the above email from Jill Greer says, then not forking over $20K is silly. As for the university, it sounds like the issue was not with the university, but internally.

4) I think USA Triathlon has about 1700 hundred certified coaches (membership I think is 70K). They require attendance at a clinic to get the entry level. So it is accessible (cannot recall what it costs). USA Cycling requires a clinic for its level 2 (the entry level is a home study course) and gets 120 or so attendees per year. Those programs are pretty self-sufficient. USATF just has not been willing to give it the attention it deserves and to me that includes full-time staff overseeing it.

luv2run wrote:

2) Besides the certification clinics, does USATF offer other educational opportunities? USA Triathlon and USA Cycling certainly do (others do as well, I am just less familiar with them).

There's a podium project in the winter and an endurance summitt which have been part of USATF.

3) $20K? USATF could not come up with that? Look at USA Triathlon---a much more niche sport---I think they have 3 people in their coaching education dept--all paid. If coaching education is really a high priority as the above email from Jill Greer says, then not forking over $20K is silly. As for the university, it sounds like the issue was not with the university, but internally.

There are universities to host but it would look like the course was a UO or UW (or whatever) online course rather than a USATF course. Also, making the content rich and able to stand alone would cost...something which USATF was apparently unwilling to pony up for.

Is the podium project the one in Clermont/Orlando area? If so, I think that is an invitation only event.

Look at what other NGBs offer in terms on online content (webinars from USA Cycling and USA triathlon). It can be done if it is a priority.

The podium project clinics are open to the public because I went last year to the one in Vegas.

As for the online course I totally agree with you. The issue is not whether it can be done- many NGBs are doing apparently. But USATF wants a professional online course now with out any outlay of cash to get it off the ground which is stupid and unrealistic.

Does anyone know what the deal is with this? I was about to submit my application for the level 2 school this summer but I won't if all the good teachers will be gone.

Stay tuned...don't register yet.

Plumber-

What do you know? Spill the beans.

Do you really think these high octane, type A instructors are just going to just go away? You do not abandon a passion. They will be somewhere together.

Do you really think these high octane, type A instructors are just going to just go away? You do not abandon a passion. They will be somewhere together.

Well said. I don't know details, but think I can guess why the people involved here have not piped in. I have no doubt there will be something sooner than later will provide coaches access to education...probably not through USATF. Don't you wonder about these guys being so silent through all of this? I am as eager as all of you.....

I have been in touch with one of the coaches and he thinks they will devise their own thing. He didn't say under what aegis, but my guess would be US Track Coaches Association. I hope they can bring the originators back on board-Gambetta and Vigil etc. It should make USATF think twice, but you never can tell with them.

No offense but the endurance program was horrible. The material is crap.

Hell, even some of the sprint stuff is crap. I was looking forward to the rewrite of the material. Hopefully the new system incorporates some good stuff.

idunnoy wrote:

No offense but the endurance program was horrible. The material is crap.

Hell, even some of the sprint stuff is crap. I was looking forward to the rewrite of the material. Hopefully the new system incorporates some good stuff.

Yeah. The year after I got my L2 Endurance, my xc team qualified for states for the first time ever. They did it for the next two years also. Crap alright.