Becca Peter is here to answer your questions on USATF Annual Meeting and why you should vote no on giving the Board more power

Thank you, Becca.

Do you have any insight into why we at USATF with our paying dues do not have something similar to the Power of 10 Rankings site in the UK by British Athletics? Perhaps this will bring renewed interest to the sport with the athletes from Youth to Masters and with sponsors.

How do we use the convention/process to propose budgeting and development?

https://www.thepowerof10.info/rankings/

Becca thanks for sharing information like this and making strides to improve the sport.

I don’t know much about usatf but I agree with your motives. Is there any value in individual usatf members voicing their opinions to their regional representative. Is it like calling your congressman? If there is value in me voicing my opinion - how do I figure out who to contact? Is phone or email better? Social media?

Question: When will they get a new website, one that works?

Becca.

Thanks for giving a damn and your determination to have an open NGB. Some use the MLS, MLB or the other team sports as a model. I think we should look at how the Triathlon, Tennis or Golf associations run their sport. They seem to be heavily involved in the youth aspect of the sport.

Thanks again, we need more like you.

Agree, USA Triathlon would be a great model, best practices. Their talent identification, recruiting, and athlete support and athlete exposure and marketing is second to none. USATF may need to adjust in this post-pandemic world. Nike, adidas, all the major brands are about to cut hundreds of track athletes in the new year. They are simply not getting renewed. The game is changing. The charity aspect of T&F will be lessened by the major players due to lack of race opportunities and sponsor exposure. There is a map and there is the terrain. We need to go with the terrain.

LIrunnr wrote:

Becca.

Thanks for giving a damn and your determination to have an open NGB. Some use the MLS, MLB or the other team sports as a model. I think we should look at how the Triathlon, Tennis or Golf associations run their sport. They seem to be heavily involved in the youth aspect of the sport.

Thanks again, we need more like you.

So Cal Runn3r wrote:

Becca,

From a legal perspective, is it prudent to allow large groups of volunteers to make decisions that leave usatf open to litigation? Is that not a reason for this request from the USOPC? Is this not an attempt to make the organization a bit more professional?

I guess I don't understand this criticism. It's not like these rules allow the membership to run USATF day to day. They let the membership pass significant rules changes that USATF has to follow. It makes the Board responsible to its members. Isn't that the whole point?

1) If the Lananna lawsuits cost USATF a lot of money that was because the Board pushed him out. The membership wanted him in all along. Can you imagine USATF is the Board had it's way and just got rid of Lananna? How would our sport be better off?

Maybe it is easy to pick on the Board but so much of the dysfunction at USATF is because the Board did not want to be accountable. Steve Miller could have stayed at USATF forever if the Board had its way. The Board seems to have been an insular unit that protects itself. It then appointed one of its own to run USATF.

For profit companies often have the CEO and Board closely aligned but there there is at least a profit motive that keeps everyone in check. With USATF they have a monopoly on the sport and are accountable to no one without oversight from the membership.

I guess I just don't see the harm in allowing people like Becca to propose legislation to keep the Board in check is the way I see it the Board has been the problem with USATF for a while now not the membership. Without the membership having power Vin Lananna is not involved with USATF. I'm sure he's not perfect but he's the one guy who actually gets stuff done with the sport in America.

The Board has constantly been on the wrong side of issues. When huge percentages of your membership are voting against you that should show you you are in the wrong. Imagine if Congress could pass laws, the people could vote 75% against them, but Congress could stay in power.

We just got an email from USATF saying the AAC wants athletes to vote YES on the changes.

Their document is below. They don't really address the changes directly but say more Athletes will be on the Board. Becca is more athletes being on the Board all tied up in this one vote? Or are they separate issues?

https://www.letsrun.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Adopting-2020-USATF-Bylaw-Amendments-1.pdf

Standard Setter wrote:

Thank you, Becca.

Do you have any insight into why we at USATF with our paying dues do not have something similar to the Power of 10 Rankings site in the UK by British Athletics? Perhaps this will bring renewed interest to the sport with the athletes from Youth to Masters and with sponsors.

How do we use the convention/process to propose budgeting and development?

https://www.thepowerof10.info/rankings/

I think now that the new website is up, we are in a better position to add things like that. I would email Vin Lananna and see if he can connect you with the right person to try and make progress on that.

did wrote:

Becca thanks for sharing information like this and making strides to improve the sport.

I don’t know much about usatf but I agree with your motives. Is there any value in individual usatf members voicing their opinions to their regional representative. Is it like calling your congressman? If there is value in me voicing my opinion - how do I figure out who to contact? Is phone or email better? Social media?

Yes, go to your local USATF Association website and email their board members. Most of them are probably delegates.

jamin wrote:

Question: When will they get a new website, one that works?

Well we definitely are not getting a NEW website anytime soon, we'll have to keep advocating to get the current one to function the way we need it to.

wejo wrote:

Their document is below. They don't really address the changes directly but say more Athletes will be on the Board. Becca is more athletes being on the Board all tied up in this one vote? Or are they separate issues?

Separate issues. The athletes on the board increasing is separate from the legislation I am opposing. No one is opposing the legislation that adds more athletes and more independents to the board.

Personally, I think we are making the board too big, but adding the athletes is not the issue, I fully support the athletes having a larger percentage of board seats.

It’s nice that Becca is advocating. However, lack of real world experience and scale of multi-billion dollar organizations is a blind spot. It is not enough to be passionate; one also needs to be experienced and educated with multiple perspectives from other industries.

Will be an interesting meeting. As a longtime member of three USATF teams over the years, I like watching these outcomes but just understand the cliquish nature of USATF and how these inner circles operate. We see it with MUT and Open position all the time.

ndeisn wrote:

It’s nice that Becca is advocating. However, lack of real world experience and scale of multi-billion dollar organizations is a blind spot. It is not enough to be passionate; one also needs to be experienced and educated with multiple perspectives from other industries.

Will be an interesting meeting. As a longtime member of three USATF teams over the years, I like watching these outcomes but just understand the cliquish nature of USATF and how these inner circles operate. We see it with MUT and Open position all the time.

USATF is far from a multi-billion organization!

Your limited vision is showing, thus understanding of scale.

polevaultpower wrote:

USATF is far from a multi-billion organization!

I posted a detailed breakdown of election results here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/162889787132224/permalink/3582816905139478/

Becca, my only issue is your title - "I'm tired of USATF and IAAF crippling our sport." The USATF and the IAAF are the ONLY federations PROMOTING our sport, not crippling it. I would like to see the reaction of those if we were to eliminate all World Championships; eliminate all National Championships; eliminate all marketing and support and structure.

Can you give examples of IAAF crippling the sport? Thank you.

I'll give you one right here -athletes are now allowed to wear anything other than the footwear sponsor + one minor sponsor on their singlets.

The athletes' best way to make money is to advertise themselves in competition. And the IAAF rules in place forbid or significantly hamper that.

UGH - autocorrect. NOT allowed, not Now.