Think what you will. Spin it any way you want. Speak your truth with personal conviction, but make sure your position is soundly based in fact. I’m going to tell you right here and right now that USATF, despite what others might try and convince you of, is all about Medals. Olympic Medals. World Championships Medals.
The grassroots efforts, the outreaches, the youth programs, the meetings, the battles (some just shy of fisticuffs), the dedication, the labors. All about the Medals. You surely don’t believe otherwise do you?
If you were in attendance at last night’s Opening Ceremonies you heard it from CEO Max Siegel and Your Highness Hightower. Everything is judged and graded on Medals. Everything. Anything else you can, with all due respect of course, join RRCA. Which does very good work for the sport, the athletes, and its programs. But don’t you compare that apple to this orange.
Medals.
Excellence.
Our Elite Development Club Council is wrangling a mess in the form of our USATF Club XC Championships in San Francisco. The ever increasing swell of participation (successful program!) has necessitated that the event be split into two separate races. Wait for it……..
“A” Race and “B” Race. What we are dealing with is exactly whom gets into which race and why. Excellence trumping emotion. The one thing we all agree on is that the only way to guarantee your club’s entry into the A Race is Excellence. If you finished as a top 40 team last year you are in the A Race. One of our concerns is that clubs relegated to the lesser race may find that it doesn’t satisfy them or their sponsors and may influence their return in 2016.
USATF clubs all share commonalities. Budgets. And how we are to afford the best possible competitive situations and outcomes to fulfill our purpose of Elite Development. With eyes constantly on the podium.
Medals.
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