Author: Becca Peter

My costs of attending the Annual Meeting, 2014 in Anaheim.

Expenses for me to attend the Annual Meeting this year:
On-time registration: $175
Airfare from Seattle to Santa Ana: $317
Ferry fare from Lopez Island (my home) to Anacortes: ~$25
Gas between Anacortes and Seattle: ~$20
Hotel and food at the Annual Meeting: ~$550
Transportation between the airport and the hotel: $54
Total: ~$1,141

Of that, I will get the $175 registration fee reimbursed by my Association for being a delegate.

Things I got for free:
Childcare for six days courtesy of my husband and father-in-law.
Lodging at my parents’ house in Seattle (the ferries don’t run early enough or late enough to go straight from home to the airport)
Ticket to the Jesse Owens Awards Banquet courtesy of an athlete who decided not to go (first time I have ever attended, $75 value)
This is probably the most money I have spent to attend the Annual Meeting.

Finding a roommate is always hard for me, but I could have tried harder there, that would have saved ~$200.

I use the profits from Pole Vault Power to fund the trip. I consider attending the Annual Meeting the most important business trip I make all year.

I am not posting this because I want money or I want anyone else to pay for my trip. I am posting this because _this_ is what it takes to attend the Annual Meeting for most people, most of the time (elite athletes usually get their trip paid for). _This_ is what it takes to have a vote, to have a voice. And it means that there are many people in this sport who are disenfranchised.

Most committees do not post minutes or communicate any useful information to their members in between meetings. If you’re not _on_ one of those committees then you really won’t get the info. I don’t have any easy solutions for that, but I am open to new ideas.

I got to place one vote at the Annual Meeting, the result of a lot of hard work within my Association. So when I voted for Bob Hersh to continue as our representative on the IAAF, that wasn’t a vote I placed casually. It meant a lot to me.

We worked SO HARD just to have the ability to place the vote. And about 389 of my fellow delegates probably felt the same way. Even those who get their trips paid for had to make sacrifices to their training schedule, take time off work, arrange childcare, be away from their spouses, etc.

The board disregarding our votes hurts. And when I look at the composition of the Board, I see a lot of people who have zero experience with IAAF politics. And while I don’t want to say I know more about IAAF politics than they do… I listen and I pay attention. I do my best to understand the situation. I ask questions and I talk to people who know more than me. I think the Board got this one wrong.

While none of this is Max’s fault, he was hired to deal with sponsorships, not understand IAAF politics. So I think he’s only thinking about how it will make them look good to be this progressive NGB that puts forward a young (for the IAAF) minority female candidate, I don’t think he spent much time thinking about what the backlash will be when Bob’s longtime friends in the IAAF vote against Stephanie because they are pissed, what the consequences are to USATF when we have NO ONE on the IAAF Council, or best case scenario (I guess) is that she does get elected to the Council, but doesn’t have any respect because she is the newbie that stabbed their friend in the back. He doesn’t get a vote in any of this, but he does generally get to sit in on executive sessions and tell the Board how he thinks this will affect their bottom line. He somehow thinks this will mean more $$ for USATF.

I am dismayed at the thought of a USATF Board of Directors with no Willie Banks and no Bob Hersh. Curt Clausen is an outstanding addition to the board, but it’s clear that his lone voice to represent their constituents is not enough.

Life goes on. I am younger than almost everyone else and will outlive most of them. We will keep trying to make this sport a better place, building on the foundation of those who came before us, those who brought us out of the amateur era, those who paved the way for women’s track and field, those who wrestled control away from the AAU… Sometimes we’ll get it right and sometimes we won’t, all I can do is encourage everyone to resist the urge to run away from the sport and USATF, and instead, dig in your heels and fight harder.

USATF can be creative too… cool!

https://www.usatf.org/News/Shot-put-to-be-held-on-Capitol-grounds-during-USA-.aspx

USATF’s BIG ANNOUNCEMENT recently was their new rewards program.

I checked it out today, you get “wings” for stuff like connecting your Facebook, visiting their website, watching videos, etc.

Here’s what they really ought to be giving out wings for…

– Logging in to Club Management Area +50 wings
– Logging in to Association Management Area +100 wings
– Sanctioning an event +50 wings
– Using USATF’s registration system for your event +200 wings
– Completing your youth background check +100 wings
– Completing your coaches registry background check +100 wings
– Becoming a USATF Certified Official +500 wings
– Attending an Association board meeting +50 wings
– Being on your Association’s BOD +200 wings
– Using Delivra to send out Association emails +1000 wings
– Switching your Association’s website to the USATF Network +2000 wings
– Hosting an Association Championship +500 wings
– Hosting a Regional Championship +1000 wings
– Hosting a National Championship +5000 wings
– Hosting a race walk clinic +500 wings
– Hosting a Level 1 clinic +1000 wings
– Becoming a Level 1 coach +500 wings
– Hosting a Level 2 clinic +2000 wings
– Becoming a Level 2 coach +1000 wings
– Attending the USATF Annual Meeting +500 wings
– Attending Associations Workshop +500 wings
– Attending Associations Workshop if you are under the age of 40 +2000 wings

And maybe they should give negative wings too…

– Having an accident at your event that results in an insurance claim for USATF -500
– Having an accident at your event that results in a lawsuit against USATF -10000
– Posting on letsrun.com -20 wings
– Talking to sponsors that compete with USATF’s sponsors -100
– Using an old version of USATF’s logo -50
– Refusing to call your Association “USATF ____” -500 wings
– Living in an Association that failed to get at least bronze -50 wings
– Being on the BOD of an Association that is forced to dissolve -5000 wings

USATF keeps screwing over the athletes on the bubble in the women’s pole vault…

On the last weekend of qualifying, a small PV-only meet produced five lifetime PRs, including three USA WPVers. There were suspicions raised about multiple aspects of the meet, and there was much discussion about whether or not the results would be rejected. The four girls that were bumped out were left hanging for days.

Two of the athletes made the trip to Eugene and two did not. The latter two _could_ not make the trip after some phone calls a little less than 48 hours before the meet with USATF where they were explicitly told: DO NOT GET ON THE PLANE. YOU ARE NOT GETTING IN UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. Both athletes are in college and it would be an NCAA violation if their school sent them out here after having official word they were not competing.

Last night, less than 24 hours after the start of the event, USATF decided to accept these athletes. One athlete got word and was able to catch a flight VERY early in the morning today, the day of the event. The other athlete, Jade Riebold, turned off her phone when she went to bed. The word came in after 11pm her time and she didn’t find out until morning… could not get from the east coast to Eugene on that short of notice.

Fast forward a few hours, the women’s pole vault prelims get rained out. They decide to advance all vaulters to the final on Sunday.

That would give Jade enough time to catch a flight tomorrow and make it out.

USATF will not allow her to compete in Sunday’s final because she did not check in for today’s prelim.

I think it’s possible that Nike is being unfairly demonized more than they deserve in the uniform logos issue.

First, it’s important to know that the memo that was posted yesterday is David Greifinger’s interpretation of events. I don’t have any reason to believe anything he said is inaccurate, but it’s not the same as the National Office admitting “yeah, we’re doing this because Nike told us to.”

Second, I think it’s entirely possible that a lot of this got started by many people (both at Nike and at USATF) being confused about which meets IAAF rules applied to.

My understanding of how this got started is that Nike AND OTHER MAJOR SHOE COMPANIES were not happy with the [IAAF] rules not being enforced at USATF Championships. It is very possible that both Nike and National Office staffers believed that they had an obligation to enforce IAAF uniform rules at USATF National Championships. Had that been true, USATF would have had a duty to enforce them evenly on all competitors. I heard from a LOT of high level administrators and officials that this was fact, it took the words of Bob Hersh to finally clear it up for everyone.

Third, I have heard from many sources that this is not just a Nike issue. Nike plays most prominently into this because they are USATF’s major sponsor, but many people have told me that there are other shoe companies who agree with them and have been vocal about it. I know that there are also shoe companies that don’t agree with them.

The real issues here are not with Nike. Nike is a business and they have a job to make sure their contracts are being properly enforced and to act in their best interest. Nike does a LOT of good for our sport, and alienating them doesn’t help anyone.

The issue is the actions taken by the USATF National Office staffers. They should have properly researched the issue and told Nike that they had no basis to enforce IAAF rules at our national championships. They should have told Nike that Nike athletes are free to wear jerseys with 20 swooshes on them at our national championships and that they can’t control what other athletes wear. They should have assured Nike that they would diligently enforce the contract at any Team USA events, which is where it should be enforced.

It’s entirely possible that this got blown so so so far out of proportion by people making mistakes, and then trying to cover their asses.

The most productive thing moving forward would be to focus on clarifying what USATF is and is not contractually obligated to, and what is in the best interest of both the athletes and the organization as a whole.

The Board of Directors have been given two different interpretations of the issue by two different attorneys. They have an important job ahead of them. The interests of the sponsors they serve and the athletes they serve appear to be in conflict. I’m sure with a little creativity they can make everyone happy.

The other issue is the national office staff making major policy decisions without formal approval of the BOD or any other group within USATF. The organization is designed so that athletes and other groups are represented and get input on decisions that affect them in major ways. While this often makes decisions and processes take forever and a day, it is designed to prevent abuse of power by those in charge.

Things are out of balance right now. Too many decisions are made informally, behind the scenes, off the record, when they should be going through the proper procedures. Too many within the organization do not follow their own rules, bylaws, operating procedures, etc.

This is where the real issue lies, not with Nike.

In studying the latest USATF “Uniform Guidelines” that will be enforced at USATF Indoors, I found an interesting difference between them and the IAAF regulations.

USATF has no obligation to the IAAF to follow their rules at our National Championships.

The Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act does state that NGBs cannot have stricter eligibility rules than their international bodies.

The USATF “Uniform Guidelines” currently states, “If an athlete’s clothing is not in compliance with these regulations, the athlete may be required by the event officials to wear plain attire as provided by the competition organizer.”

The IAAF Advertising Regulations state: “If an Athlete’s clothing is not in compliance with these Regulations, the Athlete may be required by the Call Room Judges to either cover the infringing items or wear plain attire as provided by the Competition Organiser.”

I know some of you are concerned that USATF will no longer allow you to tape over noncompliant logos. Who can get their jersey perfectly screened when the “guidelines” keep changing?

It would be interesting to see what a lawyer thought if USATF tried to make you wear “plain attire” instead of a taped over uniform.

I will try to explain this best I understand it. I am not guaranteeing I understand everything perfectly, I will update if I have any corrections or clarifications.

Here’s what happened, as best I understand. Greifinger’s resolution was tabled, so we can vote on it next year if necessary.

An agreement was reached last night between the National Office, AAC, the Board of Directors, etc, that basically says they will stop enforcing the “uniform guidelines” at USATF Championships (excluding the Olympic Trials, they are USOC).

The BOD has the power to add restrictions to logos and such, if necessary, but it is unlikely that they will do so for 2012, at least nothing major. There will be lots of discussions about this during 2012, I am sure.

So for now, the default is only enforcing the uniform rules in the USATF Competition Rule Book. No changes will be made without a vote of the Board and input from AAC. Athletes will be well represented in this process.

I am off to talk to more people, will post any clarifications or updates as I hear them.

This is a huge victory for athletes’ rights. Most of us involved (myself included) haven’t been to enough annual meetings to appreciate the magnitude of what we did. I have people who have been to every Annual Meeting, since long before there was a USATF, telling me that this is unprecedented.

Thank you all for turning this into an issue that they could no longer ignore. You have played a monumental role in athletes’ rights.

Hi everyone, we scored an important victory tonight.

When Devon Martin (Club Council chair) and I were kicked out of the AAC meeting, we asked Mike McNees (USATF interim CEO) to join us for the Club Council meeting later on. He joined us and was able to have a discussion with the coaches of the elite development clubs.

After this lengthy discussion, the Club Council passed a motion recommending to the CEO that the only uniform regulations enforced at Club Nationals are the ones in the rule book.

He accepted our recommendation.

This means for Club Nationals, you can have whatever logos you want as long as they are not offensive.

The main rule is that your team jerseys have to MATCH. We’re not even picky about shorts or base layers or any of that nonsense.

This is a relatively small victory in the big picture, but it is one of our first victories and important to many people in this group.

Thank you everyone for supporting us in this matter.

Thank you also to Track and Field News, the TFAA and the AAC for supporting us. We really appreciate it and we could not have done it without you all.

I have never been a big fan of the uniform guidelines (IAAF uniform rules) that USATF began enforcing this year, but I assumed and was led to believe that these were the rules the IAAF wanted us to follow, that we had been doing something wrong by not following them sooner.

I was wrong.

Here is what I have learned over the past few weeks.

If I am wrong about any of this, PLEASE let me know and give me some evidence to the contrary.

– The IAAF uniform rules are only applicable to IAAF permit meets. USATF is under no obligation to the IAAF to enforce the IAAF rules at USATF’s national championships.
– These uniform guidelines were not adopted by the Rules Committee.
– These guidelines were not adopted by the L&L Committee.
– These guidelines were not adopted by the Board of Directors.
– These guidelines were not adopted at the Annual Meeting by the delegates.
– The adoption of these guidelines may have violated the Amateur Sports Act

The time has come for the membership of USA Track and Field to act. Below is a resolution submitted by David Greifinger who has served as the USATF Board’s legal counsel in the past and is very familiar with this process.

RESOLUTION TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE USATF MEMBERSHIP AT THE 2011 ANNUAL MEETING

SUBMITTED BY DAVID GREIFINGER, ATHLETE ADVOCATE

WHEREAS, the IAAF through its rules and regulations restricts the size and content of logos on athletes’ uniforms in certain specified “international competitions;” andWHEREAS, USATF does not through its bylaws or rules similarly restrict the size or content of logos on athletes’ uniforms in meets that are not classified as “international competitions” by the IAAF; and

WHEREAS, USATF’S Competition Rules require that athletes’ attire be clean, designed, and worn so as not to be objectionable; and not impede the view of the judges; and 

WHEREAS, the membership declares that USATF’S policy is to permit athletes to promote their clubs to the maximum extent possible and to maximize the potential for athletes to obtain support and earnings from clubs and individual sponsors; and

WHEREAS, restricting the size and content of logos on athletes’ uniforms impinges upon athletes’ abilities to promote their clubs; to obtain individual sponsors; and to maximize support and earnings from clubs and sponsors.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that USATF shall not adopt or enforce any policy restricting the size or content on athletes’ uniforms when not required under IAAF rules and regulations; and

NOW THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution does not abrogate USATF’S Rule of Competition that athletes’ attire be clean, designed, and worn so as not to be objectionable; and not impede the view of the judges.

What happens next?

This will be voted on by the delegates at the closing session on Sunday, December 4. If you are a USATF member (and if you’re not, you should join and make your voice heard), please contact the delegates from your association and encourage them to approve this. You may need to contact your association to find out who the delegates are. Perhaps you could send it to the president of your association and ask them to pass it along to the delegates.

This is a repost of an article that was originally posted on FloTrack here.

Thankfully we were able to get USATF to back down on this issue a few days before Club Nationals and the meet went well.

Nov 13, 2011 by Becca Gillespy Peter

To whom it may concern at USATF,

My name is Becca Gillespy Peter and I am the team manager for Club Northwest. Club Northwest was founded in 1972 and we are one of the founding USATF Elite Development Clubs. We have competed in every Club National Championship in both cross country and track since the meets’ inception. We offer financial support to over a dozen elite and emerging elite athletes annually, one of the few clubs in the country to do so.

We are hosting this year’s USATF National Club Cross Country Championship in Seattle. We were shocked to learn recently that the IAAF uniform guidelines would be applied to this meet.

This decision was made without any consultation or approval from the Club Council or the LOC. I specifically asked national office staff members about this last February and was told that this rule would NOT be applied to our meet. No one involved with the meet or the Club Council was given notification that this had changed. We learned of it when it appeared on the website only a few weeks ago.

Although “USA Cross Country Championships” now appears on the list of meets this rule applies to, it is only a technicality that our meet is considered as such. The vast majority of participants at our meet are representing a scoring cross country team that is competing for team prize money. There is no individual prize money. The athletes all consider this meet “Club Nationals”, not the “Fall Cross Country Championships” even though it is technically both.

Unfortunately, most elite development clubs do not have uniforms that meet the stringent IAAF rules. Their club logo size is too big and/or they have non-compliant sponsor/manufacturer logos.

For Club Northwest, this will cost us a lot of money.

First, we rely on sponsorships to help support our team. We have an extra sponsor logo screened under our team logo, this is in our contract with our sponsor. Only a tiny fraction of our overall membership competes at the Olympic Trials or the T&F Championships, so it has not been a major burden to screen IAAF-compliant jerseys for those athletes. However, we will have over a hundred athletes competing at Club Nationals this year, and we cannot afford to screen separate jerseys for them. Having to wear tape on their jersey makes our athletes feel sloppy and unprofessional, much like the Team USA Relays did in Beijing when their relay bibs were forgotten and they had to wear handmade ones.

Our contract is up for renewal with our sponsor and specifies that we have their logo screened under ours. Because we cannot afford to screen doubles of all of our jerseys, we are faced with both the high cost of screening hundreds of new jerseys, and the high cost of losing this sponsorship.

Second, we are on the hook for Club Nationals financially. We are counting on a certain meet participation based on past attendance. Unfortunately, we are already hearing from clubs that are considering pulling out of the meet due to these uniform guidelines. We risk losing thousands of dollars in hosting the meet because of this.

My understanding was that the uniform guidelines were being expanded primarily for meets that are televised. Club Nationals (both track and XC) are not televised. Who on earth cares what our athletes are wearing? All the Club Council has ever cared about is that the jerseys of team members’ match. Why is the National Office now overriding the committee in charge of our events?

You are hurting the few Elite Development Clubs out there that are offering support to elite and emerging elite athletes. We all know there is not enough support to go around as it is.

This “guideline” hurts our athletes and it hurts our clubs. It should not be applied to Club Nationals. Not this year, not ever.

Thank you,
Becca Gillespy Peter
Team Manager
Club Northwest
http://www.clubnorthwest.org/