Chairman George discusses Armory’s bonk on 2007 nationals

The April edition of National Masters News is out, and USATF Masters T&F Chair George Mathews has a column discussing the lost NYC indoor nationals (detailed several places on this blog). Happily, George’s column also is online. Sadly, NMN has ceased its tradition of printing an April Fools’ article. This is the second April issue in a row without one. Sometimes they just recycled old articles, but a tradition is a tradition. So it goes.


Here’s George’s column for April, for posterity:
Boston Steps Up Again
Many of you have probably heard that The Armory in New York City has backed out of their successful bid for the 2007 National Masters Indoor championships. We are very disappointed in this development and are taking steps to prevent this in the future. Maybe we could force the issue, but we surely don’t want have a Championships where are not wanted.
There were several situations which prompted their withdrawal. Their official statement was “that the cost to stage a meet of this complexity here in New York City could not be met through the entry fees of the athletes”. They also claimed not enough admission fees from spectators and the current rates for hotels in NYC as reasons for their withdrawal. Another reason I believe was that the two people from the Armory who made the bid are no longer there. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that Boston as once again stepped up and has taken on the meet in 2007. As second bidder we gave them the right of first refusal. Thank you, President Gary Snyder, Masters Chair Lee Hess and Event Manager Steve Vaitones for stepping up and taking this important meet on. This is the second time they have done this for us. The first time was in the late 90′s when the University of Missouri backed out when there were personnel changes. Thanks again, Boston.
One of the biggest issues we face in big cities such as Boston and New York is hotels. Lodging can be a very big expense in these cities. One of the biggest mistakes that New York made was not blocking rooms. If you don’t do that at the time of the bid, you are subject to market conditions at the time of the meet. In most cases the rates are going up except when you have a catastrophe such as 9/11. Hopefully that won’t happen again. The rooms in New York would have cost $175-200 per night if they had gone through with the meet.
Those of you are participating in this year’s meet Boston realize what a good deal their blocked rates were. They will be working hard to find us reasonable rates for 2007.
It was interesting to me the input from athletes from around the country on alternative sites. I must say how much I appreciate that information. Hopefully, most have recognized how complicated it is to put on these meets. It is a lot more than just a venue, which are few and far between. Most are owned by colleges and universities which have them scheduled up most of the time. The costs are another consideration. These facilities cost a lot of money to operate and in many cases are multi-use. Many are 300-meter flat tracks.
Besides the venue, there has to be a local organizing committee that can deal with all the details that are involved with running these meets. We particularly like to see strong support and involvement by the local association. Convention and Visitors Bureaus, officials, track coaches, and a significant volunteer base are all very important.
Without most of these entities, there is a strong chance of failure.
That being said, I encourage all interested Associations to bid for 2009 next December. Ken Weinbel, our Championship Site Chair, is willing and able to help all interested parties in preparing their bids. We have learned from this experience!
Please be advised that by addendum to the 2006 USATF Rules of Competition, the 80+ men will start using the 3k shot and hammer as of May 1, 2006.

Related posts:

  1. George Mathews resigns as Masters T&F chairman
  2. Will Chairman George lead a masters exodus from USATF?
  3. Chairman George seeks help, but still doesn’t get it
  4. Chairman George puts out call for masters Web liaison
  5. Chairman George takes the fifth (at worlds)

March 31, 2006

One Response

  1. Francis A Schiro - April 1, 2006

    No one is more disappointed than me about the Armory NOT doing the Nationals. It would have been the PERFECT place to give many masters athletes a chance to run in a really incredible facility.On the “track end” Ed Small and Sharon Warren do an incredible job. I can assure anyone who is listening that this would have been a memorable event.Why does one of the very best facilities on the east coast have so little to do with Masters athletics? Just look to the “attitude” of USATF on Masters quite simply. They kind of “put up” with us and quite readily take our money. But what do THEY do for us? How do they support us and help promote our growth? UASTF is TOTALLY youth and open oriented.<period I attended the opening of the National Track and Field Hall of Fame a few years ago and listened CAREFULLY to the speechs….Masters athletics was NOT mentioned one time…i found that curious.Quite frankly anyone can dismiss us apparently…just like the Armory did this year and thats the way it is!! In regard to the ridiculous proposition that housing/rooms are unavailabe in NYC at affordable rates. Thats just not true. YES NYC is expensive BUT cheaper rates are possible with some exploration. In my neighborhood a Guest House offers clean/no smoking/no frills rooms for $70 per night…last week in Boston i paid $201 per night. Lets just be REAL and honest…the Masters movement (of which i am a PROUD member of) gets VERY little respect. This is WHY the Armory treated US this way…WE were not worth the “effort or bother”.

Leave a Reply