I’ve been having an interesting online debate with IAAF and USATF racewalk poobah Bob Bowman over whether the Amateur Sports Act in the United States permits a group like USATF Masters Track & Field to leave the parent organization and form its own national governing body. Bob says nope. I say yup. Following is our exchange this weekend. You be the judge.

Bob Bowman first wrote:
All this discussion is very interesting, however the original email from Ken Stone referenced comments made by George Mathews which suggested he was considering the possibility of Masters T&F breaking away from USATF and still remain the U.S. governing body for that entity. This is clearly not possible and contrary to the Amateur Sports Act.
Then I replied:
I beg to differ, Bob.
According to the Amateur Sports Act online, groups like U.S. Masters Swimming can exist apart from USA Swimming under section 220526, “Restricted amateur athletic competitions.”
And I quote:
“(a) EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION.—An amateur sports organization that conducts amateur athletic competition shall have exclusive jurisdiction over that competition if participation is restricted to a specific class of amateur athletes, such as high school students, college students, members of the Armed Forces, or similar groups or categories.”
U.S. Masters Swimming (and a bunch of other masters amateur sports) couldn’t exist if only one governing body were allowed to exist per sport.
Anuther thing in the ASA, under “General duties of national governing bodies”:
“For the sport that it governs, a national governing body shall … (3) keep amateur athletes informed of policy matters and reasonably reflect the views of the athletes in its policy decisions.”
So how well is USATF performing on this score?
Then Bob replied:
Ken,
You are misinterpreting Section 220526 subsection (a) and ignoring subsection b) which states: (b) Sanctions for International Competition – An amateur sports organization under subsection (a) of this section shall obtain a sanction from the appropriate national governing body (i.e. US Swimming, USATF) if the organization wishes to – (1) conduct international amateur athletic competition in the U.S.; or (2) sponsor international amateur athletic competition to be held outside the U.S.
U.S. Masters Swimming is not the NGB for swimming. A separate masters track & field organization would also not be the NGB for track & field nor would it have exclusive jurisdiction over masters track & field in the U.S.
As to keeping athletes informed on policy matters and reasonably reflect the views of athletes in the policy decisions I would say USATF does a good job. If you are concerned that the views of masters athletes are not being given adequate consideration, I would encourage them to get more involved in these discussions, present their views in writing or in person at the USATF annual meeting.
Then I posted this to the USATF Associations listserve early Monday morning:
Actually, Bob, U.S. Masters Swimming IS an NGB.
See: http://www.usaquatic.org/ — which says:
“The rules of the Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA), the international federation responsible for the sports of swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, and water polo, require there to be only one recognized member federation of FINA in each country throughout the world.
“For the United States of America, that member federation is United States Aquatic Sports (USAS).
“USAS was formed to become the US member of FINA in 1980, when the Ted Stevens Amateur Sports Act of 1978 took effect in the United States and required restructuring of many sports organizations.
“USAS deliberately attempts to play a minimal role within the United States, leaving primary responsibility for the governance of each of the aquatic sports to its members, the national governing bodies or NGBs: USA Swimming, Inc.; USA Diving; United States Synchronized Swimming, Inc.; USA Water Polo, Inc.; and United States Masters Swimming, Inc.
“By law, USAS must present a single organization to represent the United States NGBs internationally. By choice, the NGBs have also determined to delegate to USAS the responsibility. of conducting a national convention. The USAS Convention allows for economies of scale and permits the leadership and membership of the various NGBs, to get together to talk over common problems and concerns. If and when the revenues of the convention exceed expenses, the surplus is dedicated to sending the US teams to the World Swimming Championships.”
Me again:
I also received this reply from Julie Heather, a honcho in U.S. Masters Swimming:
“With Masters Swimming, we seceded peacefully from USA Swimming. If you can form your own governance model under USATF you’ll probably have the best chance of success. I do know that Masters Water Polo (which is currently part of Water Polo) is interested in going off on their own. The problem is that they are pretty much of a cash cow for Water Polo, contributing far more than they use.”
Sound familiar? It appears that U.S. Masters Track & Field has every right (with several legal precendents) to leave USATF.
Deal with it.
Ken Stone
San Diego-Imperial USATF