To clarify the situation here is what happened and where we stand with regard to 2009 and beyond:
1. At the USATF Convention last year we had a bid from Bob Sager for the 2009 Championships as well as one from Seattle Masters for the Weight, Superweight and Ultra Weight Pentathlon. However, we were in the middle of revising the bid documents to bring them into line with USATF requirements, a process that ultimately took months longer than it needed to because the Legal Dept at USATF was in a transition. Because the bid documents that were available prior to the convention in Honolulu were not those that USATF would require, I consulted with USATF staff and they recommended that we not act on bids for 2009. As a result, as Throwing Events Subcommittee Chair I made that recommendation to the MTF Committee which voted to delay action on the bids for 2009 until the revised documents were available. Further, the MTF Committee voted to allow the Throwing Events Subcommittee to accept bids once the new documents were available and make a recommendation to the MTF Executive Committee based on bids received for 2009. Bids for 2010 and 2011, the MTF Committee decided would be accepted and presented to the Convention in Reno this December. All of this was reported in my National Masters News column at the time.
2. When the new bid documents were finally ready in about late April or May I was contacted by several people interested in bidding. In the end we received a bid for the Weight Pentathlon from a group headed by Ruth Welding and Sue Hallen to hold that meet at Illinois Benedictine College; we also received a bid to have the Weight, Superweight and Ultraweight Pentathlon from Seattle Masters; and we received a bid from Portland Masters to have all three events on one weekend at the Concordia Throws Center in Portland.
3. At the Nationals in Spokane the Subcommittee had a meeting where all the bids in hand were considered. After considerable discussion the seven members of the group present voted unanimously to recommend to the MTF Executive Committee that it accept the bid from Portland Masters to hold all three championships over the weekend of August 22-23, 2009 at the Concordia Throws Center. We expect that to be approved by the Executive Committee at its next conference call meeting, at which time it will be transmitted to Indianapolis and the 2009 meets will no longer be listed as open for bids.
The reasoning behind combining the three meets over one weekend is to reduce the number of competitions to which masters throwers must travel if they wish to compete in national championship meets. With the increasing cost of travel we have seen participation declining. The group saw this as a way of reducing costs and hopefully increasing participation.
4. Bids for the 2010 and 2011 championships are open and should be submitted a month prior to the Convention -- that is by about November 1. Here is a link to where the bid documents can be found:
http://www.usatf.org/groups/EventDirect ... enBids.asp
5. Although the Weight Pentathlon bid and the Weight, Superweight, Ultraweight Pentathlon bid are separate on the webpage, I think it is fair that the Throwing Events Subcommittee is interested in seeing bids for all three together over one weekend for 2010 and 2011 and will probably give those bids preference. I also think it is likely that if there are multiple bids for 2010 and 2011, all other things about the bids being equal, the Subcommittee, which will make a recommendation to the MTF Committee in Reno, will look more favorably on bids that move the events around the country, so bids from the west coast (especially the Pacific Northwest) are less likely to win favor than bids from other parts of the country.
If anyone wants guidance or assistance in pulling together a bid for either or both of the events for 2010 or 2011, I am ready to provide whatever advice and assistance I can.
By the way, all of this was reported verbally at the awards dinner last Saturday night in New London and is in what I submitted for the September issue of NMN.
Jerry Bookin-Weiner
USATF Masters Throwing Events Subcommittee Chair