In recent weeks, a war has erupted over proposed changes in the USATF board of directors. Masters T&F lost its direct representation in 2008, when committee chairs including our Gary Snyder were kicked off the board and replaced by Willie Banks, who did double duty, representing Associations and Masters. I’m not sure how the latest debate affects masters, but I’ve been drawn into it. That’s cuz USATF President Stephanie Hightower (whom I interviewed six years ago) sent email Monday to “USATF Thought Leaders.” Me included. Her only reference to masters comes in an article she appended by Alan Abrahamson. Alan quotes USATF CEO Max Siegel as saying: “It is my job to bring in the revenues that fund the programs that grow our sport, from grass roots to professional athletes to masters athletes. Without the funds, and without the business, the programs and the sport don’t grow. We are now at a point that our efforts and results are speaking for themselves. Now that we have a track record of success, we are in a position to talk about what we can do, together as an organization, including our constituent groups, committees, officials, coaches and volunteers. As much as we have done, we have far more to accomplish and much more growth ahead of us.”

Here’s Stephanie’s note. Make any sense of it?

In one week, we will convene in Anaheim for the 2014 USATF Annual Meeting. It has been a remarkable year on so many levels for USATF, from staging one of the finest IAAF World Junior Championships in history to achieving some of the greatest sponsorship gains ever in the NGB world.

At the Opening Session, we will detail these successes. CEO Max Siegel will announce two new sponsorships – in addition to those already announced this year. We will detail the unprecedented strength of our financial position. (A recent article by Alan Abrahamson details just how significant these gains are – see the last half of 3wiresports.com/2014/11/20/two-vote-loss-reason-optimism/) We will celebrate the achievements of our leading volunteers and committee members.

We look forward to that opportunity.

In the last several weeks, a task force led by longtime volunteer and current board member Becky Oakes has developed several proposed bylaw changes in response to a written directive from the USOC. Those changes are designed to achieve something the bylaw changes of 2008 did not achieve: to ensure the board’s fiduciary role while ensuring that the business of USATF is run by the staff, not the board – a frequent criticism and concern of our partners, the USOC, the Olympic world and even the press. The proposals provide shorter term limits for the board chair and better define roles and responsibilities. They put in place mechanisms to ensure the CEO can be fully held accountable by our board.

Becky, who has been involved with this organization for decades, will detail each of the proposals and the reasons for them at the Opening Session. The proposals are about the board, not our membership and their roles. It is phase 1 of bylaw changes. In the coming year, we will convene focus groups of membership to determine what further changes may be necessary as it relates to membership, committees and Associations. This will be a process in which affected interest groups are fully engaged.

Earlier this month, David Greifinger submitted counter-legislation to these bylaw proposals, along with an introductory memo with language that speaks to emotion and passion. Frankly, this memo misrepresents the intent and outcome of the proposed changes. As his memo speaks to specific changes, so will I specifically speak to his memo. My hope is that, as our thought leaders, you will step back and examine intents, outcomes and what is best for our organization.

1. Mr. Greifinger states “we know the sport better than any outside consulting firm trying to shove its latest version of ‘best practices’ down our collective gullets.”
a. Nobody knows the sport better than you, better than we do. But the reality is that ALL of our partners – the USOC, other NGBs and our sponsors – operate in a way that is often times incompatible with how USATF does business. USATF is the ONLY NGB not to have adopted a more modern, independent board governance system. If everyone else has evolved but we haven’t, what does that say about us as a sport? How does that affect our ability to engage partners in the future? Our model is out of step and outmoded with the rest of the sports and Olympic world. We need to start trying to catch up, or we will once again lose ground.

2. Mr. Greifinger states “We are a democratic organization.”
a. In USATF, we vote for our officers and leaders via democratic means. But make no mistake – we are an NGB under the authority of the USOC, and the USOC is calling for changes … calling for changes they asked for in 2007. Calling for changes that every other NGB has made.

3. The proposed bylaw amendments indicate that the USATF President shall serve as vice-chair of the board, and the board will choose its chair. Mr. Greifinger states this is “contrary to the democratic nature of USATF” and implies that it weakens the role of the President and the voice of membership.
a. Remember, of 15 board seats, 3 are independent members, 3 are directly-elected athlete representatives, and 9 are representative of USATF constituent groups. That means that 12 of 15 seats of the board are representative of constituencies and are accountable to all. It is our collective job to communicate with board members and make our voices heard.
b.The current bylaw proposals hold to the President being elected by and answerable to membership. And because the President is not the Chair, he or she answers to the people who elected him or her – to the membership. Membership elects the President, who is accountable to them; the board elects the chair, who is accountable to the board … and by extension, to the constituents that board members serve.

4. Mr. Greifinger proposes that the CEO may be removed by a simple majority vote of the board.
a. This is directly counter to his “democratic organization” point. The CEO may only be hired by a 2/3 vote. (The President and other officers may only be removed by a 2/3 vote.) Even in the world’s greatest democracy – the United States – the impeachment of a President requires a 2/3 vote of Congress. Mr. Greifinger is suggesting that while 2/3 is necessary to hire the CEO, only a majority should be necessary to fire. Given that the instability of our leadership has directly resulted in what was a 10-year drought of sponsorships and literally made us a joke and punchline in the NGB world, this kind of proposal would only further weaken our position and reputation.

Mr. Greifinger has also proposed “emergency legislation” regarding two other issues.

5. He proposes that the athlete alternate to the board be given the same rights and privileges of board members, other than voting privileges, even if all athlete board representatives are in attendance at a board meeting.
a. USATF exists for our athletes and the sport. As such, our athletes occupy 20 percent of board seats. An alternate is designed to fill in, in the event that one of the athlete board members cannot attend a meeting, which ensures the 20 percent representation. But an alternate is just that – an alternate. Other constituent groups on the board do not have an alternate. As it currently stands, the athlete alternate’s travel is paid for if he or she is attending in place of a sitting athlete board member, but not if all members are present. That is why the position is called an alternate. Mr. Greifinger’s proposals seek to give athlete alternates a board status that other constituent groups do not enjoy.

6. Mr. Greifinger also proposes to have USATF’s IAAF representative elected by the body, rather than selected by the board.
a. The IAAF representative position is a diplomatic position, requiring excellent relationships globally and an ability to navigate the world of the IAAF, which is substantially different than the world of USATF. Again, in the world’s greatest democracy, the United States, our diplomatic positions are appointed, not elected . From ambassadors to foreign countries to our U.N. representation, diplomatic posts are appointed. The IAAF position is no different. It, as well as our candidates for IAAF committees, are selected by the board after input from membership and committees. If membership has a strong opinion on these subjects, they must make those opinions clear to their board members.

These and other topics will be vigorously discussed in meeting rooms, hallways and gathering places in Anaheim. We all need to step back and look where we have been and where we want to go as an organization.

YES, we are special – we are the World’s Greatest Track & Field Team! We are more diverse than any other NGB, and we have more history than any other NGB. But that does not mean we can hold on to practices that were developed when our sport was amateur, when most of our funding came from the USOC. We can’t refuse to evolve when everyone else is evolving. There are too many other sports in which sponsors could choose to invest; too many other NGBS in whom the USOC could choose to spend its money.

We can’t take the future for granted, and if we base it on the past, that is where we will stay.

Nothing in the proposed bylaw changes is revolutionary. In fact, we still won’t be at the same level of evolution as the USOC or other NGBs, to say nothing of sports like the NBA, MLB or NFL – sports who are competing for the same funds that we are.

We ARE USATF. We are our volunteers, our athletes, our officials, our business, our sponsors, our Olympic family. One or two sections of that equation can’t exist independently of the others.

WE look forward to seeing all of you in Anaheim.

Yours in sport,
Stephanie

Ps: I am attaching the full text of Alan Abrahamson’s article below.

When a two-vote loss is reason for optimism

Published on November 20, 2014November 20, 2014 | by Alan Abrahamson
MONACO — No, Eugene did not win the 2019 track and field world championships.
That it came within a swing of two votes, however — losing in the second round of voting to Doha, 15-12 — has to be seen as an encouraging sign on multiple fronts for U.S. interests, and in particular for USA Track & Field and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

For years, U.S. bids have been the undisputed losers in international campaigns. In 2005, New York went down hard for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games campaign, won by London. In 2009, Chicago went out in the first round for the 2016 Summer Games, won by Rio de Janeiro.

Since 2010, the USOC, headed by chairman Larry Probst and chief executive Scott Blackmun, has assiduously worked at relationship building.

To be clear, there have since been some wins — for instance, the world weightlifting championships next year will be in Houston.

Even so, the question on the table here Tuesday, clear, plain, unequivocal, front and center was whether the IAAF, track and field’s international governing body, would become the first of the major sports federation to embrace anew the United States.

The answer: no.

But, unlike the Chicago or New York votes, the IAAF outcome is no cause for downer cows to start moaning across the United States sports scene.

Or for critics outside the U.S. to regard the Americans, yet again, as losers or arrogant imperialists who got deserved comeuppance.

Instead, it is reason — genuinely — for optimism for those seeking to see the U.S., which has long supported the Olympic movement financially, assume a more leading role politically and institutionally as well.

First: inevitably, Doha’s victory for 2019 will fuel speculation about a Qatar bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Reality check: the laundry list of so-called “20+20” Agenda 20 reforms championed by International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach and made public Tuesday includes a commitment to non-discrimination on sexual orientation. Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar.
The USOC is strongly considering a 2024 Summer Games bid. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington and Boston are under consideration.

In the meantime, that Eugene, a city of 157,000 in the faraway Pacific Northwest, could come within two votes, and on its first campaign … should not be underestimated.
Given that result, 2024 for the United States has to be looking even more tantalizing.
How could Eugene-minus-two have happened?

When just the week before the smart money was that Eugene was looking at maybe as few as five votes in the first round and Barcelona, which also was in the mix for 2019, might have a better chance with track’s Europe-centric voters, anyway?

In the first round of voting Tuesday, Doha got 12 votes, Eugene nine, Barcelona six.

Again, how?

The Eugene bid had a powerful message: now was the time and we are together.

This could only have resonated so powerfully for one reason: it was true.

The USOC and USATF, along with local organizers in Eugene, led by the passionate Vin Lananna, worked together in support of the Oregon bid. It was clear the University of Oregon foundation was in for the big dollars. The state government, too, was fully on board.

Both the 2005 and 2009 U.S. Olympic bids were marked by considerable friction at any number of levels — local, state, national, public, private.

How did Doha overcome this concerted effort by the Americans?

It is abundantly obvious that Doha has both resource and ambition. It is the case in journalism school that they teach you to follow the money, and that aspect of the Doha bid is not to be underestimated.

Even so, there has been no hint of corruption in its bid. It should be noted that Sebastian Coe, the London 2012 Summer Games organizing chairman, oversaw the formal IAAF evaluation of all three bids. Does it seem likely that Coe would permit this 2019 process to be pervaded by corruption?

Now, did Doha promise five-star hotels? Yes. Are there at issue sponsorship millions? Absolutely. Is all that legitimate? Certainly.

Three years ago, Doha lost — to London — for the 2017 IAAF worlds, by a 16-10 vote. It refined its bid and came back for a second try, promising, among other things, a 100-meter video board at the stadium, night marathons and a late September-early October schedule.
In some circles, there is concern that the late-season 2019 schedule will run afoul of European soccer as well as NFL viewing, and interfere with athlete training for the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Then again, the new IAAF president — whoever it will be after the election next August to succeed longtime president Lamine Diack — can now likely go to European TV interests and say, OK, now I can offer you London 2017 and Doha 2019, and both will work well in European time zones, so, you know, let’s say we talk.

Also, track and field is one of the few sports, if not the only, in which the world championships are followed by more events. Are there more NFL football games, for instance, after the Super Bowl? So having the 2019 worlds at the end of the season will, finally, logically mark the end of the season.

In international sports politics, it can typically prove key to come back with an enhanced second bid. In essence, Doha started with a 10-vote head start.

Because it was a secret ballot, the machinations of the second round may forever be unknown, despite the best efforts of all involved to figure out whose votes in the first round went where in the second, particularly the six first-round Barcelona votes.

It is what it is.

This, too — USATF emerged here as a real force on the scene, with chief executive Max Siegel and board chairwoman Stephanie Hightower, who played key roles in the campaign, significantly enhancing their profiles.

Both got credit from insiders where credit is due: Siegel for being the sharp executive he was hired two-plus years ago to be, Hightower for giving him room to run the business that USATF has to be.

Of course, track and field is a sport. But USATF is also a real business.

Since 2011, USATF has achieved a 79 percent increase in revenue — from $19 million to $34 million.

Since 2011, it has grown its net assets, cash and investments, by 472 percent — from $3.6 million to a projected $17 million by the end of 2014.

In a couple weeks, at USATF’s annual meeting in Anaheim, California, the federation is due to announce two more new sponsors.

Where is all that money going? Just one indicator among many: USATF spent more than $11 million in sport-performance dollars in 2014.

“We have been undertaking a fundamental change of our corporate culture and business model from the national office perspective,” Siegel said.

“At times people have felt that as CEO I should be more in a media spotlight, but my view of a CEO, as an organization’s top business executive, is to execute our business in the most effective way possible.

“It is my job to bring in the revenues that fund the programs that grow our sport, from grass roots to professional athletes to masters athletes. Without the funds, and without the business, the programs and the sport don’t grow.

“We are now at a point that our efforts and results are speaking for themselves. Now that we have a track record of success, we are in a position to talk about what we can do, together as an organization, including our constituent groups, committees, officials, coaches and volunteers. As much as we have done, we have far more to accomplish and much more growth ahead of us.”

For her part, Hightower said, “… Because we have allowed [Siegel] to do business in the way that is most effective, our financial growth has been phenomenal. As we have grown, we have had several moments where it is clear that our governance has not fully ‘caught up’ with the change and growth of the Olympic movement in general,” an acknowledgment that governance change is assuredly the next step awaiting USATF.

To that end, she continued, “The USOC has set an example for effective governance that manages the more traditional, ‘amateur’ aspects of Olympic sport while enabling the business side of the sport to thrive. We have substantial progress yet to make to make ourselves more efficient and to better ensure that our constituents, staff and board all are contributing in the most effective ways possible.”
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