WMA veep threatens vaulter after gripe over Sac State practice
Serge Beckers
Here are the main postings, with no editing for spelling or grammar:
This is copy of email sent to WMA council members yesterday, concerning an incident that occurred @ Sac State.
I hope it is an isolated incident /misunderstanding and not indicative of the type treatment we can expect.
The USATF Officials running the pole vault events were ABSOLUTELY SUPERB . . . helpful, above and beyond
normal expectations. If not for their help I probably would have been thrown in jail! Beware of the Alan Bell
guy, who acts like he owns the place!WMA World Championships, Sacramento 2011
To Whom It May Concern,
After the pole vault competitions were finished Sat. July 09, I entered the area to practice @ approximately 11am or shortly thereafter. An official told me the pit was closed. After showing the Meet Referee (section 9.14 PRACTICE AREAS AND TIMES) page 35 of the āFinal Edition 2011 Competition Manualā, that reads ā. . .pole vault practice will be at Sacramento State in the afternoons of competition days after vault competitions for the day are complete.ā The Meet Referee stated ā. . . we will have to honor thatā.
My objective was to practice meet day procedures and I started the session. About midway into it an individual, who later identified himself as Alan Bell, came screaming into the area, demanding that I leave the field. I asked him to read that page in the book, he refused stating that he ā. . .wrote the book . . .ā He summoned the police to remove me from the field and continued to harangue, threaten and bully me before the Meet Referee intervened by reading him the passage from the Competition Manual. When relenting he stated that I would have to wait an hour until 12:30 (? afternoon?) to resume my session. Needless to say the āmeet day preparationā was shot. I hope this bullying is not ever repeated and definitely not on meet day.
Being a certified USATF Official I have utmost regard and appreciation for the persons that make these meets possible by making sure that competitions are fair for all.
I had the pleasure of participating in the NSGA meet in Humble, Texas several weeks ago where the Officials were very competent and accommodating.Ā They seemed to be practicing the Golden Rule (Treat others the way you would like to be treated). Ā So we know it can be done, AND it appears to attract large numbers of participants . . . why would anyone spend large amounts of time and money to be treated like I was today?Ā
There is no way to fix or repair what happened to me, but I think those in charge should look to the future and think about the mission of Masters Track. People train all year to try to get their best performances. They also want the opportunity to share and fellowship with other athletes. Your mission should be to provide these opportunities in THE MOST POSITIVE AND LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT.
Thank You,
Joe Johnston M65
jumpinjoe
PV Newbie
Hereās the reply from Serge Beckers:
Hello Joe,
I have read your answer completely. I saw you were upset, actually I saw it all because I was present, I was the person dressed in the purple shirt standing next to Alan Bell.
You must understand some things :
1. Alan Bell is the person which has been contracted by the LOC as the Competition Director for this Championship with the approval of WMA. On operational matters in the stadium he has the last word. Also, he is a highly certified Official (thatās why he has been asked for the position) and an International Starter (by the way, he is the Official Starter for the Olympics 2012). So his credentials can not be doubted.2. I am the Vice President Stadia of WMA, Serge Beckers. In that capacity I have the final responsability of the technical conduct of all stadia events. You can understand that I keep a close eye on what happens.
3. Since the Competition Manual clearly states what you have written, it is clear that all training should be done at American River College Stadium, except for the pole vaulting which is allowed at Sac State. But this can only happen in the afternoon, as long as there is no vaulting competition going on (see the competition manual).
4. I had seen you on the pole vault area already around 10Hrs20. Since this was against the statements in the Competition Manual, I asked Alan Bell if someone had allowed you to train on the pole vault area. He assured me it came not from him and he did not know of anyone authorizing you. I then asked Alan Bell as Operational Executive (Competition Director) to ask you to leave the pole vault area, since it was only allowed to train in the afternoon. He did so. In the mean time the semi finals of the 100m were going on as well as the triple jump and long jump. I noticed that Alan Bell had to repeat several times the request to leave the pole vault area, since you would not comply with this request right away. Finally, Alan Bell raised his voice a little bit. At that time I came over to see from nearby what was happening. In actual fact, you were not leaving the pole vault area, but started to being hartheaded. You started to talk back, came up with your note book and looked at the badge of Alan Bell and wrote down the name of the Competition Director. At that time, you were also already made aware that the University Police was asked to come over to evict you from the pole vault area and that you could come back at 12.30Hr to train. The policeman came over, and also Rex Harvey (coming from the triple jump). I assume he was the person to which you refer to as the Meet Referee. Alan Bell, Rex Harvey and myself were talking over what had happened. Rex Harvey then told Alan Bell to give you a yellow card for unbehaving conduct as an athlete and to let you be escorted out of the area. The yellow card was not given. You clearly did not settle down and only left the area under loud comments (āOh are you really going to use the afternoon thing against meā). You wanted to shake hands with Alan Bell which he refused since you had badmouthed him and had not complied with his orders.
5. You must understand, at the age category M65, with all your experience that your conduct is not done. For all the above abuse that Alan Bell had to take from you, you could have been sent off the track and taken out of competition for unsportsmanlike conduct. We did not do that until this point. However, if you want to continue to make a spectacle of yourself by for instance sending emails to the whole WMA Council, you subject yourself to possible actions to be taken against yourself.
6. As a consequence of your actions, we know are discussing if we will still allow pole vaulters to train in the afternoon in Sac State. This is in actual fact what you have accomplished. That perhaps no one will be able to train for the next days over there whenever there is a competition going on (not only pole vault). What a great succes.
7. I think it would be wise and helping yourself to think back about your actions. Whenever you come to the understanding that you did not behave as a normal athlete, you could perhaps start by apologizing to Alan Bell for the abuse he had to take from you, the next time you see him. And you could perhaps also apologize to the people you send this email to and had nothing to do with it, but you thought to have to involve them.
8. It is now 23.48Hr on our rest day (36 Hours later). This incident has taken more than enough time. If I hear something more of this incident, I can assure you that the appropriate measures will be taken right away.
Yours sincerely,
Serge Beckers
Vice President Stadia World Masters Athletics
Ā
18 Responses
Serge Beckers reply was good until items #5 through #8 when he turned into a petulant martinet.
Not being a pole vaulter and not knowing vaulting practice prodedures , I’m just going off of both e-mails by Mr. Johnston’s and Mr. Beckers. It is very unfortunate that WMA V.P. Mr. Beckers may be ill, but there is no excuse to threaten an athlete with explusion who wants to file his version of the incident via e-mail complaint to the WMA council, who was originally told by a meet official on the field, or meet referee originally about the practice prodedure, “…we will have to honor that.” From what I got from Mr. Johnstons e-mail,I know that it wasn’t offically afternoon from the time Mr. Johnston posted on his e-mail (11:00am or shortly there after), but he must have been thinking it was close enough to afternoon since there were no more vaulting competitions left that morning. He did ask the official on the field and was told it was OK. So were is the reprimand of that field official? People make mistakes and I believe two were made here, the field official and Mr. Johnston for assuming it was offically “Afternoon”, but it’s not like a flash mob entered the vaulting area and made a statement in their dance routine to the crowd. I read Mr. Beckers description of Mr. Bell approaching the field as, ” I noticed that Alan Bell had to repeat several times the request to leave the pole vault area, since you would not comply with this request right away. Finally, Alan Bell raised his voice a little bit. At that time I came over to see from nearby what was happening.” How does Mr. Beckers know what was being said ny Mr. Bell and Mr.Johnston when he states he approached them after he heard rasied his voice a little. Mr. Beckers softens the statement by saying “Mr. Bell raised his voice a little” …that’s like being a little pregnant , either you are, or did, or your not and you didn’t. The other thing that bothers me is when Mr. Beckers feels the need to qualify Mr. Bell’s actions with his offical resume as a vault official. There is no need for that if the rules are read plain and simple. What I see here is a simple case of a highly motivated athlete thinking he could practice so he could be ready for the meet, misinterpreting the rule and not interpreting half of the rule to the letter of afternoon practice (12:30 pm and on)coupled with getting wrong approval from the field offial. Then you have WMA officials feeling the need to have police take a man off of the field and threaten him with expulsion from the meet if he sends an e-mail complaint we all just read to the WMA council. Mr. Beckers is not our Mother and Father. Athletes should not ne threatened to be made to stand in a corner to elevate their power, ill or not. If Mr. Johnstone was that out of line after diplomatic attempts to explain the rules properly after they also understanding he was misguided by field officials, then make the decision to take him out of the meet right then and there. But making and hanging idle threats over Mr. Johnston’s head for wanting to send his version of the incident to WMA officials via e-mail that we all just read and is not offensive in my eyes, is elitist and wrong to say the least.
Having not been present for the exchange between the mentioned parties, all I can add is the obvious. Any reasonable person would know the definition of “afternoon” means any time after 12 o’clock PM. It seems that Mr. Johnson brought this all upon himself. As heavy-handed and perhaps “elitist” the fallout might seem, all this mess could have easily been avoided had Mr. Johnson simply started practicing at the allowed time.
Mrs./Ms. Woo, If we take Mr. Johnston at his word, the field official was as unreasonable as he/she stated he could practice after reading the rules themselves. You’re absolutely correct in saying this all could have been avoided and I’m sure many out there are free of making mistakes in life, Mr. Johnston and the field offical are not one of those, and to call them “unreasonable” for making that mistake, is unreasonable in itself. I’ve seen this type of attitude by meet directors and officials in the past, and probably will continue to do so in the future and it needs to be addressed is all. Bullying and talking down to athletes because you may run or officiate a meet is no excuse for that type of behaviour. My own experience with this was in the shot put at Large venue meet a few years back. The shot put schedule that day stated it was to be run “Youngest to Oldest” in age. As the Men’s 35-39 and 40-44 started warming up, the official asked what we were doing and to stand down and let the older throwers get time in the ring to warm up as they were starting the event. When I brought the “youngest to oldest” schedule to the officials attention he talked down to me in front of the other throwers and said he knew what the schedule was and I was incorrect. I then searched for a meet director, explained the dilema and the director corrected the official on the schedule as posted, quietly and professionaly as not to embarrass him in front of the athletes. Then the offical had to announce the correct start schedule to everyone, looked directly at me and loudly said in front of the other competitors, ” It’s all about you isn’t it!!”. I responded, “Yes, and everyone else here that knew the schedule and showed up on-time, prepared to throw…” I had to listen to this man’s snide comments in front of my peers after his mistake and pay an entry fee for it. I guess some enjoy being treated like that and some meets charge double for that kind of service, but I can do without it…
Ken, I do not understand why, nor do I sympathize with, your hyping up this story. Reading the athlete’s side and the official’s responses it is pretty clear who is the fucker and is the fuckee in this instance.
Athletics is a game played by rules. There are many hundreds of people involved for years in making meets like this possible. And if more than 4,800 athletes in the current competition all want to be treated with individual golden gloves upon being out of order then forget about the whole event. Mr. Johnson’s disobeying the rules and his continued lamenting led to the ensuing argumentations. The officials involved in the incident (whom I all know personally very well) have many decades of experience as athletes and in administration and are highly regarded world wide, and they have seen it all.
That referees (as one contributor notes) are sometimes out of tune too, is not new either, but is irrelevant in this context. That does not make every athlete automatically correct in his position in a given instance.
If every athlete for a misbehavior like the one at issue insists on drawing that much attention and telling the whole world how badly officials treat athletes in general then I can only recommend to Mr. J. to stop pole vaulting and become elected into high positions in order to improve all the organizations and their procedures that are currently mistreating the athletes. Those three officials (and subsequently the whole WMA council) have better things to do at this meet than to deal with one individual’s over-inflated ego.
The LOC and WMA are not always right, nor are referees in general, but the same holds true for athletes.
This case looks pretty clear to me.
Friedel Schunk
former WMA officer
Who cares if it is 12:01 or 10:20…..if no one was using the pit, then why the big deal….it did not bother or interfer with the meet….doesn’t the WMA have better things to do,like have the awards ready in a reasonable timeframe….ie…medal for the morning participants who had to wait 5 hours after the event to get them….
The WMA is worried about someone practicing early when the pit is not in use and yet the rules are bent when it is to thier advantage…..
Mr. Johnston has done more for promoting Masters Track than most people I know….if Mr. Bell or Mr.Beckers would have needed some , a ride…..a peice of equipment…to help with an event, Joe would have been first in line to offer his assistance….and would pay for it out of his own pocket…
One thing people from other conntries fail to realize, is that, especially on our turf, you don’t attack, physically or, verbally, an American….we, by nature, are a defiant breed, that is why we are a nation with the right to say what we feel with the fear of “police” being called for expressing himself….that in itself, was an act of aggression on Mr. Bell’s part……I would imagine the police were laughing in thier boots over that call…
It is too bad Mr. Beckers is ill… but I can name a ton of Masters who have ailment, including myself..so the illness card being played does not work in my book…….
Did Mr. Johnston deliberately intend to violate a rule? I doubt it…..so if Mr. Bell came at Mr. Johnston in a threating manner, and came within 6 feet…that would constitute assault according to American law….
Common sense people!!!!!!!!!!! It all could have been avoided if Mr. Bell would have been civil in his approach or maybe he is just a control freak…I don’t know…I could be wrong….
Wow, passions sure do run high in this sport, such drama!
Both sides could have done better, there is no reason to yell (could have disrupted other competitions and not the best way to resolve an issue). Johnston could have left when told and Beckers could have slept on his email and then in the morning deleted items 5 through 8 (never send out an email when one is angry).
Both sides should apologize (or at least act like they should) and then move on. This sport is way too complex to administer successfully in the best of circumstances; having stuff like this get in the way is not in the best interest of the sport. We all can do better than this.
And there is probably no need to make this an international incident near as I can tell, American free speech and British bullies notwithstanding.
Agreed, Eric.
Sounds like everyone in this incident is taking themselves way too seriously. Masters track is supposed to be fun and, after all, it is just masters track. As Ben & Jerry say, if it isn’t fun, why do it?
What, no more West coast meets and the next 10 outdoor Nats are in Clermont, Fl…??? LOL!
Is it necessary that Mr. Shunk has to use foul language in his response or opinion… I have no problem with expressing themselves…… but my grandchildren sometimes read this blog as they are in awe of people of our age competing at a level of track and field.
Yes we have rules of competition and if you violate the rules during competition then you suffer the consequence,and the rules of competionion are not made up by WMA people, but in this incident, rules are made up as we go along.by those who let a little power go to thier head…..again common sense should rule, and as a “WMA” official does not make a deity.
Obviousley the WMA officials and former officials need to grow up or get out!!!!!!
Again, watch your mouth Schunk!!!!!
LOL…Why does Mr. Skunk’s comments surprise anyone? Mr. Skunk, you say you know these two officials in question, “personally, and very well” since you were a WMA board member and because of that, it’s alright to act unproffesionally? I just rememebered and thought, “Is this the same Mr. Skunk that had an anti-athlete response about a situation in Linz, Austria at the WMA indoor Worlds??” …of course it is!! Here is a response of Mr. Skunk’s to an athlete who found abuses he endured in Linz and asked Skunk’s help in the matter,” āIt is a pity, for a long time, the matter has not been resolved. While organisations try to cater to hundreds or thousand of āclientele,ā an individual may sometimes have the tendency to think that the whole world revolves around his own pet project. The championships are supposed to be fun for all involved, including those who organise them ā without pay. Please put things into perspective. Also accept the fact, that not everybody may be perfect, or as perfect as you think you are.ā Where is acceptance of that fact with Mr. Johnston, Mr. Skunk? Ohhh, he’s an athlete, not a WMA official, I get it. You also touched on my heart string when you added how officals make no money organizing meets as if a justification for poor judgement and behavior. I know it must be hard to live penny-less, giving of yourselves entirely and unselfishley to athletes from around the world while also working with the lepers of Calcutta in your free time…how do you all find the time? The rest of the article I found Mr. Skunk’s comment was found here, http://www.masterstrack.com/photos/news2007/treacher2.html .
I dislike intensely the sort of bullying shown by Mr. Beckers. Authoritarian, no sympathy, no imagination. Donāt forget that Mr. Johnson was under an obligation to report the incident.
Why cannot Mr. Johnson the athlete make a complaint about Mr. Bell the officer and that complaint be handled specifically and individually? And handled on its merits, without Mr. Johnson being bullied into withdrawing his complaint by the threat of counter complaints. After that and only then, can Beckers and Co eventually make their complaint against Mr. Johnson.
And the outcome of an athlete complaining is so depressingly predictable. Yes, it was former WMA Law and Legislation Committee Chairman Friedel Schunk who insulted me (a masters athlete in distress turning to him for help) with: āAlso accept the fact, that not everybody may be perfect, or as perfect as you think you are.ā I took that insult very hard. Obtaining no apology from Schunk for that specific insult, I complained to BMAF and posted it on Masterstrack.com.
BMAF Chairman/WMA Secretary Winston Thomas then turned it around 180 degrees and argued that by publicizing Schunkās insult, I had thereby insulted Schunk and cited that on my suspension document as a reason for suspending me for one year. Nobody in BMAF (BMAF Chairman Winston Thomas) or WMA (WMA Secretary Winston Thomas) criticized WMA officer Friedel Schunk. That is the way this particular BMAF/WMA system works. And with this on his merit list Winston Thomas is now Chairman WMA Law and Legislation Committee. Good luck Mr. Johnson.
At 2006 WMA Linz it was a British Masters Athletics Federation (BMAF) officer who broke the rules, not the athlete. Yet instead the athlete got āsuspendedā afterwards for complaining. As an athlete you may not file a complaint against an athletics officer. If you do a number of things will happen:
1. You will be ridiculed, told to be an adult, grow up, whatever. This also from miserable, uninterested fellow athletes wanting so much to profile themselves as āreasonableā people.
2. In closed committee, the accused athletics officer will make up counter allegations ā a total cock and bull story – against you.
3. The accused officerās chairman will dismiss your complaint.
4. The chairman may suspend you (unilaterally and without hearing or appeal if you are an athlete under the auspices of the British Masters Athletics Federation).
5. If you continue to protest, you will mobbed by athletics officers and fellow athletes for moaning and whining ā which is already happening in Mr. Johnsonās case.
Sac Rat - July 17, 2011
[…] Uh, oh. Excitement at the senior citizens track meet. Sac State campus cops yanked M65 vaulter Joe Johnston from the track at worlds Saturday after he tri… […]
Power to the Pole Vaulter!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hmmmmm!!! Has a familiar ring to it:)
My, my, my….it really cracks me up how one’s authority goes to their head. I’ve known Joe for years, and he responded in kind. Had Bell approached him in a gentlemanly manner, he would have gotten a gentlemanly response. Bell had to “show” he had the authority, and Becker obviously loves to flaunt his, as is evidenced in item #2, and pretty much the remainder of his response…..blatantly threatening that everyone will suffer as a result of your actions. Geez, get a life and spare the rest of us the drama.
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization charactorized by submission to authority. I is usually opposed to individualism and democracy.
Authoritarianism also tends to embrace the informal and unregulated excersise of power, a leadership that is “self-appointed and cannot be displaced by citizen’s free choice among competitors”, the arbitrary deprivation of civil liberties and little tolerance for meaningful opposition.
Totalitarianism is an extreme version of authoritarianism!!!!!!
Guess this is what the WMA has evolved to…..wonder if it will ever get back to a bunch of older athletes having fun while we can???
Who knows….like I said before Americans are defiant by nature, which is destructive to authoritarianism.
Coffee is wearing off, time to go!!!!!
PS sorry for any mispellings of words…..but i was on a roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well put, Bob. Unfortunately authoritarianism runs rampant in T&F because of the often informal and unregulated exercise of power of officials. Rules are rules, and should be treated as such IN competition…to a “T.” Policies are guidelines, which leaves room for deviation from them based on good judgement. This situation fell strictly in the policy field in my opinion. This was not a rule of track and field….it was a policy that Bell was quite proud that he wrote. I agree, what difference did it make if it were 12:01, or 10:20….the event was done for the day, and there appears to be no harm in an individual vaulting…plenty of room for deviation in my opinion. Yes, I wonder where the concept of a bunch of older athletes having fun while they can has gone.
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