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This may be the most important message from the NArchival Archery in this century!
From
this link , from the President of the NAA, posted circa 3/14/2007:
To the Membership of USA Archery:
In recent weeks there has been a great deal of concern over some of our
announcements in policy regarding team selections, discretionary selection,
required training events, athlete support and the resident athlete program.
While all of the concerns are real, many are based on misperceptions regarding
these policies, the way they were written and the motives behind them. Many were
announced too late in the season, did not address athlete’s rights, and were not
reviewed by the Board of Governors.
These policies have now been reviewed by the USOC, the Board of Governors and the Athlete Ombudsman to make sure they comply
with all policies and the rights of the athletes.
In the future, all policies will be fully reviewed and approved by the Board of
Governors and Athlete Representatives prior to posting. We will also develop a
committee to oversee the actions of the High Performance Program so that the
concerns of athletes, coaches and members will be addressed before they become a
problem.
Many concerns addressed by the athletes have been resolved at this time.
1. There will be no discretionary selection by the National Coach or High
Performance Manager this year. We may develop a policy that will allow up to 25%
discretionary selection for some minor events in the future, with clear
guidelines along with committee review and dispute resolution.
2. The required training events for the World Championship team have been
reduced from two, to one. While we feel that this required training is critical
to the future of our teams, the announcement was made far too late, and was done
without adequate review from the athlete representatives and without any
procedures for resolving issues if an athlete cannot attend for any unforeseen
circumstances.
3. The statement in some documents that indicate that 50% of the World Team or
Olympic Team will come from the Resident Athlete program has been removed. While
it is our hope that the RA program will be successful, our primary goal is to
win medals at the Olympic Games, and we need to support our athletes that have
the greatest potential of meeting that goal. This statement along with some of
the written procedures created the perception that USA Archery was trying to
create a situation where RA’s would have an advantage over other highly ranked
athletes. While this was not the intention, it certainly became the perception.
We hope that the adjustments in these policies will
remove those concerns.
4. The allowance for the State and Regional Rolling Ranking Tournaments has been
removed. The Board will review this type of event for rolling rankings in the
future, as long as it creates an even and fair playing field for all.
5. The National Head Coach and the Resident Athlete Program have the full
support of the President, Executive Director, and the Board of Governors of USA
Archery. We strongly believe in this program and its ability to produce our best
athletes in the future. We need archers that are willing and able to
commit to a full time training program under the direction of a full time
coaching and support staff. These athletes are taking time out of their life,
postponing school, careers, families and income in order to train full time to
help us meet our goals of Olympic success. We are able to tremendously leverage
our available funding with a great deal of support from the USOC for this
program. Funding for the Resident program is provided by the USOC, and includes
travel to some USAT, National, and Trials tournaments, and one international
event.
6. The first round of the Olympic Team Trials will not be held at the Olympic
Training Center in Chula Vista. This has been put out to open bid. We are
discussing the possibility of moving the finals events to another field at the
OTC or another location in the Chula Vista area.
7. The team round participants at World Ranking Events will be based on the top
3 finishes of the Qualifying round at the event. If a team must be selected
prior to the qualification round, the team selection will be based on the
current rolling ranking. In that event, notification will be provided in advance
of the tournament.
Athletes are reminded that they have representation on the Board, and I feel
that your current representatives are the best you have ever had. They really
are looking out for your best interests, listening to your concerns, and working
to resolve the issues as quickly as possible. It is unfortunate that these
policies and changes were posted without the review of the Board and athlete
representatives. USA Archery will strive to ensure that this type of situation
does not occur again. Please continue to send your concerns to your board
members so we can all help the USA become the best in the world. |
from this
link: (on the USA Archery website)
| Facts about USA Archery FACTS ABOUT USA ARCHERY’S DIRECTION
Archery is progressing world wide. With the level of
competitiveness in today’s world, USA Archery (USAA) must continually look
for ways to improve if we want to keep up. In fact, we want to be on the cutting
edge. We want to be the world leaders. To do so we have to be innovative. We
must embrace the changes necessary to bring us to a new level.
We have to initiate better ways of developing athletes and
coaches. We have to employ methods of training and preparation that will give us
a better chance at having athletes on the medal podium. In a nutshell, change is
necessary. If we continue to do things the way we have always done them, we
cannot expect things to ever get any better.
As is fitting with its mission statement, American Archers took a close look
at the trends in international competition and explored ways to strengthen the
position of the U.S. What the Board determined was that American Archers was in need of a
national system for training competitive archers and needed a National Head
Coach and High Performance Manager to help move us in a new and improved
direction. Fortunately, American Archers was able to hire one of the premier coaches in the
world. It is the intent of the American Archers Board to allow its staff to conduct the
daily workings of the organization and to allow the NHC to implement programs to
move us in a new direction, one that will increase the probability of success.
Now that new programs are being implemented and the direction
American Archers is taking involves change (inevitably), we are experiencing resistance to
those changes by members who are uncomfortable with change and/or misinformed
about the facts. This document is written in an effort to state the facts and,
hopefully, dispel the rumors and inaccurate information that is being passed
about the archery community.
General Facts
USA Archery procedures now require that every decision, policy
or document created by the High Performance Team goes first to the Executive
Director and then the Board for review before being implemented or publicly
posted.
We constantly check with the USOC to make sure that our policies
do not violate athletes’ rights (as protected in the Ted Stevens Amateur Sports
Act). The High Performance Manager (HPM) keeps in touch with the USOC on a
regular basis and often discusses the High Performance Plan with our USOC Sports
Partners. The USOC has recently made it clear that none of the recent policies
being implemented by American Archers are in violation of athletes’ rights. Furthermore, the
USOC is in support of the direction American Archers is taking and the actions of the
National Head Coach (NHC) and HPM.
In the world of not-for-profit organizations, such as a National
Governing Body (NGB), it is the norm for a Board of Governors (BOG) to develop
the mission, philosophy, general policies and direction for the organization and
then hire and empower staff to conduct the day-to-day business of achieving
those goals. The American Archers BOG is not required or expected to make every decision or
approve every individual action in the process of conducting normal business as
an NGB but they do have full authority and responsibility to review policy
changes. As long as the actions being taken are in accord with the general
policies and direction supported by the BOG, for the organization, then review
and approval by the Executive Director is appropriate.
The Resident Athlete Program
The RA Program is only one program within the American Archers High
Performance Plan. Resident programs are a common practice of many NGBs. The American Archers
RA Program is fully supported by the USOC. Funds provided by the USOC in support
of our RA Program are earmarked for that purpose and once approved cannot be
re-directed at will to other programs. In other words, no funds are being
diverted from other American Archers activities in order to support the RA Program.
American Archers and the USOC believe that an RA program is a worthwhile
investment. Full-time training under the guidance of a good coach is an
effective way to develop competitive athletes. It may take time to develop them
and not every athlete will thrive in that type environment, but overall, it’s an
approach that makes sense. By no means is it the only program being supported.
American Archers has also implemented programs for supporting non-RA athletes.
The primary goal for American Archers and the USOC is to win medals in the
Olympics. The USOC will be happy if that happens, regardless of which athletes
(RAs or non-RAs) accomplish it. The same is true for the NHC and HPM. If any
American Archers athletes are successful, they are pleased.
It is true that the NHC is responsible for coaching the RAs. It
is part of his job description. There is nothing in the NHC’s contract, however,
that ties any incentives or bonuses to the performance of RAs. The NHC is
responsible for the National Program, not just the RA Program. Naturally, the
NHC, American Archers and the USOC would like to see the RA Program have success. However,
the NHC, American Archers and the USOC would also like to see archery athletes, in general,
have success. The two ideas are not mutually exclusive and the High Performance
Program, as implemented by the HP Team, addresses many programs, including Elite
Athlete Development for non-RAs.
Facts about Athlete Support
The level of funding support being given to non-RA archery
athletes in 2007 is greater than in the previous 4 years. Here are some facts
regarding Direct Athlete Support (DAS - a USOC program):
• In 2003, the DAS program paid out a total of
$43,775 to archery athletes. This was distributed to 14 different athletes.
•
In 2004 (an Olympic year),
the DAS program paid out a total of $79,104 to archery athletes. This was
distributed to 16 athletes, with the top 3 getting the lions share.
•
In 2005, the DAS program
paid out a total of $43,100 to archery athletes. This was distributed to 15
athletes.
•
In 2006, the DAS program
paid out a total of $75,100 to archery athletes. This was distributed to 24
athletes.
•
In 2007, the DAS program has
a total of $166,000 available. There will be at least 14 different athletes
receiving funds. Depending on fluctuations in the rankings it could be more.
•
In each case stated in the
bullets above, the top ranked athletes get the most support and the amount of
support decreases as ranking decreases.
Another funding fact: RAs do not
receive monthly stipends from American Archers or from the USOC. The only exception to this
is that the USOC has identified six athletes that it is directing stipends
toward (based on their past performance and medal potential; i.e.
internationally competitive scores). Of those six athletes, two are currently
RAs. The other four are not RAs. In return for receiving USOC support funds in
the form of monthly stipends, these athletes are required to submit a training
plan and quarterly reports on their training. They can also submit forms to
request further funding support in the form of reimbursement for expenses
associated with training and competition.
RAs receive support normally
associated with an RA program: free room & board at the OTC (unless they live
offsite, then they only get meals); sport science and sport medicine support;
and travel expenses to some USAT events. These are not new practices, but have
been a part of past RA programs. RAs are required to submit the same forms as
those athletes receiving USOC DAS stipends.
Elite Athlete Support – American Archers has made $20,000 available
in 2007 for non-RA, elite athletes to aid in travel support to go to the CV-OTC
to get training help from the NHC. This is separate from the DAS mentioned
above. The non-RA elite athletes can also request to have their personal coach
come to the CV-OTC with them and American Archers will provide travel support. This has
already occurred on several occasions in 2006 and 2007.
Non-RA Elites can also submit to the USOC for reimbursement of
travel & training expenses, up to a maximum amount of $7500 per person.
Elite athletes will be funded to the following events in 2007.
This is open to all athletes who qualify for the team through open selection
process. The first 3 events will consist of those athletes that qualify for the
World Target Team.
• Italian Grand Prix
• Turkish Grand Prix
• World Target Championships
• Pan Am Games
• Beijing Test Event
Facts about Team Selection:
•
Team selection to the
Olympics, World Championships and Pan Am Games is and always will be based off
of open trial results. All selection procedures are approved by the USOC (in the
case of Olympics and PAG) or the BOG (in the case of World Championships).
•
Team selection to other
international events, such as Grand Prix and World Cup events will be based on
approved selection procedures. Generally, said these procedures utilize the
rolling rankings as a primary selection tool.
•
Occasionally, the NHC may
wish to use an international event as a training opportunity for groups such as
a World Target Team, Olympic Team, Junior Elite Team or RA Team. Wherever
possible, effort will be made to see that other top\ ranked athletes are not
excluded from participation in that event.
•
Occasionally, training
events prior to the World Target Championships or Olympics may be required of
the World Target Team or Olympic Team, respectively. By making this requirement,
American Archers is asking athletes to make a commitment to preparation, due to the level of
importance of these events.
•
American Archers
wishes to see our teams and our individual athletes have success, including, but
not limited to RAs, however, no unfair advantage is given to RAs in the team
selection process. No attempt is made to make it more difficult for non-RAs to
qualify for a team.
American Archers members are invited to check the website for information or
to contact American Archers staff directly to get the facts regarding any questions. American Archers
athletes are also encouraged to contact their Athlete Representatives to get
information or clarification. All American Archers athletes (RAs or non-RAs) are encouraged
to contact their athlete representatives or BOG representatives if they have any
concerns. This allows the Athlete Reps to gather the facts and distribute the
information to their constituents.
The American Archers staff, including the NHC and HPM, wishes everyone to
know that our doors are always open. We welcome input and discussion. We
encourage you to come to us for the facts or, at least, follow the suggestions
in the previous paragraph.
Thank you!
General Contact
– (719)
866-4576 office; (719) 632-4733 fax;
info@usarchery.org ,
bcamp@usarchery.org.
A listing of individual BOG member
contact can be found at www.usarchery.org or in the USA Archery magazine.
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