1st TEAM USA Meeting happened today by Will Richardson | Jan 18, 2005 | Whitewater | 0 comments January 18, 2005 Photos Today was the first time the US Team got together for a team meeting. The purpose was to make sure everybody knew what was going on with training, lodging, the competition, the future of the sport and the international politics that are currently affecting all freestyle athletes from all national teams. Kristine is the President of the United States Freestyle Kayak Association and also the North American rep to the International Freestyle Committee. She called the meeting to make sure that we were all in the know. Each country gets 1 hour per day of official training time. Countries that don’t have a full team (22 athletes) are combined with other countries. The US Team decided to split into two groups and train during official training slots every other day. This way there are only ½ the number of people in each group, making the session more effective. There is still open water for about 3-5 hours per day so we can paddle every day anyway. The USFKA got $5,000 from Tommy Gunn (Blackwater, LTD.) who was the organizer for the USA Team Trials on the Black River in Watertown, NY. Tommy Gunn also provided $5,000 in prize money for the Team Trials so the athletes made benefited greatly from his event. We also got $6,000 from Lotus Designs, in their 4th year of sponsorship. They provided all of us with USA lifejackets, as well as some really cool clothes. Their sponsorship is awesome. Jackson Kayak also sponsors the team. Kristine asked all of the manufacturers to kick in some cash for the USFKA to help with lodging, to buy water time, etc. Nobody responded and since one of our “sponsors” for this year failed to send their money in it left a void between the amount of money the USFKA committed to spend (paying all athletes entry fees- $125 per head) as well as putting all athletes up in free housing from January 20th- January 31st. All of this was paid by Kristine with Jackson Kayak funds. Ellis Levine (former US Team member, and current USFKA treasurer) will send the cash he has to Jackson Kayak headquarters. Jackson Kayak will pay the balance which is about $2,000. The other topic was a political one. There have been threads in European chat groups that go something like this, “The US is holding their own world championships and is trying to take over freestyle, etc. etc.” Well, Kristine figures that all of USA athletes need to know what is going on because they will be determining Kristine’s votes, as well as answering questions by misinformed Europeans. The IFC was once made up of one vote per country by their appointed team leader. It was almost impossible to get anything done during the year since there were too many people involved and the conversations couldn’t come to a conclusion and vote. It was decided by the IFC to have 5 representatives in charge. They would be from Europe North, Europe South, North America, Australia/Asia, and Africa. The committee has a simple majority rules voting policy so a 3/2 vote is all that is needed to make things happen. In 2004 at the Pre-Worlds, it was voted that the World Championships this year will not use a variety only scoring system (like the one used all season in the USA/Canada), but keep the old system. That was a vote that passed and off they went, no problem. Then the committee voted on having the world championships every year instead of every other year. The argument for that was that we needed a major international competition annually, also the athletes would be able to go to a new place each year, instead of making a major trip to the same place two years in a row. It is a matter of opinion which is better, my opinion is for every year, and I feel strongly about that. Well, the committee voted 3/2 to have it each year. They then voted on the location and it was decided that the Ottawa River on a big wave would be the site, and the bid proposal was put in by Wilderness Tours, which organizes the Ottawa Rodeo, the Garberator Rodeo, and the BusEater Rodeo. These are the facts and it is all good. The rumors about a US takeover are about as backwards as it gets. Kristine is the only representative from North America and the vice-chair. All she wants is to vote, have her vote counted and recognized and for the IFC to implement with good intent all changes voted on. She has been on the losing side of the vote more often then on the winning side, which is fine for her, as long as the committee stands by its by-laws and does its best to keep the sport moving forward in the direction the athletes have chosen. All of our athletes are now informed about what is going on, in the case that they get involved in discussions on the topic. The funny thing is that there is little to no animosity among the athletes themselves. The kayaking world is small enough that we are all friends that can’t wait to see each other in one place, paddle together, party together, and hang out together. It is certainly Kristine’s goal during this trip to make sure that the IFC stays on course and serves the athletes, keeping the athletes collective desires as the basis for their votes. It is the norm in the sports world that the people who come to power in the organizations try to direct the sport in the way that is best for the organization and its staff/owners, using the athletes as pawns instead of the athletes controlling the organization. The IFC has been controlled by the athletes 90% of the time as if there was a popular vote. Personally, I expect that the IFC will, during their time in session here in Australia, will get closer to that objective than they were in 2004, not further. That is, for sure, North America’s position. There were plenty of familiar faces at our first meeting, check them out. 🙂 EJ Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ