1st TEAM USA Meeting happened today

January 18, 2005

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