first of all, congrats to the meet directors and all the volunteers on a job well done. so organized and efficient!! very impressive. the only thing i wish someone could explain to me is why the usms champ. committee changed the team scoring from large, medium and small team to clumping everyone in the same category. seems extremely unfair to have what i call "real teams" competing against state mega teams. there is no possibility for "real teams" to ever come close to competing against them. if you are going to give team awards at the end of the meet, is there any way you can do it fairly? our team is extremely proud to have gotten as many team members as we did to go to natls. (most of them for the first time), but unfortunately they were very disillusioned (as was i) with the idea that we would be competing against state teams. as one of the coaches i didn't have an explanation. even though we were very proud of our 7th place finish in men's division, and our 12th place in combined, we were only one of a few "real teams" in the top ten. would appreciate responses. maybe even someone from the champ.committee could explain how they felt this scoring system would be more fair to the majority of swimmers. then i can pass it along to my teammates.. i don't want them to be so disillusioned that they lose interest in attending any future natls. thanks
I don't believe it is in the best interest of USMS to force something on LMSCs when it is so clearly against their wishes.
If we do not have divisions (Whether it be regional/club or SML) we are letting the tail wag the dog. It should be Championships Committee's mission to provide the best competitive conditions for the athletes. I believe that this current system fails that test.
Here's another elephant in the room for you: at what point does USMS "force" large LMSCs to split up into smaller LMSCs? (Not advocating this in the slightest, Michael -- just pointing out the other side of the coin.)
The same time it should consolidate smaller LMSCs, when the LMSC does not or cannot service it members.
michael
I don't believe it is in the best interest of USMS to force something on LMSCs when it is so clearly against their wishes.
If we do not have divisions (Whether it be regional/club or SML) we are letting the tail wag the dog. It should be Championships Committee's mission to provide the best competitive conditions for the athletes. I believe that this current system fails that test.
Here's another elephant in the room for you: at what point does USMS "force" large LMSCs to split up into smaller LMSCs? (Not advocating this in the slightest, Michael -- just pointing out the other side of the coin.)
The same time it should consolidate smaller LMSCs, when the LMSC does not or cannot service it members.
michael