Paul Smith has started another thread which has migrated to what USMS might do to attract and keep more members. I thought, after trying unsuccessfully to find a thread on the subject, that I would hit the nail on the head.
There was a recent membership poll on the issues, which I participated in, but I thought it might not have emphasized strongly enough my own personal reasons:
I AM A MEMBER OF USMS SOLELY BECAUSE IT PROVIDES A MECHANISM FOR COMPETITION.
There are other 'benefits' that accrue from your USMS membership but most of them are of no interest to me. Insurance is one that is often mentioned, but in my experience, this is not such an important factor.
Excluding city and county recreation centers and private athletic clubs, here is a list of all the teams I have trained with and their membership requirements:
Laramie Masters Swim Club: trained at the high school; USMS membership required.
University of Wyoming Masters Swim Group: trained at the University; USMS membership not required.
Ford Aquatics: trained at the University of Arizona; USMS membership required.
Northern Arizona Masters: trained at Northern Arizona University; USMS membership not required.
Snow Mountain Masters: trained at Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA; USMS membership not required.
University of Denver Masters: trained at DU; USMS membership not required.
So, of the six teams I have trained with only two have required USMS membership. Most of my training is solo at clubs and recreation centers, so the insurance problem is not an issue.
Also, now that I'm over 50, there are other competition avenues open to me (read Senior Games...) so I could continue to compete even if there were no USMS (In fairness, here, I should stress that USMS has worked VERY HARD to bring these games up to their standards of competition. I went to some of the earlier versions of these that were just a joke. I believe that we seniors owe a great debt to Scott Rabalais and others for carrying this out.)
What's your reason?
You are exactly correct. There is only one unique selling proposition, or USP in salesman's terms, that USMS has and that is providing the ability for a member to attend a USMS sponsored swim meet. That is the only reason that compels anyone to join USMS (unless they are forced to join by the workout group). Because of that, the target market is very limited (adults that want to attend swim meets). The vast market of fitness swimmers has to be addressed by a paradigm shift on the part of USMS. That shift can take place with the Go The Distance (GTD) event sponsored by the Washington State Masters. If this event is advertised on a broad scale by USMS to the fitness market place, USMS could have hundreds of thousands of members instead of tens of thousands.
Bob
NJ
You are exactly correct. There is only one unique selling proposition, or USP in salesman's terms, that USMS has and that is providing the ability for a member to attend a USMS sponsored swim meet. That is the only reason that compels anyone to join USMS (unless they are forced to join by the workout group). Because of that, the target market is very limited (adults that want to attend swim meets). The vast market of fitness swimmers has to be addressed by a paradigm shift on the part of USMS. That shift can take place with the Go The Distance (GTD) event sponsored by the Washington State Masters. If this event is advertised on a broad scale by USMS to the fitness market place, USMS could have hundreds of thousands of members instead of tens of thousands.
Bob
NJ
