There is a proposal pendiing to require Nationals be held "at venues located within the boundaries of USMS." If adopted, it would preclude Puerto Rico's bid.
How do we feel about it?
Puerto Rico is still American territory so that is fine by me. Also, what about the US Virgin Islands. Please, no Nationals in Alaska. Guam is way too far away.
There is a proposal pendiing to require Nationals be held "at venues located within the boundaries of USMS." If adopted, it would preclude Puerto Rico's bid.
How do we feel about it?
Screw that. Must be part of a larger conspiracy to keep Nationals on the west coast ...
How is PR different that Hawaii (where LC Nats were a few years back), except easier to get to? I agree with Paul Smith, have Nationals, to the extent possible, at a fun accessible vacation destination. Not Clovis.
8 People have voted 'Yes' but none of them has commented as to why.
While I think having a USMS Nationals in Japan is signicantly less than desirable, I do not see a reason why having those events in the States or other locales that are under United States control is such a bad thing. Why not Guam? Other than the fact that almost no one can afford to go there which would in itself probably prevent a bid from there.
Why is there even a proposal to limit and/or otherwise state where a Nationals can be held? Isn't that what the Championship Committee is for? To determine suitability of bids? If a facility/organization has the required size, infrastructure, support and interest, then why not let them bid? If folks don't like the idea of Nationals being held in PR, then those folks need to put together a bid that is better than PR's. Beat them head to head, don't resort to setting an arbitrary 'rule'
8 People have voted 'Yes' but none of them has commented as to why.
There are politics and ego at play here and they don't have the courage to step up....go to the convention and see it first hand.
To shed a little light on this subject - Puerto Rico did not submit a bid to host our nationals, I did. Last summer I swam at a Masters meet in Puerto Rico and had a great time. It is a wonderful facility (www.natacionmasterpr.com/Photos Natatorium.htm) in a great location. By the end of the meet, I found myself thinking it was a shame more of my USMS friends hadn't come to the meet and had the experience I had just had. Someone suggested and I followed up on the idea of nationals being hosted there. I floated the idea to several leaders in Puerto Rico and they thought it sounded like fun. So did I.
In the year since, I have met with folks in the Department of Tourism in PR as well as their swimming federation to lay the groundwork for this bid. At convention last year, I informed the championship committee that this bid was coming so they would have time to react and have their questions and concerns addressed. We have formed an organizing committee to run the event should our bid be successful.
While I am very much in favor of our hosting nationals in PR, I don't think this will be a regular occurring thing. In the history of USMS, we have never had our championship take place outside our boundaries. It is only because I have approached another federation (PR) that we are now facing this situation. It is not my intention to continue to approach foreign federations to host our national events. However, I think folks would really enjoy this meet and hope we have the opportunity to swim there.
If you have any questions that I can answer about the bid or why I think we should make an exception to our normal practice and try a meet outside our federation please let me know.
Thanks,
I wrote about limiting nationals to within USMS Boundaries on
forums.usms.org/showpost.php
I use Nats as a mini vacation and would love to see it held in new exciting places. PR sounds great to me.
There are quite a few swimming competition you can attend outside the United States. Some are mentioned in the other thread. USMS has an duty to promote swimming in the United States.
There are politics and ego at play here and they don't have the courage to step up....go to the convention and see it first hand.
Paul, would you let me know beforehand which politics and who ego I should watch out for? Any time you have more than two people there will always be politics. And who does not have the "courage" to step up. Not all the people who are interested in USMS have the time to read what goes on in the forums let alone take the time to reply to all that is said. Brian Stack wrote me an email saying I should look at the forums, I would imagine there are many others who just dont have time to read and write on the forums. Not that people do not have "courage."
Just a note, Puerto Rico has its own swimming federation "Federacion Puertorriquena de Natacion"; Guam has its own swimming federation, Guam Swim Federation; so does the Virgin Islands "Virgin Island Swimming Federation"; Alaska is a member of USMS.
michael
I wrote about limiting nationals to within USMS Boundaries on
forums.usms.org/showpost.php
I use Nats as a mini vacation and would love to see it held in new exciting places. PR sounds great to me.
There are quite a few swimming competition you can attend outside the United States. Some are mentioned in the other thread. USMS has an duty to promote swimming in the United States.
There are politics and ego at play here and they don't have the courage to step up....go to the convention and see it first hand.
Paul, would you let me know beforehand which politics and who ego I should watch out for? Any time you have more than two people there will always be politics. And who does not have the "courage" to step up. Not all the people who are interested in USMS have the time to read what goes on in the forums let alone take the time to reply to all that is said. Brian Stack wrote me an email saying I should look at the forums, I would imagine there are many others who just dont have time to read and write on the forums. Not that people do not have "courage."
Just a note, Puerto Rico has its own swimming federation "Federacion Puertorriquena de Natacion"; Guam has its own swimming federation, Guam Swim Federation; so does the Virgin Islands "Virgin Island Swimming Federation"; Alaska is a member of USMS.
michael
Michael, first and foremost I say "mission accomplished"...it takes a lot to pull you into these forums and it looks like we hit the right nerve(s). Now if I can only snag Mel but he's a tough one.
Having said that, USMS has thousands of members represented by a handful of folks that once a year attend the convention....and slip rules thru such as this without using this forum as one very good resource to get a few peoples thoughts who may not be tied into their LMSC or the convention. I consider that kind of stuff "ego and politics", ego because whomever proposed this legislation assumes its for the greater good without in my opinion having any real feedback from the larger group and politics...which for anyone who's been to a convention no explanation needs to be given. I do say this however with a lot of thanks and respect for a large percentage of all the volunteers that make things happen at USMS....I just like to see the committee's cut down to 5 members in each and the executive director actually given "real" power.
