All,
I'm thinking about attending convention in three weeks. My reasons are several but most important is that I want to become more involved in USMS and I figure the best way to find out how/what/when/where is to attend convention.
Does this make sense? Would it be worthwhile?
Paul
It's one thing to be a great teammate and encouraging but that is vastly different from going on the inside and doing the unpleasant work of cmte's and the minutiae of service. The way to make change is to get involved, get on the cmtes. It's hard work and often thankless but that is where you can make the biggest difference.
I respectfully disagree, anything on the National level is going to take a LONG time and proceed at a slow pace. Some good ideas may come up during the course of the year and at Convention, just don't hold your breath when it comes to implementing anything.
Now on the local level, you can make a lot of changes in a fraction of the time. LMSC boards are smaller than USMS committees and meet more frequently. Local is where the action is and where changes can be put to the test. Plus, there is a great need to focus on the grass roots of swimming in order to sustain the National organization. If teams are whitering on the vine, pools are closing, and swimmers not registering *in your local community* don't expect a USMS committee to do much about it. Take action locally and devote 95% of your available energy to your LMSC, it will yield much more than serving on a USMS committee.
This is my approach and don't expect anybody to agree with it. However, both my strategy and tactics come from personal experience and observation. YMMV so proceed accordingly ;-)
It's one thing to be a great teammate and encouraging but that is vastly different from going on the inside and doing the unpleasant work of cmte's and the minutiae of service. The way to make change is to get involved, get on the cmtes. It's hard work and often thankless but that is where you can make the biggest difference.
I respectfully disagree, anything on the National level is going to take a LONG time and proceed at a slow pace. Some good ideas may come up during the course of the year and at Convention, just don't hold your breath when it comes to implementing anything.
Now on the local level, you can make a lot of changes in a fraction of the time. LMSC boards are smaller than USMS committees and meet more frequently. Local is where the action is and where changes can be put to the test. Plus, there is a great need to focus on the grass roots of swimming in order to sustain the National organization. If teams are whitering on the vine, pools are closing, and swimmers not registering *in your local community* don't expect a USMS committee to do much about it. Take action locally and devote 95% of your available energy to your LMSC, it will yield much more than serving on a USMS committee.
This is my approach and don't expect anybody to agree with it. However, both my strategy and tactics come from personal experience and observation. YMMV so proceed accordingly ;-)
