December 09, 2010

December Board Meeting Recap - Looking forward to 2011

On December 4^th, 2010 the USA Archery Board of Directors met in Salt Lake City for one of their two annual in-person meetings. The agenda was very full, including a wrap-up of 2010 and approval of many 2011 programs as well as the 2011 budget.

2010 RECAP

2010 was nothing short of a break-out year for USA Archery on the international front. With the ability to field full teams to all World Cups, the athletes showed their appreciation by WINNING! USA Archery athletes won more medals than they have in many, many years, including a visit to the #1 World Ranking slot by both Brady Ellison and the men's recurve team. The recurve women's team took a bronze medal in Turkey, their first medal in the World Cup circuit. The compound men continued their domination with a #1 World Ranking by both Braden Gellenthien and the men's team. The women's compound team was just short of a #1 World Ranking this year, and Erika Anschutz reached a #2 World Ranking.

With regard to the financial health of USA Archery - it is very strong! There are reserves in the bank and 2010 is projected to end on-budget. USA Archery is very appreciative of the partners and sponsors who have stepped up recently to invest in growing this organization and supporting our athletes in their development. Thank you to the United States Olympic Committee, the Easton Foundations, Hoyt, Easton, B-Stinger, Taxmasters, United Airlines and Nike.

2011 PROGRAM INITIATIVES

During the meeting, the Board reviewed and approved the 2011 High Performance Plan, the Strategic Outline and the 2011 budget.

Looking into 2011, the priorities for the organization continue to be:

1. Increase membership numbers and satisfaction of members
2. Increase the number of certified instructors
3. Enhance current grassroots programs
4. Support multiple training paths for athlete development
5. Enhance the quality and participation in USA Archery events
6. Increase USA Archery generated revenue

Some of the new programs and initiatives discussed to support these activities include:

• The implementation of a new online membership software program, which is expected to be ready for launch Jan. 1^st. This program is expected to streamline membership and certification renewal, and enable better communication with our membership.
• USA Archery and the National Alliance for the Development of Archery (NADA) have restructured their operations to allow for USA Archery staff to coordinate the certification efforts for the basic, intermediate and community coach courses, equipment sales and increased outreach promotion to grassroots organizations like the National Parks and Recreations programs, American Camp Association members, 4-H and Scouts. For more information on this restructuring, please see the press release.
• USA Archery will be focusing attention this year on growing grassroots programs and initiatives like the Adult Achievement Program, Adult Training Camps and the continued further development of the JOAD program and JOAD camps. USA Archery is also launching a new National Training Program camp, modeled after the successful Junior Dream Team program, but tailored to adults. This program will be a self-funded project, but will provide training opportunities to those who are interested in working with the National Head Coach, but cannot make the commitment of training in the Resident Athlete program. More information, including registration and pricing, will be released soon.
• The relationship between USA Archery and the NFAA continues to evolve. We currently have two joint events planned: the World Outdoor Archery Festival and the Indoor World Championships. USA Archery is also coordinating the scoring team to assist at the World Archery Festival in Las Vegas. This relationship continues to grow and we continue to look at ways we can work together and increase the quality of our events.

 

NATIONAL RANKING SYSTEM

The Board also reviewed the proposed National Ranking System and USAT and Jr. USAT requirements. The Board, with considerable input from the two athlete representatives, determined that the percentage distribution was too heavily weighted on the Elimination Round Placement. The group determined that a mix of 40% on Ranking Round Placement, 20% on End Average and 40% on the Elimination Round Placement would be a more fair and balanced ratio.  It was also determined that the archer's End Average (3 arrow), in recurve and compound, will be used in the calculations. 

Given that the U.S. National Target Championships is a mandatory event in the new National Ranking System, the Board made the change to eliminate the End Average and Elimination Round Placement with regard to this event and only the FINAL placement at the U.S. National Target Championships (not including placement in the Hoyt Open) would count toward the ranking. The Board also doubled the points for World Cup, World Championship and World Cup Final bonus points. With the significant number of changes, prior to passing the revisions, the Board wants to see one more round of simulation to see what would have happened in 2010 given these changes. The Board of Directors has scheduled a follow up conference call for January 12^th to review all the changes once more and expect to pass a final version that would take effect starting with the Arizona Cup in April.

 

USAT TEAM SELECTION PROCEDURES
Regarding USAT and Jr. USAT requirements, the Board voted that Senior USAT archers must compete in three USAT events plus the U.S. National Target Championships in order to be eligible. However, they elected to eliminate the National Indoor Championships as one of the eligible USAT events. Therefore, the three USAT events will have to be comprised of outdoor USAT tournaments. For the Junior USAT, it was determined that two USAT events plus the Easton JOAD Nationals would be required to be eligible for the team. One of those USAT events could be the National Indoor Championships. The USAT tournament schedule was not confirmed during the meeting, as there have been some modifications requested by the Board. USAA staff is now working with those event organizers to determine if the requested changes can be made, and the Board will review the schedule once again during the January 12^th follow up call. The complete USAT schedule is expected to be available at that time.  

Another change to the USAT requirements includes the automatic addition of the U.S. National Indoor, Field, and Target Champions to USAT.  The Board felt it was important that any National Champion be part of our U.S. Archery Team. 

The final change made to the USAT requirements was to allow non U.S. citizens to be included in the national ranking system. Basically, as long as you are a USA Archery member, you can be included in the ranking. However, you do need to be a U.S. citizen in order to make the U.S. Archery Team and must meet all FITA requirements to represent the U.S. in international events. 

2011 WORLD CUP SELECTION PROCEDURES

The 2011 World Cup eligibility requirements were passed during the meeting as follows:

Compound:

1^st and 2^nd World Cup teams will be chosen from the Rolling Rankings as of December 31, 2010.

3^rd and 4^th World Cup teams will be chosen from the following requirements IN ORDER:

1. Priority will be given first to any individuals who are in the top 10 World Cup Rankings for 2011.
2. If additional slots are available priority will be given to those individuals who are in the top 10 for the Longines Award.
3. If additional slots are still available they will be given based on the Rolling Rankings following the Nor'Easter event.

Recurve:

1^st  World Cup team will be chosen from the Rolling Ranking as of December 31, 2010.

2^nd World Cup team will be filled by members of the 2011 World Championship Team, including the alternate.

3^rd and 4^th World Cup teams will be chosen from the following requirements, IN ORDER:

1. Priority will be given first to any individuals who are in the top 10 World Cup Rankings for 2011.
2. If additional slots are still available they will be given based on the Rolling Rankings following the Nor'Easter event.

INTERNATIONAL TEAM SELECTION PROCEDURES

There was discussion regarding the Youth World Championship, World Championships, Pan American Games and Olympic Trials Selection documents. There were changes that needed to occur in the documents to reflect the recent round changes by FITA. In addition, the USOC has requested that USA Archery prepare for Board and USOC review a medal contender clause that would protect an archer who has potential to medal in the Olympics, if some extraordinary circumstance arises that prevents them from participating in the trials process. The USA Archery staff is preparing such a clause for Board review. The approval of all team selection and trials documents was pushed back to the January 12^th follow up conference call. At that time, the schedule will also be confirmed, and trials events can be assigned to specific USAT events.

COLLEGE ARCHERY

The Board discussed the recent activities of the newly formed United States Collegiate Archery (USCA) association and the effect of these activities on USA Archery membership and events. In order to not be in competition with the USCA, the Board determined to adjust their bylaws to eliminate the existing college archery membership category. In addition, the Board was informed that USCA will be having an independent indoor national event and will not be participating in the USA Archery National Indoor Championship competition in 2011. Archers and clubs are still welcome to join USA Archery and participate in USA Archery events in their respective age division; however the organization won't be providing a specific college division. Bylaw revisions regarding the changes to membership will be drafted and brought to the Board during the January 12^th follow up call for approval.

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