Chinese Democracy: The American Speedskating System's Interpretation of the Free World
Why is it, that in the world of American speedskating, we get these people who grab power and then try to prevent others from coming up? They seem to think like this: "If you aren't with us, then you are our enemy."
The conflict between the new High 5 Speedskating Team and the administration of the Utah Olympic Oval provides the perfect platform for a discussion of the culture that has developed within this sport in America. In setting up our team, all we wanted was a chance to train how we want to train, under fair and equitable conditions. But, we have encountered unexpected resistance in the form of unfair fees and discrimination. The economic practices of the Oval/UAF in subsidizing their own in-house program, while imposing excessively high fees on other teams, is unfair and may be in violation of one of the Utah state business statutes.
It's funny how, in this country, which is supposed to be based on freedom and opportunity, we run speedskating like an autocratic system where people with seemingly arbitrarily designated power try to keep everyone else down. It has been that way with US Speedskating/USISA for decades, and now this attitude seems to have infected the Utah Olympic Oval. For example, our team has been told that we have to yield the running track, weight room, and ice lanes to all other users. We will also be subjected to High Performance ice time qualifications which will not apply to USS and FAST teams. These are unprecedented examples of discrimination. What's next? Will High 5 team members be asked to yield bathroom stalls to FAST and USS athletes? Will they start locking down the Oval when the National Team trains, as they do in China?
Maintaining the monopoly of the FAST Program through an unfair elimination of the competition is an example of the "fear of ability" operating on a team scale. If the coaches feel they need to try to force other teams out of existence, what kind of message does this send to their own athletes about the faith they have in their own training program?
I would like to know how the Oval's current attitude towards new teams is consistent with their mission statement, which includes points about "striving for excellence" and "promoting the sport of speedskating in Salt Lake City." How do discriminatory policies towards other teams help in striving for excellence and promoting the sport?
Let us not forget that almost all of the coaches and athletes of the High 5 team had, at one time or another, tried to find a niche within the Oval's existing in-house program. Think of the coach with two Master's degrees and 30 years of experience, who applied for a position and was rejected without even a chance to be interviewed. Remember the coach/athlete who asked to implement certain types of training which he felt were important in the development of sprinting and power? His suggestions were ignored.
Consider the athlete (myself) who kept pushing the former Athlete Services representative to find sponsors for the FAST program, along with ways we could advertise for the sponsors, like having team training and racing suits with sponsor logos. For this, I was reprimanded for hurting that employee's feelings and accusing her of not doing her job.
And, finally, think of the athlete who was told by his coach, "You don't have what it takes to make the Olympic qualification times." (Oh, but by the way, we're happy to take your money.) We didn't exactly have to hold a gun to his head to persuade him to train with our team.
The bottom line is that THERE IS A DEMAND FOR THE HIGH 5 SPEEDSKATING TEAM. A strong group of athletes has already committed to this team, and our two coaches want this opportunity to share their expertise. Fair and equitable access to the Utah Olympic Oval is all that we require.
When we saw that the FAST Program could not meet our needs, we started our own team. We hope that the speedskating community will see that OUR GOAL IS NOT TO DESTROY THEIR PROGRAMS. We are confident enough in our program to wish to compete on a level playing field with all of our fellow speedskaters.
Why is it, that in the world of American speedskating, we get these people who grab power and then try to prevent others from coming up? They seem to think like this: "If you aren't with us, then you are our enemy."
The conflict between the new High 5 Speedskating Team and the administration of the Utah Olympic Oval provides the perfect platform for a discussion of the culture that has developed within this sport in America. In setting up our team, all we wanted was a chance to train how we want to train, under fair and equitable conditions. But, we have encountered unexpected resistance in the form of unfair fees and discrimination. The economic practices of the Oval/UAF in subsidizing their own in-house program, while imposing excessively high fees on other teams, is unfair and may be in violation of one of the Utah state business statutes.
It's funny how, in this country, which is supposed to be based on freedom and opportunity, we run speedskating like an autocratic system where people with seemingly arbitrarily designated power try to keep everyone else down. It has been that way with US Speedskating/USISA for decades, and now this attitude seems to have infected the Utah Olympic Oval. For example, our team has been told that we have to yield the running track, weight room, and ice lanes to all other users. We will also be subjected to High Performance ice time qualifications which will not apply to USS and FAST teams. These are unprecedented examples of discrimination. What's next? Will High 5 team members be asked to yield bathroom stalls to FAST and USS athletes? Will they start locking down the Oval when the National Team trains, as they do in China?
Maintaining the monopoly of the FAST Program through an unfair elimination of the competition is an example of the "fear of ability" operating on a team scale. If the coaches feel they need to try to force other teams out of existence, what kind of message does this send to their own athletes about the faith they have in their own training program?
I would like to know how the Oval's current attitude towards new teams is consistent with their mission statement, which includes points about "striving for excellence" and "promoting the sport of speedskating in Salt Lake City." How do discriminatory policies towards other teams help in striving for excellence and promoting the sport?
Let us not forget that almost all of the coaches and athletes of the High 5 team had, at one time or another, tried to find a niche within the Oval's existing in-house program. Think of the coach with two Master's degrees and 30 years of experience, who applied for a position and was rejected without even a chance to be interviewed. Remember the coach/athlete who asked to implement certain types of training which he felt were important in the development of sprinting and power? His suggestions were ignored.
Consider the athlete (myself) who kept pushing the former Athlete Services representative to find sponsors for the FAST program, along with ways we could advertise for the sponsors, like having team training and racing suits with sponsor logos. For this, I was reprimanded for hurting that employee's feelings and accusing her of not doing her job.
And, finally, think of the athlete who was told by his coach, "You don't have what it takes to make the Olympic qualification times." (Oh, but by the way, we're happy to take your money.) We didn't exactly have to hold a gun to his head to persuade him to train with our team.
The bottom line is that THERE IS A DEMAND FOR THE HIGH 5 SPEEDSKATING TEAM. A strong group of athletes has already committed to this team, and our two coaches want this opportunity to share their expertise. Fair and equitable access to the Utah Olympic Oval is all that we require.
When we saw that the FAST Program could not meet our needs, we started our own team. We hope that the speedskating community will see that OUR GOAL IS NOT TO DESTROY THEIR PROGRAMS. We are confident enough in our program to wish to compete on a level playing field with all of our fellow speedskaters.
posted by Eva at 12:29 PM
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