"...But she's the only one who knows all the ISU protocols!"
Is this what's keeping you from getting rid of your Executive Director? Because it doesn't sound like a good enough reason to me.
Even though I've never personally had a problem with Katie Marquard, it has become apparent to me that, of all the people responsible for setting up and maintaining the culture within USSPEEDSKATING that I hate so much, I believe most of the responsibility falls on her.
As a product of the Cushman side of the Minnesota Mafia (as opposed to the Sandvig side; I only recently became aware that even the MM is split) I have learned that Katie is a proponent of the Athete Development Model of a sports federation, as opposed to a Business Development Model. The Athlete Development Model is where a small group of athletes is selected, early in their development, and most of the resources of the federation are spent on them.
The Business Development model of a sport, on the other hand, supports getting the word out about the sport, getting large numbers of people interested in participating, and building a larger base. An example of this would be the learn-to-skate program that Pat Seltsam and Mark Greenwald have set up in Calgary, that introduces about 50,000 new kids to speedskating every year, starting with an introduction to inline skating.
It is my opinion that the basic philosophy of supporting the Athlete Development Model of the sport has led to the problems of favoritism and discrimination that I and other athletes have experienced.
As a result of this core philosophy, it seems that every time USSPEEDSKATING has an opportunity to promote, instead, they go out of their way to deny. They go out of their way to deny Wheaton, Illinois, a hometown Olympian; to deny Category One status to a financially struggling short track skater based on some obscure technicality buried deep in the bowels of the Ice Chips; to deny a 50-year-old Master's skater a chance to skate the 3000 meters at Olympic Trials because she missed the cut-off time by a few tenths of a second. (Hey, it's not like you people have thousands of skaters banging down your doors to skate the trials!) And, as in the case of my retirement immediately after my last race at the Olympic Trials - I had become so familiar with their "policy of denial" that I removed myself from the situation, and within a few days, I was proven absolutely correct, when they denied the athlete who finished immediately behind me the chance to go to Torino as an alternate or Team Pursuit member, despite the fact that a couple of their Olympians were suffering from chronic injuries and they could have added two more women to the team.
I really do believe that the policy of denial, and this spirit of stinginess and elitism rather than friendly generosity, originates with Katie. I won't give specific instances, but I know many USSPEEDSKATING members have experienced this.
A few more specific problems some fellow USSPEEDSKATING members have reported having with the Executive Director are:
1. Not getting prompt responses, or quite often, any response at all, to questions submitted to the National Office, or to requests for paperwork.
2. A high rate of employee turnover in the National Office.
3. Firing people for having "too radical" ideas, or not letting them use their full set of skills and talents to promote and develop the sport.
4. Unfriendliness. (Again, I haven't had a personal problem with Katie, but I've heard this so many times that it is worth mentioning.)
In my opinion, the main problem with our current Executive Director is that she maintains a culture of USSPEEDSKATING that is unwelcoming and not conducive to the growth and development of the sport. I believe that when she has talented people working for her, she prevents them from using their full abilities to promote the sport, and either they get frustrated and quit, or compromise their own performance, or get fired for "being too radical."
I would like to see someone in that position who promotes a spirit of generosity, prosperity, and competence. I would like to see someone in that position who is not afraid to work with talented people; someone who does not want to keep this sport in the Dark Ages, but wants it to move forward.
Is this what's keeping you from getting rid of your Executive Director? Because it doesn't sound like a good enough reason to me.
Even though I've never personally had a problem with Katie Marquard, it has become apparent to me that, of all the people responsible for setting up and maintaining the culture within USSPEEDSKATING that I hate so much, I believe most of the responsibility falls on her.
As a product of the Cushman side of the Minnesota Mafia (as opposed to the Sandvig side; I only recently became aware that even the MM is split) I have learned that Katie is a proponent of the Athete Development Model of a sports federation, as opposed to a Business Development Model. The Athlete Development Model is where a small group of athletes is selected, early in their development, and most of the resources of the federation are spent on them.
The Business Development model of a sport, on the other hand, supports getting the word out about the sport, getting large numbers of people interested in participating, and building a larger base. An example of this would be the learn-to-skate program that Pat Seltsam and Mark Greenwald have set up in Calgary, that introduces about 50,000 new kids to speedskating every year, starting with an introduction to inline skating.
It is my opinion that the basic philosophy of supporting the Athlete Development Model of the sport has led to the problems of favoritism and discrimination that I and other athletes have experienced.
As a result of this core philosophy, it seems that every time USSPEEDSKATING has an opportunity to promote, instead, they go out of their way to deny. They go out of their way to deny Wheaton, Illinois, a hometown Olympian; to deny Category One status to a financially struggling short track skater based on some obscure technicality buried deep in the bowels of the Ice Chips; to deny a 50-year-old Master's skater a chance to skate the 3000 meters at Olympic Trials because she missed the cut-off time by a few tenths of a second. (Hey, it's not like you people have thousands of skaters banging down your doors to skate the trials!) And, as in the case of my retirement immediately after my last race at the Olympic Trials - I had become so familiar with their "policy of denial" that I removed myself from the situation, and within a few days, I was proven absolutely correct, when they denied the athlete who finished immediately behind me the chance to go to Torino as an alternate or Team Pursuit member, despite the fact that a couple of their Olympians were suffering from chronic injuries and they could have added two more women to the team.
I really do believe that the policy of denial, and this spirit of stinginess and elitism rather than friendly generosity, originates with Katie. I won't give specific instances, but I know many USSPEEDSKATING members have experienced this.
A few more specific problems some fellow USSPEEDSKATING members have reported having with the Executive Director are:
1. Not getting prompt responses, or quite often, any response at all, to questions submitted to the National Office, or to requests for paperwork.
2. A high rate of employee turnover in the National Office.
3. Firing people for having "too radical" ideas, or not letting them use their full set of skills and talents to promote and develop the sport.
4. Unfriendliness. (Again, I haven't had a personal problem with Katie, but I've heard this so many times that it is worth mentioning.)
In my opinion, the main problem with our current Executive Director is that she maintains a culture of USSPEEDSKATING that is unwelcoming and not conducive to the growth and development of the sport. I believe that when she has talented people working for her, she prevents them from using their full abilities to promote the sport, and either they get frustrated and quit, or compromise their own performance, or get fired for "being too radical."
I would like to see someone in that position who promotes a spirit of generosity, prosperity, and competence. I would like to see someone in that position who is not afraid to work with talented people; someone who does not want to keep this sport in the Dark Ages, but wants it to move forward.
posted by Eva at 5:42 PM
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