Report from Board meeting of USAT
Nov 2002

MEMORANDUM

TO: USAT Board of Directors
FROM: Sherri Wattenbarger, Women's Commission Chair
Susanna Gaunt, Women's Commission Co-Chair

RE: November 2002 Board Meeting Report
DATE: October 25, 2002

The year 2002 was a year of remarkable achievements for the Women's Commission, which realized significant advancement in every aspect of its mission.

Membership

Annual memberships held by women in USA Triathlon now stand at nearly 9,000 or 29% of the total membership. The number of women members has almost doubled since December 31, 2000, when it stood at 4,900.

The Women's Commission's 2003 plan calls for achieving its goal of 40% of all annual memberships held by women. We firmly believe we can accomplish this goal by targeting the thousands of female participants of the Danskin triathlons. The Commission is currently formulating a detailed plan of action with its volunteers and Gina Demarco to have a volunteer-staffed table near registration at each Danskin expo.

Clinics and Camps

The number of women-only triathlons and multisport clinics and camps has grown exponentially over the last year and a half. In fact, the growth has exploded so rapidly that it is now difficult to track the exact number of clinics being held, as its seems a new clinic or camp is started each week. The Women's Commission estimates that at least 50 of these events will be offered in 2003. Each of these clinics is, or will be, listed in chronological order with contact information on the Commission's website.

The Women's Commission provided seed money to 4 new clinics in 2002 and already has begun to receive requests for 2003. Furthermore, the Commission published a detailed "how-to" article in the May-June issue of "Triathlon Times". We estimate that as many as 5-10 new clinics are the direct result of this article. Finally, the Commission provided, at no cost to clinic directors or USAT (except nominal postage costs), a thorough triathlon training handbook at the request of the clinic directors.

The Commission intends to continue to provide practical advice, educational resources, and financial support to women-only clinics in 2003. The Commission will award 4-5 $200 grants in 2003.

Volunteers

At the All-Women's Breakfast in Coeur d'Alene, and in the most recent edition of "Triathlon Times", the Commission sounded the call for new volunteers to help accomplish its goals in 2003. The response has been overwhelming. Nearly every woman who attended the breakfast volunteered to work for the Commission in some way, and the article has generated at least 10-15 responses, and more keep coming.

This new volunteer base will provide the Commission the woman-power to achieve its goals in 2003 and beyond.

Articles

The Women's Commission published detailed reports and articles in each edition of Triathlon Times in 2002, including the comprehensive "how-to" article on triathlon clinics mentioned above.

In 2003, the Commission, with the help of a cadre of new, enthusiastic volunteers, will pursue its goals of publishing more articles in "Triathlon Times", and on the Commission's website, as well as submitting articles to "Triathlete" and "Inside Triathlon" for publication.

Breakfast

The 2002 All-Women's Breakfast, held August 30, 2002, at the National Age Group Championship in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, was a resounding success. Over 70 women attended, almost doubling the previous year's attendance. Speakers included Steve Locke, Ray Poltecia, Liz Dobbins, Sherri Wattenbarger, and Celeste Callahan. The tremendous attendance is attributable to several factors, including: (1) the large increase in women membership of USAT; (2) a strong marketing effort by the Commission to publicize the breakfast; and (3) a return to the previous tradition of the Commission in underwriting a significant portion of the breakfast's cost, which resulted in an affordable $10 admission cost.

The Commission will continue this wonderful breakfast tradition in Shreveport, Lousiana in October 2003 and already has received feedback from members to improve upon the success of 2002.

Website

Sue Falsey continues to donate her time and considerable talent as webmaster of the Women's Commission website at www.smfsport.com/usatwomen In 2002, the site was greatly enhanced with a complete listing (to the best of our efforts) of all women-only multi-sport events in the United States. In addition to the calendar, the site contains information about USAT and the Women's Commission, articles, stories, a discussion forum, and links to other women's sports and triathlon-related websites.

In 2003, the Commission's goal is to publish on the website monthly or bi-monthly articles on topics important to women in multi-sport.