I'm enjoying the excellent discussion going on right now about the US's
club system -- or lack thereof. I coached and managed the elite team for
Seattle's Club Northwest from Spring '91 to Spring'97 -- all volunteer,
of course (CNW didn't get around to starting to _pay_ a coach/manager
until 2000). We had a solid group of national-level athletes during that
era, averaging about a half-dozen qualifiers a year for USATF outdoors,
putting a racewalker on the Oly Teams in '92 & '96, and winning 3 women's
Assoc (aka, Club) national xc team titles in 6 years (our men also won
one and finished 2nd another time).
There are more locally based elite development clubs (EDCs) out there
than most people realize; an EDC is a club that promotes the development
of elite and emerging elite athletes and generally offers coaching,
training groups, and access to training facilities, as well as possible
additional services such as equipment, travel assistance, financial
support, and access to to medical. One of the projects that I am
currently working on is to compile a list of EDCs around the country.
The current version of the list is posted at:
http://miscott.home.att.net/clubs
I will admit right now that the list is very distance running focused; I
would love to add more EDCs from other event groups. BTW--I still have
some corrections to make on this list; it's a work in progress.
I am trying to contact some of the clubs on that list to confirm contact
information and to get more info about the services that they offer. I
know that there are also more clubs out there; please have someone from
other clubs contact me and I will add them to my list.
I completely agree that too few clubs have full-time (or even part-time)
coaching and support staff. One of the major reasons that I stepped down
from CNW in spring '97 is that it had become a full-time job, yet I
wasn't being paid a cent. I couldn't afford to stay with them forever; it
was time to move on with my life.
Bottom line for most clubs is the lack of financial support to hire staff
and to support athletes. As was noted by another list member, many of the
active clubs are essentially a one-man operation (excuse my sexist
language, but -- as was confirmed by my recent survey of these clubs --
these volunteer club coaches are almost exclusively male) and this coach
is putting all of his spare time into coaching activities and has nothing
left over to spend on marketing, promotions, and fundraising.
HSI is a great club that offers the full range of services that elite
athletes need, but I doubt that the market could bear more than a couple
of them. The Invaders have an interesting model and appear to be
developing athletes. The Enclave has also been successful, but (last I
heard) is currently struggling to find a sponsor. The two new Team USA
Centers -- Hansons and Brownstone -- both seem well supported.
If someone finds the answer, hopefully they will share it with the rest
of us.
Mike
