by Larry EderDear rbr readers,
I have sent a series of questions out to Dee Jensen, Bob Bowman and Stephanie Hightower, the three candidates for President of USA Track & Field. Bob Bowman was the first to send his questions in, plus his statement of why he wants to run. We will run Dee and Stephanie’s responses as they arrive. Please also note, that we interviewed Stephanie this past summer, where she announced that she was running for President of USA Track & Field.
RBR encourages all voting members of USATF to cast their votes in 2008 at the Reno convention. Much is riding on this election. With Doug Logan as CEO, the position of President becomes that much more important. Mr. Logan and the new Prez will have to work together. Checks and balances are fine, but, we cannot afford for the sport to loose years again as other sports evolve. Strong leadership is key for USATF’s future, so please read what the candidates have to say and if you have questions, send them to us and we will do our best to get your questions answered…
Why I am a Candidate for USATF President
Bob Bowman
I believe USA Track & Field is at a critical crossroad in its history. We are going through another restructuring at the insistence of the USOC, including a dramatic change in the size and make up of our Board of Directors. We have a new CEO who has come to us from outside track & field. He has some great ideas to re-energize the marketing of our sport and lead us back to the position on the America’s sports landscape our sport deserves. And, with this being the start of a new Olympic quadrennium, we need to focus on achieving the success in London that we had hoped for in Beijing.
We have a great opportunity to elevate the status and stature of track & field in the United States that will challenge all of our leaders within USATF. Our success will largely depend on having a President who is a leader that is up to these challenges. I believe I have the background and experience in our sport that is necessary, as well as the professional qualifications that this position demands at this point in our history.
I am proud of the many years of experience I’ve gained within USATF at the association, national and international levels. At the association level, I am the immediate past president of our largest association, the Pacific Association, and served on its Board of Athletics for nearly 30 years. I started my volunteer work as an association sport chair while still a competing athlete in the Southern California Association. I now reside and work along side my good friends for many years in the Pacific Northwest Association.
Nationally, I have served on numerous national committees. While a Vice President of USATF (1984-88), I introduced the strategic planning process to our governing body. As President, I hope to revitalize that process over the next four years with our new Board and CEO to increase our revenues, develop our weaker events, increase membership, provide new levels of support for our associations/officials/youth/masters/clubs, and to strengthen our relationships with the USOC and IAAF.
Internationally, I have many years of experience within the IAAF, having first been elected in 1981 to the IAAF Race Walking Committee, and then serving as its chair for eight years. I also have been a USATF delegate to the IAAF Congress. There, I introduced legislation to require that at least two women be on the IAAF Council. If elected, I will also lead an effort to bring IAAF World Championship events to the U.S. It has now been 17 years since we last hosted an IAAF major world competition. Since suffering the unprecedented loss of two of our IAAF Committee members at the last IAAF Congress, it’s never been more important that we improve our influence there.
I have advanced degrees in engineering and business, plus an extensive management background that will help us meet these challenges and achieve our goals over the next 4 years. While at Intel Corporation I helped elevate it from #4 to #1 in the semiconductor industry – what seemed like an impossible task at the time. Since then, I have served as a consultant to more than 50 companies in the high tech industry.
Now retired, I am in position to devote my full time efforts towards achieving our mutual goals together for USA Track & Field.
( Direct your questions to larry.eder@gmail.com
Runblogrun.com encourages you to check out the sites of Shooting Star Media, inc. (www.shootingstarmediainc.com): American Track & Field (www.american-trackandfield.com), Athletes Only (www.atf-athlete.com), California Track & Running News (www.caltrack.com), MIssouri Runner & Triathlete (www.morunandtri.com), Latinos Corriendo(www.latinoscorriendo.com), Coaching
Athletics Quarterly (www.coachingathleticsq.com), and USATF Fast Forward (www.usatf.org). All of the above magazine websites can be found at RunningNetwork.com (www.runningnetwork.com).
