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INDIANAPOLIS - Recalling a year that was marked by successes and challenges, USA Track & Field CEO Craig Masback Wednesday looked toward goals for the upcoming year in his annual State of the Sport address, given at the Opening General Session of the 2006 USATF Annual Meeting. The Opening General Session was held at the Westin hotel in downtown Indianapolis.
"2006 was a year of hope and humility, a year of progress and punishment, and a year of accomplishment and agony," Masback said in opening his address. "We met or exceeded our strategic plan objectives in almost every category, and saw performance and programmatic success at every age level of our sport."
The successes of 2006 laid the foundation for a strong 2007. Taking a cue from the Annual Meeting motto to "Focus on the Horizon," Masback listed key objectives for 2007:
* Maintaining and extending Team USA's status as the World's #1 Track & Field Team
* Dramatically improving the visibility of the sport in the United States, doing so in two notable ways. The first is via an innovative new television and Internet presence that is currently being negotiated. The second is via USATF's new logo and look, announced on Wednesday.
* Working to increase participation in America's leading participatory sport, focusing resources on grass roots and club initiatives.
Among the highlights of 2006 were an increase in television ratings for the Visa Championship Series, with a 30 percent overall increase and two shows that were the most-watched track broadcasts in ESPN history. In addition, "participation in our sport was up in every category, our Be A Champion program took USATF's message about healthy lifestyles, fitness and living life with integrity to a record number of young people. Our foundation expanded considerably and made its first elite athlete development grants. Our sport raised more than $600 million for charity and was more than ever part of the fabric of America."
While strides were made in the anti-doping fight, including recognition by Congress, the IAAF and the media that the current U.S. testing system is a "gold standard," Masback acknowledged that the positive drug test of Justin Gatlin over the summer dealt a new blow to the sport.
"We will never be 'past' the doping issue, and shouldn't be, but once again we must face it directly, acknowledge its challenge for our sport and deal with it effectively, so that the pure joy of our sport that attracted us to it in the first place can triumph."
In order to accomplish that goal, Masback pointed to a need to implement a revised version of USATF's Zero Tolerance Plan, initially adopted to USATF at the 2003 Annual Meeting in Greensboro, N.C. "That plan must take strong action against those around the athletes who influence them to use drugs," Masback said. Athletes must continue to "do the right thing" and compete clean, while everyone in the sport must step forward to report suspected drug use. Further, USATF must continue to educate the press, government and public about the facts of the doping struggle, and must further strengthen its relationships with the IAAF and USOC, as well as the Indianapolis-based NCAA and Black Coaches Association.
USATF's Annual Meeting concludes Sunday in Indianapolis. For more information on USATF and the meeting, visit USATF.org.
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