USA Gymnastics 2000
The USA Gymnastics National Congress in Indianapolis was a great success. The exhibition hall was bigger and better than ever and there were more than 150 sessions that occurred throughout the three-day event. Attendance was outstanding, with more than 2,500 people taking part in the National Congress and/or John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships.
Excerpts from the President's Assembly at Congress
I would like to share some of my thoughts that I unveiled at the President's Assembly for those who were unable to attend.
Gymnastics is the greatest sport in the world. It develops strength, confidence, balance, coordination and most importantly, friendships. Friendships that last a lifetime and indeed make us family.
This is one of a number of themes you are going to hear from me over the course of my presidency—family, community, partnership and excellence. Our success nationally is dependent upon your success locally. One side can not be sustained without the other. The USA has the strongest gymnastics community in the world and there's nothing we can't do if we all share the same vision for the future.
Financial
Contrary to rumors that USA Gymnastics is not on sound financial footing, WE ARE! We've planned wisely and are re-investing in our athletes, their training and the sport of gymnastics. USA Gymnastics was very fortunate that the success of our athletes in 1996 resulted in unprecedented levels of income. We are now, in turn, taking those dollars and re-investing them in the development of enhanced programs that will help our sport grow. I'm happy to report to you that we're right on target financially and, more importantly, we're building a financial future that will allow us to grow our sport as never before.
Nothing is more important to all of us than the corporate sponsors
who provide the financial underpinning for everything that we
do. They are as much a part of the gymnastics family as we are.In order to accomplish the objectives I have for this organization, we must continue to raise the bar. We must be more creative in our marketing programs and in developing new relationships to generate new levels of revenue for our sport both at the national and local levels. In this regard every coach and club is an ambassador of our sport. Every action you take helps foster the perceived image of the sport, and that, in itself, impacts the corporate decision-makers whose support we seek.
Thus it is with pride that I can announce a new partnership for USA Gymnastics that will extend through 2004. We welcome General Motors to our sponsor family. Shortly we intend to announce two new partnerships in the hair care and apparel categories. Corporate development is the fuel for our engine. Your continued support of our sponsors is greatly appreciated and necessary. These relationships are vital to our success both at the elite level and club levels.
Organization
In 1999 we will be welcoming trampoline to USA Gymnastics as our newest discipline. I look forward to working with the present leaders of the sport to ensure a smooth transition. Trampoline is a terrific discipline, and we're ready to provide the necessary resources and support to successfully prepare the national team to participate in its inaugural Olympic Games in Sydney.
USA Gymnastics 2000
I have a vision for USA Gymnastics and it has three objectives. Number one is to win medals. Number two is to increase and refine the visibility of the sport. And number three is to grow the grassroots of the sport at the club level. It's important to understand how the interrelatedness of each objective supports the others. But, also understand one other very important factor about these three objectives. They are each about supporting our athletes. Everything we do will be to provide support for our athletes. Athlete support will be the gold standard of my administration. From developing Olympic medalists to the tiniest two year olds doing forward rolls at your gym, that's why we are all here today. I want to underscore the organizing principles of my administration and how we will set out to achieve these goals. First, we will have a uniformity of purpose, we will work as a team with all the members of the USA Gymnastics family. Second, we will approach everything we do with creativity, vision and passion. And third we will apply the highest levels of integrity to all of our operations. There will be no measure for any member of our organization other than these three principles.
Win Medals
Success for our team at the international level is vital to our success at home. It's the fuel that drives the engines of visibility, sponsorship and growth of the sport. NOTHING is more important to me than supporting our athletes in a way that allows them to maximize their training, their development and ultimately their competitive readiness. When the USA Team takes the podium in Sydney in just 25 months I promise you that we will have exhausted every available resource to give our team its best chance for success.
We intend to apply the following programmatic recommendations to achieve this goal. First, we intend to align the financial and program incentives more closely to the real needs of the athletes and coaches. Second, we will work to ensure resources required for success will go where they need to go to maximize that success. We will not sacrifice the chances of our team for the sake of a little political expediency. Third, we intend to develop a more consistent and centralized base of support from which club owners can seek the resources they need to achieve their goals. We want to make benefits available for all, not just a privileged few. However, we will expect a return on this investment. One of my favorite sayings will apply strongly in this regard: "to whom must is given, must is expected." We have seen many outstanding performances from our athletes in recent months. But we must continue to test ourselves and press onward to redefine what our best is and accept nothing less than excellence in everything we do. It's my belief that these changes will help to serve that purpose.
Increase Visibility of the Sport
Again, let me remind you how integrated our gymnastics community is. We win medals we get publicity, we get publicity we attract new students. It's only by marketing a consistent theme and increasing the visibility of our sport that we will attract new students into the gym. Not only will this ultimately increase the size of the talent pool from which we select our elite athletes to represent USA Gymnastics in international competition, but it will put dollars into your local programs.
We are committed to working with our member clubs to help raise their profile in their own communities and thereby increasing awareness of our product-GYMNASTICS. We must forge a better relationship with the clubs to provide more opportunities for the clubs themselves, USA Gymnastics and our sponsors. I believe that the clubs will ultimately build the bridge to success for USA Gymnastics.
Grow the Sport
Okay, let's go through this very simple equation one more time. We win medals, we get publicity. We get the right kind of publicity, we can begin to reap the rewards at the local level, through an increase in club enrollment. We increase clubs enrollment and the quality of instruction and then we win more medals. So, how can we work together to grow this sport?
The first thing to recognize is that we are growing. At all levels of USA Gymnastics we are seeing record levels of participation. We have more professional members, member clubs, and industry members. We are growing, but we need to continue the positive work. We need to be flexible and willing to change as the sport changes to adequately address the needs of our athletes, coaches, club owners, sponsors, supporters and family.
We will continue to work to increase the number of events, exhibitions and tours that reach out nationally to your local markets. Successful conduct of events, tours, and exhibitions are paramount to increased awareness of our sport. It's almost impossible to run a bad event in a sold out arena, and to sell out arenas we know we need your help. We need to continue to develop programs that will enhance our marketing initiatives, increase attendance at events and ultimately develop and enhance the brand of USA Gymnastics.
Although this is a brief synopsis of my speech at the President's Assembly you have read the most important part. My vision which is to win medals, increase the visibility of the sport and to grow the sport. That will be the focus of my work with USA Gymnastics. I ask you for your help and I thank you for your support.
Robert V. Colarossi
USA Gymnastics PresidentThis article appears in the September/October 1998 issue of Technique, Vol. 18, No. 9.
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