2021 is my last year of USAWS

[MattP]

Congress, the USOPC, 50 NGBs, foundations and individual donors fund the Center. It also generates revenue from its fee-for-service model for educating and training sport organizations outside of the USOPC.

 

https://uscenterforsafesport.org/about/faqs/

 

I don’t see a line item

https://www.teamusa.org/-/media/USA_Waterski/Governance/2020AuditedFinancialStatements.pdf?la=en&hash=C642EFAC0F439261E3D824E0B8FA73355BCE4139

[ALPJr]

I watched a very well done, homegrown webcast from an East region tournament this past weekend. All ages, talent levels, and an abundance of knowledge, camaraderie and fun. It sure got me stoked for next year’s tourney calendar. Based on that I’d say that USAWSWS is doing a nice job and I’m looking forward to renewing my membership.

[NameUnavailable]

Most of us are going to comply with completing the training.

My thought is when do we get to the breaking point when it is too much $ or time?

And the hard working people (all old btw) say I'll just ski at home have a good time and save the $/time?

Membership, safesport, clinics, pay for promo's, world ranking charge, travel....

 

Gordon Hall ask me when he was EVP how we grow the membership? I replied if you can't get the people that live in your developments to see a value in it you should look inward first.....

[Zman]

Senate hearing happening right now regarding the FBI's handling (actually, tragic mishandling) of sexual abuse by Larry Nassar of young female gymnasts, including our top Olympic gymnasts.

Senator Grassley specifically asked if they could comment on SafeSport and their role in helping them.

The gymnast that answered had to start by saying, "I'll try not to be disrespectful". She basically went on to say that SafeSport failed them. Her and her mom raised the abuses to SafeSport and they didn't help, their issues were just passed around the organization like a hot potato.

The young ladies feel they were failed to be protected, or they're reporting of abuses buried or mishandled by the USOC, USAG, SafeSport and the FBI.

Food for thought, I guess.

What comes out of this hearing may shed new light on the abuses that have occurred, but more importantly the lack of doing what was needed to protect or help the victims, and stop the abusers.

 

[The_MS]

There are only 15 NGBs that take part of this sham, and we are probably one of the smallest. There are much larger organizations then us that are getting along just fine without it.

[Mrs_MS]

@The_MS

but…..it makes everyone feel better honey!

[wawaskr]

Safesport, FBI, USOC, USAG all have ZERO accountability. Listen to the victims on the hearing right now. This whole mess is a farce.

[The_MS]

But they are all trained and are now experts

[wawaskr]

DOJ did not even show up to the hearing….

[bigtex2011]

Its probably a conspiracy. I'm mean all things are not what they seem. I bet its

voter fraud or bad parenting or aliens in Area 51. This whole thread started with complaining about awsa requiring a 1 hr video for membership to possibly help a few potential victims. Somehow its turned into "good ole days syndrome" , bad parenting habits, 'woke america'.

 

Now look.. "The DOJ didnt even show up". I look forward forward to more complaining and watching the video with MS

 

 

[Jody_Seal]

I think bottom line here is "MANDATE!" WTF????

 

Make no mistake "MANDATE" comes from government money. USOC IS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT!!! DONT LET ANYONE TELL YOU DIFFERENT!! IN ORDER TO GET THIS MONEY A PARTICIPATING ORGANIZED body has to play by their rules.

USAWS GETS NEARLY $300K A YEAR FROM USOC AND WE DO PAY SAFE SPORT SOMEWHERE IN THE $12K A YEAR TO BE PART OF THEIR "MANDATE"

So why the gripe? Now we have beuracrats running this very small sport!! Understandable in sports like usatennis where two medium size cities in the usa have more members then all of usaws..

It has truly gotten stupid!!

 

USOC DOES NOT BELONG IN THIS SPORT NOR DOES THIS SPORT NEED USOC TO SURVIVE! In fact membership would probably boost within the sport if this nonsense just went away..

[Zman]

When I brought up today's Senate hearing about the FBI's horrible mishandling of the Nassar sexual abuses, it was just to note that SafeSport was specifically brought up. And, that the SafeSport handling of the matter was viewed very unfavorably by the victims.

I was not offering an opinion on what value SafeSport may offer today. Maybe they learned from their mishandling or lackluster response to the crimes against the gymnasts, maybe they haven't? IDK

[The_MS]

Exactly @Jody_Seal

@Zman they never learn. It’s just wash, rinse and repeat

[ETskier]

Agree with Jody_Seal. So, here's the deal. Key people in a couple regions and a couple states, have been controlling AWSA for a long time. We (AWSA) sold our soul to the USOC in hopes of becoming an Olympic sport, which we now know will never happen. AWSA began as an association of water skiers who wanted to promote the sport, fight for our right to access of public waterways and government regulation against that sport, do some competitions, and have a lot of fun along the way. Key word people, FUN. We owned a nice little peice of property in Winter Haven for our museum, hall of fame, and offices. Then we sell the property and give the proceeds to AWSEF to move the museum to the Holy Cow location and have office space (HQ) for a nominal cost. So it happened that we have no assets and AWSEF has no fiduciary responsibility to AWSA. We host the world championships, spend a boatload building a lake at Holy Cow, establishing a competitor to long standing supporting ski schools, become a part of USOC as USAWS. Now we're financially strapped and totally dependent on our relationship with USOC and IWWF for our survival. We have been misled to believe being in the Olympics would grow our sport. The opposite happened. We have become a totally competiton based organization with all attention to Elite levels. And, we are unable to support our Elite competitors as we should. Now we are in bed with Polk County to set up a new HQ and what do they do, build a wakeboard cable park. Let's not forget it was 3 event and show skiing which built this sport years ago. Meanwhile, what happened to the FUN? I am truly saddened by what we have become. It seems the inevitable solution will be a breakup, forming a new amateur water skiing association. The elites can continue the chase their dreams with USAWS, we can go have some fun. If the whole thing collapses, guess what, we can still go have some fun. My name is Terry Early, I've been a water skier for 60 years, and I just want to ski.

[jcamp]

Ya'll have spent more time whining on this thread than it would have taken to just do the Safe Sport training ...

[Horton]

 

[Jody_Seal]

@

[The_MS]

Back in the good ole days, I guess I was never offered Time Outs, I was only offered corrective actions like butt whooping

[Leeboy3]

Wait??!! So ALL Members have to take SafeSport?? So my B1 6 year old son has to take SafeSport?

[MattP]

Do your research people..

 

Q: Who is required to take training?

 

Beginning January 1, 2022, all adult participants (members 18 years and older) will be required to complete the Core SafeSport course and any required refresher courses annually. The purpose of this requirement is to educate members on how to prevent abuse in sport, how to recognize the red flags of emotional, physical and sexual misconduct, and what to do if abuse does occur.

 

https://www.teamusa.org/usa-water-ski/safe-sport/safesport-faq

[dbressel]

And don’t worry, if you are one of the members that took the training we will protect you from the Bad People that haven’t -- by not letting them ski in any tournaments.

[igkya]

@MS I remember the days of butt whoopings. Anyone have to go get their own switch (small tree limb) for their butt whoopings?

[The_MS]

It will probably fall on the LOC to enforce the requirement before people can ski

[MrJones]

"Anyone have to go get their own switch...?"

Yes. My grandmother on my mom's side. ONE time only.

 

 

[Horton]

I just throw Buford Danger in the lake when she's bad. She didn't believe I would do it the first time. Now the threat of doing it is all I need.

[escmanaze]

It does strike me as at least interesting that only members 18+ have to take the course in order to ski.

 

I may be wrong, but haven't the most prominent waterski issues related to safesport involved under 18 teenage females? Might it be appropriate to have a course set up for them as well?

 

If you're a hiker hiking in bear country, you take a class on what to do if bears attack. Hiking amongst mountain lions? Well then, let's catch you up on how you should react to mountain lion attacks right? 16 year old female going to a waterski tournament? Then here's a refresher course on best practice when you meet a 21 year old man.

 

Someone on here will accuse me of "victim blaming". Fine. You can't please everybody. Nevertheless, I think it is certainly possible, while not blaming the victim, to help pre-emptively give the potential future victim every tool possible in their tool belt for how to reduce the probability of becoming a victim.

[BraceMaker]

@escmanaze its not victim blaming. but it does insinuate that men are wild animals that women should be prepared to avoid, mace, or shoot instead of the far simpler task of just telling adult men not to rape children.

[Drago]

@escmanaze safesport has age-appropriate clinics for minors available

[escmanaze]

@Drago That's good to know. Thanks for the info.

[MISkier]

One thing that I think has been overlooked is that the SafeSport training requirement apparently does not just apply to tournament skiers. If you don't complete the course/certification, your membership is considered "inactive". For clubs with USA Water Ski insurance, members must have an active membership, especially clubs that sanction their practices for insurance purposes. That would imply skiers need to complete the training just to ski in their clubs, whether they compete in tournaments or not.

[ski6jones]

All roads lead to insurance.

[jimbrake]

@Horton - way to equate the lake with punishment.

[The_MS]

After reading another thread I was also thinking that there are lots of posts in this thread from people that don’t have USAWS memberships.

[unksskis]

That is most threads. Lot's of people who like to voice their opinions and aren't even supporting a dang thing, not saying you're one of them, but this thread, site, and sport are full of them.

[buechsr]

Thought Horton uses a setting that only allows people with posted USAWS numbers to post in threads like this?

[ForrestGump]

@Horton Throwing Buford in the lake doesn't impress me. I wanna see you throw the bug lady in the lake the next time she does something you don't like.

[escmanaze]

Don't forget folks. Every single person on this site who isn't currently a USAWS member should be considered a "target customer" for USAWS. So...you may not want to just throw their opinion right in the garbage on a topic like this.

[scoke]

 

February 1st, 2022.

 

It will be interesting to see the number of active members of usawaterski after 1 months purging of non-safesport users. Especially those passive or recreational members who are actually unaware of the requirement. Even better will be the data on the financial hit awsa will be taking.

[ScarletArrow]

I got an email from USAWS yesterday advertising a mattress. That’s the value I’m looking for. /s

[MDB1056]

OK I'm sure I'll get flamed but there needs to be a reality check here as this thread is way off the rails. This is not about the effectiveness of the SS requirement, or whether it makes sense or not or any of that. As was clearly noted earlier some other organizations are losing their coverage because of increased incidents. This is a requirement now in place to help mitigate that risk. Period. USAWS can now check that box for their carriers which are now likely requiring it anyway as a coverage requisite. This is not a silver bullet or referendum on SS effectiveness but simply a business requirement by USAWS to keep the lights on and a pass through requirement to members. It's a product of the environment. Membership can complain and boycott but it doesn't change the reason it exists nor the business requirement. It's a minor inconvenience and expense but it is a requirement. Up to each member to take it or leave it. Is it possible to have this repealed... sure...... but extremely unlikely. Programs deemed as safety related are generally permanent once implemented. This is a done deal.

[skidawg]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUEeFTlDz89/?utm_medium=copy_link

[bigtex2011]

@scoke yes I agree. I wonder how many people claim this will be there last year but will continue to complain and yet still join.

 

 

[Horton]

So I deleted three or four posts. It started with somebody trollishly trying to be funny* and then some of you overreacting and freaking out. National politics are not allowed on the website and apparently humor is also.

 

*(was actually an overt attempt torture me by one of my friends who fully knew what he was doing.)

[ScottScott]

Oh....that was humor....???

[Drago]

Read the room: this and the High Octane thread have no place for humor

[Killer]

Should have been 5 Brittany's but he's your mate

[Jody_Seal]

 

No humor implied!

 

[braindamage]

Wow. 15 pages and almost 6 months, not one mind changed and no common ground established. For sure a microcosm of our society at large.

[klindy]

Experience alone awith/without information is an assumption. Information alone that hasn’t been proven and used to voice an opinion is misleading or manipulative. And I’d also say that stupidity is an opinion that assumes a fact.

[BraceMaker]

@braindamage the premise is that people who love the sport will quit cold turkey. Just waiting to see how many who asserted that follow through. I just hope I do it for waterski it carries over to other sports, hockey, shooting etc. All of which are sending this out too.