G-BEAP: Governing Body Evaluation & Achievement Program

I think it is time for us, the member of USA Swimming, to perform a G-BEAP.  The G-BEAP isn't just a cute, clever, and cool sounding name.  This is not "gangstas" honking the horns of their ride.  Nope, it is the Governing Body Evaluation and Achievement Program.

It's not a steak dinner,
but I suppose it is nice flair
for an LSC to sport
on it's website

There have been a lot of people working very hard on the LEAP (LSC Evaluation and Achievement Program).  For now, only the first of the three levels of LEAP is mandatory.  There are fifty hoops to jump through in order to be granted LEAP level 1 status as an LSC.  Upon completion your LSC gets the LEAP badge to display on your LSC website.  I have put in close to 30 hours working on LEAP, and I am sure my evaluation team has put in that many man-hours on Alaska Swimming's LEAP submission alone.  I don't envy them their job.  Despite my complaints about the LEAP process, I am appreciative of their time and effort on the project.  I have met all of them, and they really are good guys.  I just don't think LEAP is necessary, and I rue the fact that I was not an Alaska Swimming delegate to the USAS convention when it was first created.

To be fair, some of the items in LEAP level 1 are important.  USA Swimming does need to make sure that it's member LSC's are in legal compliance in a couple of areas.  Each LSC does need to have Bylaws that conform to those os USA Swimming.  Each LSC needs to be in compliance with the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act.  Each LSC needs to make sure it's 501(c)(3) status with the IRS is to snuff.

Some of the items are, in my opinion, busy work and frankly none of USA Swimming's business.  For instance, the Mission and Vision statements of the LSC.  I think that as long as the Mission Statement is not something like "To undermine and destroy the competitive swimming establishment in the state of Alaska, the United States, and the World", that USA swimming should let the LSC have whatever it wants as a Mission Statement.  As long as the Vision Statement does not say something along the lines of "To demotivate and disable our members from achieving excellence in the sport of swimming and in life", then let the LSC be.

In Alaska Swimming's case, it was recommended that we shorten our Mission Statement.  It was too long (just under 30 words).  It would be better if we were able to shorten it to under 20 words.  By the way, USA Swimming's Mission statement is just under 80 words.  It turns out that, a few years ago, Alaska Swimming had adopted USA Swimming's Vision Statement.  What can I say, we like USA Swimming's Vision Statement.  It is a good one:

To inspire and enable our members to achieve excellence in the sport of swimming and it life

Bam!  Pretty sweet.  We are members of USA Swimming, why not follow their lead?  Nope, "come up with your own", we were essentially told.

I am just kidding (sort of), when I say I think we need to start our own evaluation of USA Swimming.  The G-BEAP can be our vehicle for change and improvement in our organization.  Maybe we can come up with a cute little badge for USA Swimming to put on their website when they complete G-BEAP.  I vote for a nice graphic that includes at least some of the following:

U Dun Good!

We can start small on G-BEAP.  Maybe we can have just 10-12 things for USA Swimming to clean up.  We can start with the Mission Statement.  Let's shorten this down:

USA Swimming is the National Governing Body for the sport of swimming.  We administer competitive swimming in accordance with the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act.  We provide programs and services for our members, supporters, affiliates and the interested public.  We value these members of the swimming community, and the staff and volunteers who serve them.  We are committed to excellence and the improvement of our sport. We are committed to providing a safe and positive environment for all members.

You could have:

To Develop, Improve, and Inspire Competitive Swimming in the United States

but that would be too much like Alaska Swimming's revised Mission Statement (Replace United States with Alaska).  We look forward to receiving USA Swimming's new, unique, Mission Statement.

LEAP....backward

Why does USA Swimming has LSC's jumping through hoops?  and should we put a stop to it?  could we if we wanted to?

I have been a coach in Alaska Swimming for 20 years and involved in our LSC's governance since 1993.  During that time I have served as the Age Group Chair (2 terms), Senior Chair, Legislative Coordinator (2 terms), Coach's Rep, and now as the Administrative Vice Chair.  I have attended the USAS Convention only three times, my last in 2001 in Detroit.  I watched the events of 9/11 unfold on tv before as I was getting dressed to attended a Senior Swimming committee meeting.  I was the only member of the Alaska Swimming delegation to make it to the convention that year, so I attended every committee meeting I possibly could.  During my tenure, nothing has frustrated me more than the LEAP and the process for attaining the mandated Level 1.  Please read on as I digress for a few moments.

It was my last USAS Convention due in part to those bad memories of 9/11, but also because I didn't really feel like anything a guy from North Pole, AK said would matter.  For instance I watched as a group of big program coaches killed Jr. Nationals (West, Southeast, and Northeast) and replaced it with the current Sectional - Jr National - National format.  Though this is a tangent from my essay's theme, I have to say, I think that was a bad move.  It made the leap from local/regional senior swimming so huge that it has effectively demotivated an entire generation of swimmers who actually used to have a shot at step by step attaining a National cut.  In my opinion LSC Senior Champs, Senior Region Champs, Jr Nats (3 regions), and then Nationals was a much better progression.

I bring this all up because it is partly my fault that we have LEAP at all, since I was not there to vote or speak out against it.  Believe me, I know what it is like to be part of the process and then be sniped at by those who refuse to participate.  Having said that, it is almost impossible to have an impact at the USA Swimming level unless you are in the inner circle.  I refer back to my digression about the progression of senior swimming that we are currently stuck with.  I was there, I commented from the peanut gallery, but it did not matter.

It is not that we have a LEAP that bothers me, it is the implementation that is all wrong.  Instead of setting out a list of 50 things that each LSC should have/complete and then giving us a checklist to complete on our own, they are forcing us to jump through hoops and then threatening us when we fall behind (please refer to my earlier post about Do we need to make a change at USA Swimming?  How about ASCA?).  I feel like I am being treated like a child with a power hungry adult watching over my shoulder.

My most recent complaint stems from Alaska Swimming's completion, and submission, of our Level 1 LEAP tasks/chores, documents, etc.  After submission, we were notified that our bylaws need to be updated to change all references of USS to USA Swimming (not really tough, and not a big deal) and to make sure all of the changes that have been made to the USA Swimming bylaws are reflected in our bylaws...ok, this could be a problem.

Now you will remember that one of my volunteer jobs with Alaska Swimming has been to serve as the Legislative Coordinator.  For 4 years I made sure to submit any changes to our bylaws to USA Swimming for approval...and we always got the thumbs up.  Want to know how many times I was notified of changes to the USA Swimming bylaws, you know, just in case they might affect us?  You guessed it...I was never notified!  My successor...never notified!

I think before we have any LSC jump through the process of LEAP we should make USA Swimming go through the process...at a board and staff level.  I really think these folks don't have a grip.  How can they expect us to have our stuff together when they don't even communicate with us at a meaningful level?  Part of me thinks the staff at USA Swimming may have cooked this up just to ensure job security.

Bottom line is that we need to make some changes at the board level so that we can make some changes at the staff level, maybe starting with the CEO.  There are some staff at USA Swimming who I know work hard and have been very helpful to me and my club (Bill Krumm and Rick Bishop for instance) but I honestly don't understand why we would ever employ someone to administer a program like LEAP.

Believe me, I will be in Florida this September!

Please, share your thoughts on this matter.