1. Why are you running for masters T&F chair?

I am running because I haven’t seen a more qualified person step up to the position.  I believe I am best qualified for the following reasons:

I understand the business of the chair through my participation in most of the national conventions in the '90s.  This is where most of the business of our organization is conducted.  I think you need to have experienced this in order to run it.  I have worked closely with the current chairman and fully understand the requirements of the position.

I would advocate conducting more meetings with the Masters officers through conference calls and Internet exchange.  Also, I would work with the other officers more as a TEAM, give more responsibility to the Vice Chair and consult more with the secretary, treasurer and other officers.  Delegate other tasks to people who have the time, skill and desire.  I would like to have a team-building day with the whole Masters Committee prior to each National Convention.

As an athlete who has competed at all levels (local, regional, national and international), I understand what USATF Masters Athletes need and want.

I am an experienced business person who has created growth and led in the corporate world and in my own businesses, which have revenues over $14 million dollars and employ 60 people.

 I will make the time to be successful in this position.  I have my own support staff in my business to help with some of the tasks.  As an independent business person, I can take the time needed to support the office.  My wife supports this venture.

I love this sport and wish to pay back for all I have received, including a college education as a scholarship track & field athlete.

I bring stable personal and business life, married 35 years, business 12 years old.  Have followed through on assignments consistently and believe I am a good listener.  I need to listen to find out what people want.

I have no commercial (track and field business enterprise) conflicts of interest.

2. What is your background in track and field -- your accomplishments as an athlete or official or both. What do you do in your nontrack life? Where do you live?  

I live at 1318 Palm SW, Seattle, Washington 98116 206-396-0727

My e-mail address is georgem@ofanswers.com

I'm 57 years old, married 35 years to wife Kate, with two grown daughters and three grandsons. I'm a third-generation track and field athlete.

I'm a graduate of St. Johns University, New York 1966 bachelor of business administration.  Attended on a track scholarshi, doing shot put, discus and hammer throw. I was a road runner 1975 – 1990. I've been a hammer thrower 1991 to present.

Have won several national championships in the hammer throw, weight throw during the '90s.  Ranked or third in these events during these years.  Finished in the top five in WAVA championships in  Japan, Buffalo and Gateshead.

I was chairman of USATF Pacific Northwest Masters Committee most of the 1990s, PNAC Masters Athlete of the Year 1993, participated in most of the '90s national conventions as association delegate or active athlete, masters delegate to the USATF Board of Directors, national masters championship site chairman  two years, president and co-founder of Seattle Masters AC, co-meet director of many local, regional, and national championship meets sponsored by our club.

I am president, founder and owner of Office Furnitureanswers.com and Facility Resource Inc., a   12-year-old Contract Office Furniture dealership, doing $14 million business per year and employing 60 people.

I have extensive background as top management in corporate world.

My health: 135/75 BP, 175 cholesterol, recently ran up to 180/hr on 10-minute stress test EKG.

I was mominated for the Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen Humanitarian Award 1996.

3. Masters track is perpetually underfunded. How would you raise more money for the masters program?  

Having been at the forefront of raising money for USATF Masters, I  have helped pushed hard to get title fees for our championship meets.  Our championship meets are the most valuable asset we have at this time.  We have met much resistance from established meet organizers who don’t want or cannot afford to share the wealth. However, some will.

Our compromise surcharge has raised some funds.  As our meets increase in size, they will become more valuable to promoters.

We obviously would like to derive more funds from large corporate sponsors.  The biggest problem we have in their investing in us is our numbers.  At the present time, we don’t have enough participants to attract significant dollars.  There are some opportunities at our outdoor championship meets where AARP gave some support to the meet.  We need to work on more of this.

We also need to look at some sponsors who are supporting the National Senior Games.  Our informal working relationship could help with introductions and also increase our membership by publicizing our activities to their members.

The “Foundation Giving Program” being formulated Jerry Donley has great promise in generating funds in the long run.

I will continue presenting the masters program “needs” to USTAF to get more funding to support our programs.  We need to show great need to get the money.

4. Masters meets on the local level attract relatively small numbers. How would you promote the program to increase the number of participants?  

I believe the way to promote meets on a local level falls in the hands of the local association and clubs.  We have made it happen in the Pacific Northwest with a two-prong approach.

First, we became active in the association and worked to gain trust, of physical and monetary support.  Then we actually started a club to bring people together and co-sponsor the meets.  As a result, our meets have grown every year.  Funds must be funneled down through the regional coordinators who best know where the needs are.  We need to encourage volunteerism on all levels to make these meets happen.

We should also offer help in meet management and other areas as needed.

I would like our organization to encourage the concept of opening local masters meets to postgraduate, elite and youth athletes for building the numbers.   This is how the club meets work in Western Canada, and they are very successful.

We should also consider qualification standards and places, (i.e.  two qualify from each association for national meets).  This helps build participation on the local level.

5. The national headquarters of USATF in Indianapolis reminds the public that track is a "sport for life," but its TV commercials and Fast Forward magazine ignore the masters element of the organization. How would you change this?  

By taking an active note in the USATF Executive Committee, they will know what I stand for.  I have already started a working dialog with the USATF Director of Communications while working on our Masters Internet Technology Committee.  We must remember that we are part of USATF, and find ways to work with them for our benefit.

I would plan a least one and maybe two trips to Indianapolis every year to get to know the staff personally and develop a mutual understanding of what each other is trying to do.  Some of this may come at my personal expense.  I hear the dissatisfactions and I will correct them.

6. Although the recent Eugene national masters outdoor meet was highly praised by participants, the previous year's meet at Disney World's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando was almost universally despised. What can the chairman do to insure a wider selection of host city candidates?  

I understand the universal unhappiness about the national championships in Orlando.  We learned a lot from this experience.  First we should remember that this site was selected by the membership.  Disney deserves most of the blame for the way they handled it.  The delegates knew about the weather when they voted for this site.  We learned that we probably shouldn’t put our championships with such a money hungry enterprise as Disney.  We were no match for them.  We didn’t force the legal contract soon enough.  The USATF legal department is working to tighten up these contracts, and get them done soon after award.  I would work to have promoters provide a bond to insure that all contract terms are performed.

We need to balance this while not making it too unattractive.  The masters national championships are not easy to run.  There are few venues and organizations that are able to run them.  I know this because I have spent the last two years working as the site chairman.

There seems to be a trend toward not wanting to take too many chances for variety's sake, but a strong desire to go to places that can put on the best meets.  Those venues that have done a good job also seem to get better the second and third times around.  Also, I see a trend toward rotating the meets across the country by zones (e.g. East, Midwest, and West).  That way, people who cannot afford to travel at least have the national meet come to their area every third year.

My experience in this area will only help me address this situation from the chairman’s position.  The chairman must reach out to the membership to help with suggestions in this area.  The chairman must appoint the right volunteers to see that the jobs get done.  Part of our problem in Orlando was that our championship coordinator didn’t show up for the championship.  We cannot have that happening again.  I think we have some good people in position now, and should encourage them to continue.

Also, the elusive “meet manual” must be completed so that meet organizers know what is expected of them.  I will see that this is completed during my first year of my chairmanship.

7. In 2000, USATF regional masters meets in the Southeast and West have run into serious problems. One was canceled and one almost was. How would you make sure all regions are assured of meets?  

I believe that the chairman needs to be more involved with the regional coordinators in planning these meets.  This means planning one-on-one meetings with each regional coordinator prior to the national convention.  All regional coordinators must attend the national convention anyway.

We must find ways to funnel funds and expertise to the regions so we can have both indoor and outdoor regional championships.  We effectively accomplished that this year in the Northwest regional.  Last summer, our regional coordinator, Becky Sisley worked untold hours helping to plan the regionals in Bozeman, Montana.  She started the planning over two years ago and allocated funds and personal help to make this meet happen.  The same can occur in all regions with proper planning.

8. Part of your mandate as masters chair is communicating effectively with the various parts of the masters movement. How would you share your plans with the masters masses?

The obvious standard of communication today is the Internet.  This interview via the Internet is a great example of how beneficial, I hope, it can be.

There has been a very serious need for USATF Masters to have an official Web site.  Since we are part of USATF, we have been on hold waiting for them to implement a unified, cohesive format that includes all parts of USATF.  Up until now, this hasn’t happened, and I just got agreement for USATF Masters to move ahead with the project.

We must start from the USATF Masters template home page, which exists now but needs to be modified.

We need to get volunteers for various sections of the sites and USATF will help us with the implementation.  Hopefully, some of the same people who volunteer for National Masters News will do the same for the official USATF Web site.

The site should have the following basic information -- calendar, results of national championships, records, bylaws, officers, associations etc., including a section called the Chairman’s corner where the chairman can have a two-way communication with the world. Plus, there should be links with many of the fine sites already set up such as National Masters News, masterstrack.com, egroups, etc.

We must be clear that these links are not the official source for particular information such as records for USATF Masters.

One special goal I would have is to persuade National Masters News to put out an Internet version, so that this information would be more current.

9. Sacramento is hoping to bid for the 2005 world WAVA meet. How can you help this bid?  

Given that the United States has hosted the WAVA Championships in Buffalo and the great job Sacramento did with the Olympic Trials, they should have a great chance to secure these championships.

I would recommend setting up a committee to work with the Sacramento organizing committee to make it happen.  I will actively promote Sacramento in Brisbane.

10. Does USATF masters need a Web site for promoting the program? If yes, how would you create/produce and supply content for this site?  

Answer in Question 8:  Yes

11. What changes are needed in the anti-doping rules to accommodate the different needs of masters athletes (from elite athletes)? How would you go about putting such changes into effect?  

The exact changes needed I am not sure.  But changes must be instituted to accommodate the medical requirements of our older masters athletes.

I understand that Rose Monday has volunteered to represent USATF Masters with USATF.  Her experience working in this area will help get the changes we need to respect the requirements of our masters athletes.  I would recommend also adding some experienced medical doctor masters athletes who have served in the past to work with Rose on this project.