Jim Devine 1948-2010

Jim Devine passed unexpectedly on May 12, 2010. You probably know Jim as the Chair of the National Board of Review for USA Swimming and the sound of process and reason. To others he was the long-time professor of law at the University of Missouri. Regardless of how he is connected to your life, it is likely he only contributor to making the world a better place for you. Click here to read what colleagues and others have said about him after his passing.

The sport of swimming will miss your service and your personality - both equally irreplaceable.

Swimmers would trade some rights for pay

Here's an article written by Tripp Mickle of Sports Business Journal about the work of the Pro Swimming Task Force.

- Enjoy!

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/65687

Swimmers would trade some rights for pay

By TRIPP MICKLE
Staff writer
Published May 10, 2010 : Page 05
USA Swimming has developed a plan to pay its elite swimmers more money, but swim agents are fighting the proposal because it is contingent on athletes ceding some marketing rights.

Under an Athlete Partnership Plan developed by a special task force, USA Swimming would increase direct athlete funding from $21,000 to $50,000 annually in 2011 for about 56 of its 107 national team swimmers. Only swimmers ranked in the top 16 in the world in an Olympic event would be eligible, and college swimmers wouldn’t qualify.

The funding would be contingent upon a swimmer annually granting USA Swimming marketing and image rights for promotion of the organization and its nonprofit programs. Swimmers also would agree to make two appearances annually on USA Swimming’s behalf and sign 25 autographs a year as thank you gifts for charitable purposes. The plan would allow all swimmers to feature advertisements on swimsuits and caps at select meets, as well.


Ariana Kukors says a bigger stipend from
USA Swimming would be welcome.
USA Swimming officials said the organization wouldn’t pass through marketing rights to commercial partners.

Already, the proposal has received support from swimmers.

“[The $50,000 stipend] is a huge jump and it will have a big impact for a lot of people,” said Ariana Kukors, the 2009 world champion in the 200 individual medley, who currently does not have an agent. “This gives us an opportunity to continue to train and be focused on what we need to be focused on in the water.”

The amount of money an Olympic swimmer makes fluctuates from year to year. Some elite swimmers can make less than $30,000, while others like Dara Torres and Michael Phelps can earn more than seven figures annually.

USA Swimming CMO Matt Farrell said the organization wanted to increase its financial support of elite swimmers because athletes have begun swimming later into their careers and fewer corporate opportunities are available. Of the marketing rights athletes sign over, he said, “If we’re going to invest in a partnership by putting more dollars in an athlete, then we think it’s fair and reasonable to ask for a partnership in return.”

Four of the biggest agents in swimming — David Arluck of Arluck Promotions, Evan Morgenstein of PMG Sports, and Peter Carlisle and Janey Miller of Octagon — disagree. Though the program would be optional, the agents wrote USA Swimming an 11-page letter questioning it and expressing concern about USA Swimming’s proposal to have athletes grant the organization marketing and image rights.

“Our job is focused on generating revenue for athletes, so on the one hand, we’re glad to see USA Swimming acknowledge that athlete funding is a major issue,” Carlisle said. “But making the plan available only to athletes if they forfeit their marketing rights is a major problem.”

The agents said that their concerns weren’t motivated by the financial threat USA Swimming might pose if it began to sign up athlete marketing rights, and they described the optional nature of the program as problematic because swimmers who opt out might face repercussions from coaches or pressure from their peers.

“When you’re in an environment that’s a closed environment, you can’t opt in and opt out,” Morgenstein said. “Will there be favoritism for those that sign and against those who don’t?”

Farrell said that USA Swimming would be open to looking at changes to mitigate those concerns.

The agents claim that USA Swimming revenue has increased sevenfold from 2002 to 2008 but that athlete funding has remained relatively flat. But USA Swimming said it increased athlete funding by $500 a month in July to $1,750, and claimed that is one of the highest athlete stipends in Olympic sports.

USA Swimming generated $22.8 million in revenue and had $22 million in net assets during fiscal 2008, according to its 2009 tax filing. Its budget for 2011 calls on it to spend $2.49 million on direct athlete support, but it wants to increase that total to $3.02 million in 2011.

In addition to financial support, the plan would see USA Swimming create a legal fund to help athletes with their sponsorship and marketing contracts; a speaker’s network to help athletes secure speaking opportunities with corporations; a financial consulting service; and media training and image management advice. Swimmers would keep any money they generate from speaking engagements, appearances, sponsorships they negotiate independently and sponsorships USA Swimming brings them from its corporate partnership base, Farrell said. Swimmers also could keep their own agents.

“We’re proposing the best of both worlds,” Farrell said. “They can get more money from us and keep their own sponsors and opportunities.”

USA Swimming’s board of directors approved the concepts in the plan at a meeting in early May. Staff members plan to continue to work on the program and present a final version of it to the executive committee in August. If it is approved there, it will go before the full board at a budget meeting in September and go into effect in 2011.

USA Swimming Announces New Measures To Help Ensure A Safe & Positive Environment

Actions Taken Include Addition of Full-Time Child Protection Staff, Background Screen Review & Publication of Banned List

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The USA Swimming Board of Directors acted this weekend to immediately implement a series of landmark measures that support the organization's 7-Point Action Plan for a Safe & Positive Environment.

The measures were approved during a regularly-scheduled meeting of the USA Swimming Board of Directors, and shared with the USA Swimming membership in an open letter from President Jim Wood and Executive Director Chuck Wielgus. The full letter is available here.

The measures include the following:

- USA Swimming will publish on its web site the list of individuals who have been banned for life by the organization

- USA Swimming will engage nationally-respected background screening expert Barry Nadell to review the organization's current background screening process and produce hiring best practices to be made available
to member clubs

- USA Swimming will create dedicated staff focusing on the area of Athlete Protection, and based at the National Headquarters

- USA Swimming will create a Special Committee on Athlete Protection. The Committee will be charged with continually monitoring industry and societal best practices regarding child protection, as well as overseeing
the administration of USA Swimming’s athlete protection and education programs. The Committee will be.comprised of both outside experts and representatives from the swimming community.

“This is an incredibly important issue,” said Wood, following the meeting in Colorado Springs, Colo. “Today, the USA Swimming Board took thoughtful and swift action on this topic. Swimming provides a great outlet for kids – it’s a healthy activity and one that can develop excellent character. Everyone on the USA Swimming Board appreciates the values of our sport and is 100% committed to maintaining those values.”

In an effort to ensure safety in its clubs and to provide a resource for other youth organizations, USA Swimming will publish the list of coaches who have been banned from the organization for life. The list will include coaches banned for any infraction, including, but not limited to sexual misconduct. This list will be publicly available on the organization’s website beginning next week.

“We want to have the best possible safeguards in place for our membership, first and foremost, but we also want to serve as a leader in the area of child protection,” said Wielgus. “We know that this is an issue that affects all youth-serving organizations, and we hope that our continued study and action will have positive repercussions throughout the industry.”

In support of its 7-Point plan, USA Swimming has formally engaged Nadell, a founding member and former co-Chair of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners, to evaluate and make recommendations on its background screening program, implemented in 2006. Nadell is an established industry expert and a published author on background screening who speaks nationally on the subject. Additionally, Nadell, who served on the committee that penned ASIS International’s Pre-employment Screening Guidelines, will also produce hiring best practices, to be shared with USA Swimming’s nearly 2,800 independent member clubs. Clubs are responsible for hiring coaches and other personnel at the local level.

Additionally, the USA Swimming Board dedicated both internal and external personnel to the issue of Child Protection. USA Swimming will create dedicated staff to focus on the area of Athlete Protection. The staff will be placed in the Executive Division of the National Headquarters in Colorado Springs. Recognizing the need for and value of qualified outside expertise on this topic, the Board also commissioned the creation of the Special Committee on Athlete Protection, which will include both outside experts and representatives from the swimming community.

“In keeping with our organizational history, we will continuously evaluate our policies and programming, on this topic, just as we do in other areas,” said Wielgus. “We have conferred with a number of outside experts and nationally-recognized organizations that are acknowledged leaders on this issue, and we will continue to do so as we work to implement the directives of the 7-Point Plan, with the goal of emerging with the best possible safeguards for our 300,000 members."

USA Swimming’s 7-Point Plan for a Safe & Positive Environment

1. Develop and disseminate comprehensive guidelines addressing acceptable coach behavior.
2. Enhance the system for reporting sexual abuse to USA Swimming and law enforcement.
3. Review USA Swimming’s Code of Conduct, as well as that of other top youth organizations.
4. Review USA Swimming’s current background screening program and determine if enhancements can be made.
5. Produce stronger communications to member clubs, as the employers of coaches, regarding pre-employment screening, and the responsibility associated with hiring club employees.
6. Evaluate the process for sharing coaching history records with member clubs and other youth organizations.
7. Educate athletes, parents, coaches and club leaders on this important issue.