Track & Field News features the USATF Foundation

Foundation Funds Unsponsored Athletes

By Jon Hendershott

  Track & Field News, April 2008 -- Travis Nutter’s t-shirt (see photo) expressed his feelings best. As the hammer throwers were introduced at last year’s Nationals, the 33-year-old Cal grad wore a top which read, “Thanks USATF Foundation.”

  It was a public way for Nutter to express his gratitude to the USA Track & Field Foundation. The fund-raising organization affiliated with USATF itself. The body has made Nutter the recipient of one of its first two athlete-support grants on ’06.

  Says Nutter, “It’s great that USATF and the Foundation recognized that certain events just don’t earn much money. Any help for those athletes – like hammer throwers – has a dramatic effect. Every dollar has a huge impact.”

  The Foundation is the brainchild of USATF president Bill Roe and former national-class hammerer John McArdle. The pair had urged federation officials as far back as the early ‘90s to follow the example of other national governing bodies – like cycling and skiing – which had established foundations to aid in fund-raising.

  When Roe was elected to his first term as president in ’00, he set in motion the establishment of the Foundation. By ’02, the group was up and running, with former USOC development officer Tom Jackovic as its executive director.

  “USATF was looking for another source of revenue for athletes and programs, other than funding from the USOC, sponsorships and other revenue streams,” says Jackovic.

  “I told [then USATF CEO] Craig Masback when I came on board that I’d be happy if we had a Board of Directors in place with 6-8 members after three years or so.”

  The Foundation already has nearly 20 Board members, drawn from all walks of life. Members pledge to either contribute or bring in $100,000 over a four-year period.

NASDAQ CEO Bob Greifeld is the chair. Members include former Olympians Bruce Jenner, Jim Beatty and Ken Flax, plus others as varied as former distance star Rudy Chapa, movie producer Frank Marshall and novelist Nicholas Sparks.

  Says Roe, “The true value of the Foundation is the work of the Board.”

  Adds Jackovic, “I thought we would make our first grants to athletes and programs around ’07. Instead we’ve been doing it for two full years now. So we’re really pleased.”

  So far, the Foundation has awarded grants in amounts varying from $1000 to $3000 to more than 30 athletes and more than 75 youth track clubs. As well, it has supported "Win With Integrity," USATF’s anti-doping education program.  From me-add-aimed at youth.

  While the Foundation is a separate entity from USATF itself (it has 501-c-3 nonprofit tax status), Roe says, “The Foundation and USATF have had a very positive, symbiotic relationship.” Roe and the new CEO sit as ex officio Board members to keep the link forged between the organizations.

  Says former Oregon hammer thrower Flax, a UBS Senior Vice President in Palo Alto, “When Tom asked me to join the Board, having been an athlete and a coach, I knew the same issues exist today as when I competed 20 years ago: one-tenth of 1% of the athletes get 99% of the major-funding. We would never raise the sport to a higher level unless we helped that majority that got little or no support.”

  So the Foundation took what Flax calls a “bottom-up approach,” dovetailing with existing USATF programs to help unsponsored athletes.

  That’s where the Emerging Elite Athlete grants come in. Athletes can apply for funding on an annual basis, as Nutter has done. The extensive application process includes an essay on how the athlete intends to use the funds, plus the athlete maintaining a spotless drug-testing record and the athlete making “Win With Integrity ” presentations.

  “We’re trying to promote positive life values as well as forward the sport,” says Flax.

  Jackovic says, “The hardest part of the whole grant process, whether for emerging athletes or youth clubs, is prioritizing the applications. Who’s going to get funds from a limited resource pool?”

  The Youth grants often go toward travel to national-level meets for clubs, such as the Youth Championships or Junior Olympics. “It can even go for things like equipment or t-shirts or box lunches at a clinic for kids whom live too far to go home for lunch,” says Jackovic.

  He adds, “While we’re concentrating now on the area of the Emerging Elites and Youths, as well as anti-doping education, we would love to have a donor come on board with funds for areas like coaching and officials. Anyone who’s interested can contact me.” (tom.jackovic@usatf.org).

  Says Flax, “We’re trying to have a long-term impact on young lives. Then once we get big enough, we can expand into other areas.”

  Jackovic concludes, “I compare our Foundation to the athletic department of a major university, looking for resources to build new facilities, fund scholarships and raise the overall level of a program. That’s what we’re doing – indeed, for the ‘University of Track & Field.' "     

Travis Nutter's shirt said volumes at the Nationals last year.

Executive Director Tom Jackovic (left), with Director Ken Flax. Says Ken, "We're trying to have a long-term impact on young lives." Photos are courtesy of Track & Field News.