USA Swimming has announced the Call for Nominations for two At-Large positions on the Board of Directors. The vote will be held at the September 2023 House of Delegates meeting.
The two positions that are open are Kathleen Prindle and Bill Schalz, both of who are coaches. Prindle is a coach for Performance Aquatics in Florida, while Bill Schalz is the founder and owner of the powerhouse Academy Bullets club in Illinois.
To be eligible, nominees must be members of USA Swimming in good standing prior to review by the Nominating Committee, throughout the nomination and election process, and during their entire service on the Board, if elected.
The 2023 Board of Directors includes 15 members, of which seven are At-Large members. Among those 15 members, at least three are required to be coaches. At present, only four members of the Board of Directors are coaches (Ira Klein’s term expires in 2025, Bruce Gemmell’s term expires in 2024), which means that at least one of the positions must be filled by a coach.
Because there are other At-Large members who already live in the Southern Zone and Central Zone, there is no geographic restriction on filling the two positions.
Criteria and Skills the Board is Seeking
The USA Swimming Board of Directors used to be made up largely of swim coaches and swim officials (often parents of swimmers who rose through the administrative ranks), but more recently that focus has shifted to people with a more diverse skill set that can offer specific expertise to USA Swimming.
Along those lines, the Board of Directors has listed certain roles and expertise that they want to find from the latest class.
1. Expertise in Digital Transformations – Given USA Swimming’s challenges to rebuild most of their digital processes in recent years, USA Swimming’s Board of Directors has requested “specific expertise in organizational data, technology, and digital strategy at the Chief Technology/Information/Product Officer level, with experience in a stakeholderfocused environments, large-scale change management, and structuring product/data teams.”
USA Swimming acknowledges that the challenges that they have faced in “replacing 20 years of legacy technology” and so are speaking experience with leadership of data and software solutions that enhance organizational performance.”
Given the level of expertise required here, this criteria is unlikely (though not impossible) to be met by the coach-required seat.
2. Broadening the Board’s Diversity –
“Consistent with its membership goals, the Board should reflect and represent the current and future diversity of USA Swimming’s swimmers, coaches, parents, officials, and volunteers. To grow its membership successfully, USA Swimming must engage the fastest growing populations within USA Swimming membership and those who have been traditionally underrepresented within the organization. Thus, the Board seeks diverse candidates, including, but are not limited to, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian American (Eastern and Southern), and/or multiracial individuals, members with disabilities, and those underrepresented in coaching and leadership positions, such as women and the LGTBQIA+ community.”
In short, USA Swimming recognizes that the Board of Directors, the face of the organization, has a diversity problem. While they have done better with female members (7 out of 15 on the current board are women), racial diversity is lacking.
Current BIPOC members of the board include Kenneth Chung, the Vice Chair of Fiscal Oversight, is Asian-American, Athlete Representative Natalie Coughlin-Hall is a quarter Filipino, and Athlete Representative Maya (Dirado) Andrews is a first generation Argentinian American, and Athlete Representative Tony Ervin has African American and Native American ancestry on his father’s side.
3. Coaching Experience – As mentioned above, one of the two members has to be a coach. More specifically, the Board has requested a “successful coach” who is “currently leading a thriving USA Swimming Club, has governance experience through service on USA Swimming national committees, and demonstrates a track record of coaching athletes at all levels of USA Swimming competition.”
The Board also emphasizes that the coach should lead a “fiscally and strategically sound club.”
Nominating Process
Each position will have a minimum of two, and a maximum of three, nominees chosen from among applicants. Applicants can either self-nominate or be nominated by a third party with written consent of the applicant.
The Nominating Committee includes three current athletes, four current or former coaches, an official, and two individuals with swimming backgrounds but also huge resumes outside of swimming – including Kathy Fish, the Chief Research, Development, and Innovation Officer for P&G (and a former swimmer, swim coach, and swim parent).
- Charlie Swanson (10-Year Athlete appointed by the Athletes’ Advisory Council
- Liz Pelton (10-Year Athlete appointed by the Athletes’ Advisory Council)
- Anthony Ervin (10-Year Athlete representative of the Board, appointed by the 10-Year Athlete representatives of the Board)
- Dave Ferris (coach member of USA Swimming, appointed by the Coach Advisory Council)
- Pam Swander (coach member of USA Swimming, appointed by the Coach Advisory Council)
- Bruce Gemmell (coach member of the Board, appointed by the Board)
- Trish Martin (official member appointed by the Officials Committee)
- Katie Ann Robinson (individual of independent background, proposed by the Board Chair and approved by the Board)
- Mary Wallack (individual of independent background, proposed by the Board Chair and approved by the Board)
- Kathy Fish (Board Vice-Chair, serving as a non-voting ExOfficio member, appointed by the Board Chair)
Timeline:
- May 15 – Application Deadline
- May 16-June 1: Eligibility/good standing screenings
- June 1-July 15: Nominating Committee conducts initial interviews, chooses individuals to advance to the second round of interviews
- July 22: Nominating Committee selects nominees
- July 31: Biographies and Letters of Commitment due from all nominees
- August 7: Nominating Committee sends the list of nominees and the At-Large and athlete ballots to the electorates.
- September 20: At-Large ballots re-sent to final, confirmed members of House of Delegates.
- September 23: Annual Meeting of the House of Delegates where At-Large election is conducted.
I’m ever so slightly tempted to throw my hat into the ring. While at the USAS level I’ve only ever been an assistant coach, my day job is software product management and digital transformation.
On the other hand, I’m of the opinion that USAS is more or less a dumpster fire and I’ve spent my day job career dealing with dumpster fire organizations, so do I really want to potentially have to deal with another one?
As a frequent comment reader, I would love for someone like you to be on the board. You’re rational and you’ve got your head on straight.
But the whole organization is run like the mob. Anyone who tries to create real change gets a stern talking to in a dark corner in a convention hall somewhere. And unfortunately two new seats a year isn’t enough to create real change.
Tim Hinchey promised everyone he’d generate more revenue for USA Swimming. He has not. He has also failed in most of the athlete safety KPIs. Membership numbers are down. And when his contract is up, he’s going to get renewed, and probably a raise.
That should tell you all that you… Read more »