Wayne Stetina's 2007 campaign statement- voting starts July 15th

Campaign Statement for Wayne Stetina – Western Trustee

Over the last few years, USCF Road membership growth hasn’t slowed since Lance’s retirement, in spite of recent ongoing doping scandals among the Pros. The fastest growth has been Junior & collegiate participation, although even greater Junior growth remains my top priority for the future. Ironically, the biggest problem for Juniors last year turned out to be closed fields at National Road Championships. This was also a major issue for Masters & Elites, but I believe it has been addressed for the coming year with more realistic field limits, phased entry for the top Elite riders, & plans for active waitlist management.

One ever more critical area for USCF Trustees to address as we continue this rapid growth is a better race category upgrade system that is consistent across all regions of the country & all types of competition, including Cyclocross. If there were an easy solution, we would have already implemented it.

After one year on the USCF Trustee Board, for the last 2 years I also served as one of two USCF representatives (elected by the Trustees) to the USA Cycling Board of Directors. The USAC Board oversees our CEO Steve Johnson & the entire USAC budget. USCF, Mountainbike, PRO, the Development Foundation & BMX are all represented on this Board. The primary role of the USAC Board is to help to establish future direction & funding priorities. Currently USA Cycling is far healthier financially than at any point in our history.

Unexpectedly, one of my greatest contributions last year on the USAC Board was leading USAC BMX initiatives to broker a working relationship between the long feuding NBL & ABA. While Americans have recently dominated BMX World competition, a total lack of trust & cooperation between these organizations was threatening to sabotage our efforts to qualify the maximum number of USA riders for the 2008 Olympics. We successfully established BMXA as an affiliate member of USAC, and finally got the international BMX races we needed the year before Beijing to qualify for maximum UCI points, leading into the final selection for our BMX Olympic team in 2008. [We learned a painful lesson in Athens. American Women only had 1 entry for MTB Cross Country in 2004, due to non-participation internationally & lack of UCI points the preceding year. With USAC refocused on international UCI competition, American women have more than enough UCI points to qualify 3 riders for 2008, & even more importantly, they have raised their performance significantly from harder competition.]

I have tremendous confidence in Steve Johnson as our CEO, the staff he has assembled, & the future direction of USA Cycling. Last year a permanent Women’s training facility was established in Italy, to complement Noel’s program for U-23 & Junior men in Belgium. For the entire membership, communication has continually improved, & USAC offers ever more value through affiliate business partners. The website is dramatically upgraded – easy to navigate, with interesting articles & useful information.

Previous bicycling history: After rising to VP during 23 years at Shimano, I have remained involved with the USCF as a component sponsor over the last 18 years. After racing on the National Team from 72-87, I have continuously stayed informed of all USCF racing programs. Before joining Shimano in 84, I was on 3 Olympic Road Teams, and a Pan Am Games Gold Medalist, & in ‘99 I was inducted into the US Bicycle Hall of Fame. For 13 years since my last Master’s National Road Championship, I have continued to seek an elusive 11th National Title. I have been an active racing member of the same team since 1989, from Subaru-Montgomery to Postal to the AMD Discovery Master’s racing team. Maybe this will finally be my year back in Seven Springs, PA.

Thank you for your patience in reading this far. You can always reach me @ wstetina@cox.net to express your opinions or ask questions.

This election is very important, and if you agree with me that USA Cycling is headed in the right direction, I am asking for your vote for a 2nd term.

Sincerely,
Wayne Stetina