The Mission: Fencing vs. Swimming

[Mr Epee]

It's always a good idea to look around.

I was working on a recent project which included a review of some information regarding USA Swimming - and a review of their structure/program/approach. They have a great program and I think the differences are painfully obvious.

Originally Posted by USA Swimming

The national headquarters are located at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Programs and services are provided to the membership through the national headquarters. Among the many services are publications, educational programs, fund-raising activities, sports medicine programs, resources and general information about swimming-related activities. The headquarters staff is available to assist you in answering questions or providing general information about USA Swimming.

Mission Statement
USA Swimming is the National Governing Body for the sport of swimming. We administer competitive swimming in accordance with the Amateur Sports Act. We provide programs and services for our members, supporters, affiliates and the interested public. We value these members of the swimming community, and the staff and volunteers who serve them. We are committed to excellence and the improvement of our sport.

Vision Statement
To inspire and enable our members to achieve excellence in the sport of swimming and in life.

Core Objectives
USA Swimming has adopted three core objectives. These core objectives establish the foundation of the strategic business plan for our sport. USA Swimming encourages all members to participate in the local, regional and national efforts to ensure that these objectives are accomplished.

Build the Base
We seek to expand our membership in order to share our sport with as many other people as possible. We are especially committed to sharing the values of our sport with young people who may discover that swimming is an activity they can enjoy for their entire life.

Promote the Sport
We want swimming to receive as much publicity as possible because we believe that the more people learn about our sport the more inclined they will be to join the ranks of our membership. We are proud of our sport and we seek to celebrate it whenever possible.

Achieve Competitive Success
USA Swimming has been ranked as the number one swimming nation in the world for more than 40 years. We seek to continue this tradition of competitive excellence. When our elite athletes are successful in fulfilling their Olympic dreams our society benefits from the inspiration these athletes give us.

Compare to:

Originally Posted by USFencing

The Amateur Sports Act of 1978 specifically named the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) as the coordinating body for amateur athletic activity in the U.S. directly relating to international Olympic athletic competition. The Act included provisions for recognizing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) for the sports on the programs of the Olympic and Pan American Games.

The United States Fencing Association (USFA) is the recognized NGB for the sport of fencing in the United States. The USFA was founded in 1891 as the Amateur Fencers League of America (AFLA) by a group of New York fencers seeking independence from the Amateur Athletic Union. The AFLA changed its name to the United States Fencing Association in 1981.

The USFA is affiliated with the Féderation Internationale d'Escrime (FIE), the international federation for fencing founded in Paris in 1913.

The USFA was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in Pennsylvania in 1964 and in Colorado in 1993 in compliance with the Amateur Sports Act and opened its national office at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. in August of 1982. Carla-Mae Richards was hired as the USFA's first full-time Executive Director in 1983 and served in that capacity until 1994.

A Strategic Planning Commission met in 1992 to charter a course for the USFA's future. A planning group then met in 1995 and re-examined the organization's mission and goals.

Mission: The mission of the USFA is to develop fencers to achieve international success and to administer and promote the sport in the USA.

Goals:
•Earn international medals
•Expand membership
•Increase the number and quality of coaches and integrate them into the USFA
•Increase public interest in fencing
•Make the USFA an effective and efficient organization.

I don't mind that fencing may not be as professional, or creative, as other NGB's, but I am annoyed that we can't be counted on to copy successful ideas.

Honestly - Most of what we have listed is totally irrelevant to anyone. Do we think that a potential sponsor is going to look at this and think... hmm... incorporated in PA in 1964? Hey my company was incorporated in PA, let's sponsor these folks. Carla was the first Exec Director? Great put her in the Hall of Fame, name a tournament after her, something - but she's not current news relevent to the current/potential members/sponsors of the US Fencing.

Then for a final touch we throw in a couple of no brainer goals with ZERO explaination.

We can do better

[eze]

The swimming mission statement is a beautifully written, vague (I know nothing more about usa swimming than I did before I read it), piece of feel-goodness. It is excellent because it affirms the values of what most readers of that mission statement would want swimming to be-not neccessarily what USA swimming is. I'm sure they paid a marketing firm a fair amount of money to come up with it.

Whereas, the USFA mission statement is mired at the bottom of a 5 paragraph historical backgrounder, as if to say "fencing is so esoteric, you need a history lesson to understand our organization." And, almost as an afterthought, "here's 5 bullet points of what we want to accomplish."

[fluidfencer]

I have kids who swim and have looked to local swim leagues/clubs for guidance in developing our own fencing club. Their sport is well organized on the whole.

I'm also a CPA/MBA type so have certainly seen my share of mission statements. Vague and feel-good are fine. You want to define who you are and what you want. The goals/objectives/action steps that follow the mission statement are what really matter. Overall, however, every detailed step ultimately supports the mission statement. It keeps the organization pointed in the right direction.

The swimming/fencing comparison doesn't work beyond that though. They have the big advantage of everything being measured with times. But they have different challenges too.

Thanks for the information. You are right. We should be copying everything we can that works and helps move us forward. We definitely do that at our club.