Mike Pederson new USFA Director of High Performance

[heretic]

Word is out that Pederson was offered and has accepted the position. Apparently, he was the only candidate under consideration with knowledge of the domestic fencing scene. He will relinquish his role as co-women's foil head coach after the Junior world Championships. One of his tasks will be appointing (or re-appointing) National weapon coaches. It will be interesting to see what moves he makes in this area.

[mdstasinos]

Word is out that Pederson was offered and has accepted the position. Apparently, he was the only candidate under consideration with knowledge of the domestic fencing scene. He will relinquish his role as co-women's foil head coach after the Junior world Championships. One of his tasks will be appointing (or re-appointing) National weapon coaches. It will be interesting to see what moves he makes in this area.

Mike will not appointing or reappointing National Weapon Coaches, instead those interested in being a National Weapons Coach will need to meet requirements for the job and apply for the job. These items will be spelled out with the job description. The coaches will have to sign contracts and have to preform all items agreed, If they fail to do what is required for the job they will be fired and the next applicant will take their spot. It will not be the business as usual as it was in the past, there will be accountability and oversight on all the programs to assure compliance and the best development and results of our athletes.

Mark Stasinos
Vice-President
US Fencing Association

[JEC]

Although I understand the need for more accountability, if this is the attitude from the BOD toward the National Coaches, I predict a lot of vacancies.

[mdstasinos]

Although I understand the need for more accountability, if this is the attitude from the BOD toward the National Coaches, I predict a lot of vacancies.

Perhaps, but I do not agree. Many of the items they will need to agree to are items that already existed but many of the current National Coaches have failed to comply or ignored it all together.
So, are you implying it would be better not to have oversight? It is required by their current contacts which many have simply ignored. The membership asked for transparency in what we do, should we ignore this one item on the list? National Coaches receive money from the Association for their work, shouldn't we require updates and status reports? It sounds as though you would prefer business as usual, I would prefer structure and accountability for what we are funding and paying for.

Mark Stasinos
Vice-President
US Fencing Association

[Mr.MightyMouse]

Although I understand the need for more accountability, if this is the attitude from the BOD toward the National Coaches, I predict a lot of vacancies.

My understanding is that there are some already, just somewhat unpublicized.

[mdstasinos]

My understanding is that there are some already, just somewhat unpublicized.

That is correct. The Men's National Epee Coach resigned in January. The Women's Epee program still needs a National Coach and has been floating for some time. Those are the only two that I know of to date.

Mark Stasinos
Vice-President
US Fencing Association

[teacup]

That is correct. The Men's National Epee Coach resigned in January. The Women's Epee program still needs a National Coach and has been floating for some time. Those are the only two that I know of to date.

Mark Stasinos
Vice-President
US Fencing Association

And now Women's Foil.

Why do some squad's have Junior National Coaches but others don't?

[JEC]

Perhaps, but I do not agree. Many of the items they will need to agree to are items that already existed but many of the current National Coaches have failed to comply or ignored it all together.
So, are you implying it would be better not to have oversight? It is required by their current contacts which many have simply ignored. The membership asked for transparency in what we do, should we ignore this one item on the list? National Coaches receive money from the Association for their work, shouldn't we require updates and status reports? It sounds as though you would prefer business as usual, I would prefer structure and accountability for what we are funding and paying for.

Mark Stasinos
Vice-President
US Fencing Association

No. The issue is not to relax the standards, or not to enforce the accountability, but the proposed confrontational manner/form on how to implement the policies.

Coaches ought to do what they do best ... coaching. They do need to provide input for a consensus of how far the budget would allow developmental activities and attendance to events.

[Mihail]

Perhaps, but I do not agree. Many of the items they will need to agree to are items that already existed but many of the current National Coaches have failed to comply or ignored it all together.
So, are you implying it would be better not to have oversight?

I think the problem is not with the content, but with the tone.

Good relationships are built on top of friendships, not on fear.

[MdA]

Good luck to Mike in his new position…evidently he is going to need it…and some support.

[RITFencing]

And now Women's Foil.

Nat Goodhardtz was co-coach with him, I assume she'll be taking the role on her own now.

[Jason]

I think the problem is not with the content, but with the tone.

Good relationships are built on top of friendships, not on fear.

I'm extremely interested to see how this play out. Will the BOD, in dealing with national coaches (I assume by Mark's weirdly hostile post that he means that the BOD will be the ones appointing national coaches), prove itself to be a group of small people who feel forced to use heavy-handed tactics to get what it wants, or competent leaders able to inspire the best performance out of everyone?

There is a lot that can be gained from the organization taking a new approach to dealing with the national coaches. Of course, if the situation is mishandled, there is also a lot that can be lost.

[TBean]

I think the problem is not with the content, but with the tone.

Good relationships are built on top of friendships, not on fear.

I also think that there are instances where the written word does not adequately convey the intent of the message - this might be one of those cases. Mark's writing style is a bit clipped, but I did not jump to the conclusion that several of you did. I read that there will be a job description, each coach is expected to adequately meet the points in the description - if they do not, they could lose the job. Sounds like pretty standard business practice to me.

I do not imagine that the BoD, or Mark wants to be in a confrontational relationship with the National Coaches. But they do, however, expect them to understand the terms of their contracts and live up to them. If that includes some form of reporting to the Board or Committee, as well as some responsibilities for living within their budgets that is fine - it is one of the metrics by which the performance of the coach is judged. As long as everyone understands that going into the process. The coach has the right to say no to the job or ask for the contract to be amended to not include an item, at which point the USFA can say no to that coach.

As to should reporting be a part of the job or how responsible for maintaining the budgets should the national coaches be is another discussion entirely. Since I have no details on the process I cannot even begin to comment.

[Bvs]

Nat Goodhardtz was co-coach with him, I assume she'll be taking the role on her own now.

From talking with Nat, I would disagree with that statement.

[Mr.MightyMouse]

IMHO the tone might have not sufficed even if
a.
the Coaches were remunerated on a scale comparable to other top fencing nations, or
b.
of other successful US Olympic disciplines'; as well as
c.
being, reimbursed in timely and efficient manner.
So as we speak - Messr. Stasinos' verbatim :
"It will not be the business as usual as it was in the past, there will be accountability and oversight on all the programs to assure compliance and the best development and results of our athletes."
3 out of 6 positions are currently open, and IMHO at least 1 more is on the horizon; and in my recollection - Teacup has not gotten an answer on Juniour Team Leadership for at least a year - if that is not ,again verbatim "business a usual" - i.e. transparency at it's finest - I am not sure what is.
Should not the principle of the principles be applied to leaders prior to the followers?

[heretic]

Mike will not appointing or reappointing National Weapon Coaches, instead those interested in being a National Weapons Coach will need to meet requirements for the job and apply for the job. These items will be spelled out with the job description. The coaches will have to sign contracts and have to preform all items agreed, If they fail to do what is required for the job they will be fired and the next applicant will take their spot. It will not be the business as usual as it was in the past, there will be accountability and oversight on all the programs to assure compliance and the best development and results of our athletes.

Mark Stasinos
Vice-President
US Fencing Association

Gee Mark; what a shame that same standard of accountability was never applied to the likes of Derrick Cotton and Nancy Anderson. Perhaps that might have bolstered the current administration's credibility moving forward.

So who exactly does decide which coaches "meet requirements for the job" and ultimately signs their contracts on behalf of the USFA? If not Mike, is it someone else? As to the implication that "the coaches failed to do what is required," I submit that the USFA did not live up to its contractual obligation to the coaches, most of whom sacrificed time and income to ensure the team's results. Why did Ed Korfanty have to sue the USFA to get money he was contractually owed?

Still, all that is presumably in the past. However, the tone of your response suggests an adversarial relationship that can only exacerbate the lack of trust and cooperation which was the status quo under Nancy et al. I think you guys need to admit the institutional problems of the past before you can move forward and deal fairly with the coaches. Of course, keeping Andrea in her position will go a long way toward accomplishing that.

[CadetVet]

Aside from the other matters regarding national coaches, etc., I'm thrilled to see that Mike Pederson has accepted that role. He's a great guy and a great coach - my daughter will miss him in women's foil!

Congratulations Mike - and good luck!

Gary.

[fluidfencer]

I know change can be uncomfortable, but TBean is correct. Mark is likely very sensitive to the issue of accountability and emphasized that point strongly. If they choose the right people and provide clear expectations, the accountability part should fall into place.

Our coach was selected as one of the squad coaches for Italy. He just found out and I haven't talked to him about the details. I hope this is an indication of the quality of their selection process :-)

I also think that there are instances where the written word does not adequately convey the intent of the message - this might be one of those cases. Mark's writing style is a bit clipped, but I did not jump to the conclusion that several of you did. I read that there will be a job description, each coach is expected to adequately meet the points in the description - if they do not, they could lose the job. Sounds like pretty standard business practice to me.

I do not imagine that the BoD, or Mark wants to be in a confrontational relationship with the National Coaches. But they do, however, expect them to understand the terms of their contracts and live up to them. If that includes some form of reporting to the Board or Committee, as well as some responsibilities for living within their budgets that is fine - it is one of the metrics by which the performance of the coach is judged. As long as everyone understands that going into the process. The coach has the right to say no to the job or ask for the contract to be amended to not include an item, at which point the USFA can say no to that coach.

As to should reporting be a part of the job or how responsible for maintaining the budgets should the national coaches be is another discussion entirely. Since I have no details on the process I cannot even begin to comment.

[Capt. Slo-mo]

The coaches will have to sign contracts and have to preform all items agreed, If they fail to do what is required for the job they will be fired and the next applicant will take their spot. It will not be the business as usual as it was in the past, there will be accountability and oversight on all the programs to assure compliance and the best development and results of our athletes.

Ahhh...Mark...where were you a year and a half ago?

From a practical standpoint, is it better to have a former National Coach cracking the whip on the new National Coaches, or would it be better having more of an administrator without ties to the coaching fraternity?

Which is more difficult: overcoming omerta, or herding six cats down the financial and procedural chutes you've designed for the new Quad?

[heretic]

Checking under the drop down "Organizational Structure and Contact Information" I found this:

Michael Pederson, Direcor (sic)of High Performance


Jeanna Mendoza, Technical Program Director
Email: jeanna.mendoza@usfencing.org
Email: international@usfencing.org


Andrea Lagan, Team Logistics Director
Email: andrea.lagan@usfencing.org


I am unfamiliar with the job descriptions and requirements of the "Technical Program Director", and Andrea's newest incarnation as "Team Logistics Director" (I assume she is no longer the Director of Sport Performance).

Anyone care to speculate what these jobs entail? Were there any job postings for either of these positions?

Mark? Brad?

While you're at it, why not post the "requirements and job descriptions" for National Coaching positions.