2011 USA Cycling elections delayed to allow for governance changes

  
  


Colorado Springs, Colo. (May 6, 2011) — The USA Cycling Board of Directors recently approved a revised organizational governance plan with the goal of ensuring the bylaws and operating principles of the company accurately reflect the current business models of the sport today and for the foreseeable future. The new governance structure is designed to clarify roles and responsibilities and eliminate ambiguity in the original documents created in 1995.

Due to the recently approved and ongoing governance changes, the previously published election calendar will be delayed until July 1 and compressed to ensure implementation of the new structure can begin with the 2011 election cycle.

Creation of Sport Committees

Under the revised governance structure, which was developed in concert by the USA Cycling board and staff over the past 16 months, the current five associations (USCF, NORBA, USPRO, BMXA and NCCA) will be replaced by seven sport committees: BMX, Collegiate, Cyclo-cross, Mountain Bike, Pro, Road, and Track.

These new sport committees will develop competition rules, nominate and elect representatives to the USA Cycling Board of Directors, and advise staff on issues relevant to their respective discipline. Under the new model, representation on all sport committees will be based on membership categories rather than by region. This structure will allow the stakeholders in our sport to have a more relevant and consistent voice in the development and growth of each specific discipline.

"We started down this path nearly four years ago," said Steve Johnson, CEO of USA Cycling, "and I think the board of directors and the trustees have done an absolutely remarkable job of reshaping the company to be more reflective of the current business trends in our sport as well as one that will be much more responsive to the needs of our various membership categories."

"Cycling in the United States is experiencing unprecedented growth and development across all of the major disciplines," said Bill Peterson, president of USA Cycling's Board of Directors. "The board of directors and staff have recognized the need to update the organization to keep up with this growth while continuing to recognize the importance of input from its members. These changes position us to move forward in an aggressive manner that will see us continue to deliver more value for members and more podiums on the world stage."

Most current association trustee boards will simply transition to sport committees with currently designated category representatives — i.e. event director, official, industry, team director, athlete, etc. — already in place. The USCF board, which currently represents road, track and cyclo-cross, will divide into three discipline-specific sport committees. The current USCF Board of Trustees comprises 12 representatives; under the revised structure, the three new sport committees of Road, Cyclo-cross and Track will encompass a total of 29 representatives.

"Giving each stakeholder group, including team managers and masters, a dedicated position should increase the interest in governance participation for all these groups," explained Wayne Stetina, USCF representative and vice-president of the USA Cycling Board of Directors. "The further decision to split USCF into separate Road, Track and Cyclo-cross Sport Committees charged to work directly with USA Cycling staff to develop programs and rules for their specific disciplines provides greater opportunity than ever for future event and membership growth."

Revised Composition of USA Cycling Board of Directors

In addition to approving the structure and composition of the new committees, the USA Cycling board has also finalized and approved a new composition for the USA Cycling Board of Directors. Specifically, the USA Cycling Board of Directors will now have 20 members, composed of:

  • One representative from each of the seven sports committees
  • Four athletes (one each from Track, Mountain, Pro and BMX representing Olympic disciplines)
  • Four representatives from the USA Cycling Development Foundation
  • Four independent, at-large directors elected by the board on recommendation of the nominating and governance committee
  • The CEO, who shall also serve as president of the corporation

Because the bylaw changes and transition plans for the associations have not been formally approved by the USA Cycling board, the 2011 election cycle, which normally starts in May, will be delayed and compressed in order to ensure the transition to the new governance structure can begin with the 2011 election cycle. As a result, the call for nominations to the various sport committees is being postponed to July 1. In the meantime, the USA Cycling board will work to finalize its new governance documents and the transition plans for the new sport committees.

"The new governance structure aligns representation from each discipline and ensures the sport's important stakeholders have a voice," said USA Cycling board vice-president and Collegiate representative Mark Abramson. "This is yet another symbol of the modern and responsible corporate governance that has led to the success USA Cycling has enjoyed for the last decade."

Chronology

In late 2009 USA Cycling established a governance committee to review and make recommendations to streamline USA Cycling's governance practices.

At the October 2010 USA Cycling board meeting, the governance committee made recommendations to the USA Cycling board including the dissolution of the existing association trustee boards and the creation of separate sport committees to represent the seven membership groups — BMX, Collegiate, Cyclo-cross, Mountain Bike, Pro, Road and Track — with each committee to comprise designated categorical representatives. These recommendations were approved by the USA Cycling board on December 10, 2010.

At the direction of the board, USA Cycling staff developed and presented a proposal for the composition of all sport committees to each of the existing association boards for review and discussion. "Town Hall" meetings were held in February 2011 between USA Cycling staff and each association board of trustees to discuss the proposed composition of the new sport committees. The governance reform proposal was modified based on those discussions and presented to the USA Cycling Board of Directors on March 9, 2011, where the board approved the general structure of the proposed sport committees.

The organization directed counsel to redraft the bylaws to reflect the new structure and is now working to develop a plan for transition to the new sport committees beginning with the 2011 election cycle. While the details are still being developed, under the transition plans all current representatives will serve out their terms on one of the sport committees.

Comments from Directors

"The new structure will allow each discipline's stakeholders to have a stronger voice in how things are structured and regulated within the governing body of cycling in our country," stated John Bucksbaum, USA Cycling Development Foundation representative to the board of directors. "These positive changes in governance will well serve the membership of USA Cycling for years to come."

"It is important that our governance represents the marriage of all the disciplines under one corporate structure with shared resources and the nurturing of all levels of each sport," stated Lisa Nye-Salladin, NORBA president and USA Cycling Board of Directors representative. "The creation of the sport committees that focus on each individual discipline will allow the unique components of cycling to flourish. For mountain biking, our committee will grow from nine members to 11 members with more accurate representation of the stakeholders in the sport. It will be great to have specific voices from the coaches, members, team directors, gravity and cross-country organizers, as well as the existing officials, athletes and industry at the table to help create models, structures and rules for mountain biking to grow. It's an exciting time for USA Cycling and it bodes well for the sport in the U.S."


About USA Cycling
Recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling is the official governing body for all disciplines of competitive cycling in the United States, including road, track, mountain bike, BMX and cyclo-cross. As a membership-based organization, USA Cycling comprises 70,000 licensees; 2,400 clubs and teams; and 34 local associations. The national governing body sanctions 2,900 competitive and non-competitive events throughout the U.S. each year, manages 17 national championship events and is responsible for fostering the identification, development, and support of American cyclists. To learn more about USA Cycling, visit www.usacycling.org.



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