USA Climbing Seeking Individuals for Competition and Realignment Task Forces

With the announcement of the proposed inclusion of Sport Climbing in the Olympic Summer Games in Paris 2024, and given the continued growth of competition climbing in the US and around the world, USA Climbing announces the formation of a new Competition Task Force (CTF) and an updated charter for the existing Realignment Task Force (RTF) to assess, identify, and implement sweeping changes to recreational, developmental, and elite athlete development for implementation in the 2020-2021 competition season.

Competition Task Force

The purpose of the CTF will be to look globally at the sport of competition climbing with the focus to make strategic recommendations to the USA Climbing Board of Directors and staff on youth development, competition season, competition format, and international rules alignment to better position USAC for inclusiveness, athlete well-being, growth, and international success. The Charter for the CTF can be found HERE. Key responsibilities of the CTF include, among others:

• To adopt IFSC rules for USAC competitions in the “Open” or equivalent class and to make recommendations for “Youth” or other classes as deemed appropriate. Specifically:

o USAC has determined that it is in the best interests of USAC and its athletes for USAC to adopt the IFSC competition rules for all championship competitions for Youth B, A, and Jr. categories, as well as for the Open category

o USAC seeks to assess the desirability and feasibility of adopting the IFSC competition rules for all other categories for championship events, and even for local and recreational events, including for Collegiate, Adaptive, and other Youth categories

• To review the American Development Model (ADM) and recommend a climbing specific model that embraces sound principles of youth development in sport based on the ADM and other fact-based models

• To make recommendations for adjusting the USAC competition season to better align with the IFSC competition season for the “Open” or equivalent categories and to make recommendations for all other categories based on the desired outcome of each category

• To make recommendations for adjusting USAC competition formats to better align with the IFSC competition formats and provide robust competition opportunities for recreational, developmental, and competitive athletes nationally

• To make recommendations as to the desirability of splitting the Youth C/D categories from Youth Bouldering Nationals and Youth Sport and Speed Nationals and replacing them with a developmentally appropriate event in its place

• To make recommendations as to the desirability of splitting Speed into its own National Championships

• The implementation of a recreational or developmental track at all levels

The CTF will be comprised of 10 voting members, including two Athletes eligible under Section 11.2 of USAC’s Bylaws, which can be accessed HERE. Preference will be given to existing members of relevant Committees, Task Forces & Working Groups to the extent necessary to facilitate efficient analysis and implementation. Those interested in serving on this critical task force are encouraged to reach out to the Nominating and Governance Committee by email expressing interest and relevant experience along with a resume no later than March 25, 2019, at:

Greg Padovani, Sr Chairman, USA Climbing Nominating & Governance Committee (NGC) Greg@USAClimbing.org

Each candidate will be asked to complete a USAC Conflict-Of-Interest Questionnaire. The CTF will work closely with other USAC Committees, the RTF, and other stakeholders to create an initial comprehensive report no later than early

December 2019 to the Board and a final report and recommendation in early February 2020, for implementation by the RTF, USAC staff, and USAC Committees for the 2020-2021 season.

Realignment Task Force – Amended & Restated Charter

In light of the significant changes expected to be proposed by the CTF (as described above), the charter for the existing RTF has been amended and restated. The new charter can be found HERE. As originally planned and as still intended, the RTF’s mandate is to make strategic recommendations in accordance with Article 6 of USAC’s Bylaws (which can be found HERE) to the USAC Board and Staff on the geographic structure of USAC’ s Youth, Collegiate, and Adult Regions and Divisions and the corresponding structure of advancement qualifications. The amended and restated charter calls for most or all RTF recommendations, if approved, to be implemented in September 2020 rather than as originally planned for implementation in September 2019.

The RTF will work closely with USAC’s CTF to the extent that the RTF’s mission or recommendations may impact or be informed by the CTF’s mission or proposed recommendations. The RTF will assist the USAC staff in the implementation of the recommendations of the CTF and the RTF, once approved, by working closely with other USAC Committees, Staff, RC’s, et. al., to facilitate smooth and timely transition(s). Among other things, the RTF will be considering:

• An Implementation plan for September 2020 for the removal of Youth C/D’s from Youth National Championships and the creation of a developmentally appropriate event in its place, for example a Youth C/D Combined Invitational

• Consideration of technology challenges arising from the implementation of recommendation(s).

The RTF will submit any interim recommendations, for implementation when approved by the Board and the CEO, provided that such interim recommendations fall outside of Article 6 of the Bylaws.

The RTF will also submit an initial comprehensive implementation report of its recommendations by early December 2019 to the Board for approval and a final report and recommendation by early February 2020 for implementation under Article 6 of the Bylaws on or about September 2020.

In light of the amended timeline for the RTF’s mandate, the RTF, which is a 5-member task force, now has 1 vacancy. Those interested in serving on this critical task force are encouraged to reach out to the Nominating and Governance Committee by email expressing interest and relevant experience along with a resume no later than March 25, 2019 at:

Greg Padovani, Sr Chairman, USA Climbing Nominating & Governance Committee (NGC) Greg@USAClimbing.org

Each candidate will be asked to complete a USAC Conflict-Of-Interest Questionnaire.

Other Eligibility & Selection Information for the CTF and RTF

Eligibility Requirements

Task Force members must be: a current USAC member; US Citizen; and age 18 or older by Dec 31, 2019.

USA Climbing Commitment to Diversity

USA Climbing encourages all to participate. Members of the Board, committees, working groups, and task forces are selected without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. USA Climbing is committed to providing equal opportunity to amateur athletes, coaches, trainers, managers, administrators, and officials to participate in climbing competitions without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity, or national origin. Diversity at all levels of USA Climbing is desirable, including among the membership of the Board, Committees, Task Forces and Working Groups, and among its athletes. Open discussion and the presentation of a diversity of views is encouraged.

About the Selection Process

The USAC NGC reviews all interested individuals and then recommends candidate(s) to the USAC Board of Directors for final approval.