In This Issue - December 2018
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IN THIS ISSUE - DECEMBER 2018 President Message 2 General Secretary Message 6 NACAC Development Manager Report 10 Women Commission Report 14 The Americas Remains on Top of the Athletics World 17 CADICA U14 & U16 Championships, Costa Rica 2018 19 Athletics Calendar 2019 21 NACAC AA Sponsors 23 NACAC NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2018 Page 1 of 23 NACAC AA PRESIDENT MESSAGE Víctor López As we are approaching the end of the year, we are we still have work to do and, moreover, to make producing this newsletter in a brief and concise sure that all our stakeholders have been consulted. way to summarize the 2018 and to look ahead at Yes, we are all for more changes and innovations the 2019. Therefore, hopefully you will find the in our sport but we must consult those who are publication informative and, like us, I encourage affected by these changes. The message has been you to reflex on the year that is about to end and sent already, especially by the Areas Associations, in the future ahead of us. I am a firm believer in athletes, coaches, athletes’ representatives, the going through a process of reflection every night normal spectators and the media. I am sure we will before I go to bed to make sure that what I did find a happy medium among the whole IAAF during the day was positive and that I was able to Athletics Family. make a difference somehow in my life and in REPORT ON THE NACAC/IAAF SOLIDARITY RELIEF somebody’s life. With that in mind, let me express FUNDS PROJECT myself in my usual honest, sincere and friendly way. As you all know, the Caribbean and part of the USA were hit in 2017 by four hurricanes: Harvey, José, What a year 2018 has been for our sport and for us Irma and María that destroyed and devastated personally and for NACAC AA, with so many whatever was on their path. Since we knew that meetings, positive results by our athletes, winners the impact of Irma and María to some of our most of IAAF awards, many development projects and vulnerable islands and territories was inevitable, changes in the IAAF, based on the reform and we maintained a daily communication with restructure that our parent organization is going President Coe to keep him informed and to start on through since late August 2015 to the present. getting ready for whatever relief aid that we could Many changes, especially in the area of put together to make sure that we help our Governance and the headquarters operations and brothers and sisters aftermath. Irma impacted administration are very positive and we have seen mainly the British Virgin Islands, Antigua & the differences. But others changes and Barbuda, USA Virgin Islands, the northeast part of innovations in the technical and competition areas NACAC NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2018 Page 2 of 23 Puerto Rico and the northeast coast of Cuba. The Federations from the countries that were devastation of the island of Tortola, BVI was of the destroyed, we set up a meeting in January 2018 in greatest magnitude practically destroying the San Juan, Puerto Rico with President Coe and some whole infrastructure of the island and losing one members of his staff with all the Presidents of the our best coaches, Xavier “Dag” Samuels, who was federations that were devastated in order for them killed by Irma. Also, the islands Antigua & Barbuda to give us a report and a testimony on the damages were hit and Barbuda was wipeout completely. But and the needs that they had. the biggest hurricane of them all, María, was just approaching a week after Irma and there are no words to describe the devastation that María caused in Dominica, St. Martin, USA Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos and other islands nations and territories. According to the USA National Weather Bureau, María was the biggest and the stronger hurricane that has ever past through the Caribbean. But the IAAF, under the leadership of President Sebastian Coe with our NACAC AA support and collaboration, started a campaign right away to put together a Solidarity After the meeting we started the project of the Relief Aid Funds to assist all our members that IAAF-NACAC Solidarity Relief Aid Funds that was were struggling from the hit of the hurricanes. divided in two phases. The first Phase was to make sure that the athletes were relocated to places where they could continue with their training and that they were able to travel to championships and competitions like CARIFTA Games and NACAC championships. Now we are completing the second Phase which is to provide funds and grants for repair of facilities such as offices and replacement of lost equipment The number one priority was the safety and well- for their offices and athletics fields. Therefore each being of our athletes, coaches and leaders and that of the 10 member federations impacted submitted the athletes were able to continue training and the a proposal to the Solidarity Relief Panel with the relocation of a number of them to places where list of specific equipment and materials that they they could continue their training programs. Since needed and I am happy to announce that, all the the telecommunications and the power systems proposals were approved and those federations were totally destroyed in all the countries and are up and running almost as normal as before the territories hit by the hurricanes, we lost contact hurricane. I would like to express my sincere words with our friends and leaders from those places. of appreciation to my fellow members of the Therefore, as soon as we were able to Panel, Neil Lindholm, IAAF Compliance Officer and communicate with the presidents of the Member Helen Delany, IAAF Governance and International NACAC NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2018 Page 3 of 23 Relations Director and, of course, to President a new Constitution that is a document that is Sebastian Coe, who led us and was able to get the classified as a 21th Century piece of sport financial resources from a number of legislation. It is a very ambitious instrument that organizations, foundations and companies to we feel will set up a new paradigm for other made the project a reality. In 2018, we were very international federations. It is very important that fortunate in the Caribbean since we were not hit every member of the IAAF Family become familiar by any natural disasters, although we received a with this constitution in order to make sure that great amount of rain some of it causing flooding we maintain a democratic, transparent, fair play, damages like in Trinidad and Tobago and one large free of drugs and enhancing the gender equity and hurricane, Michael, that hit the southeast coast of equality in all our Member Federations. USA causing big damages. 2019 is a year of Elections Congresses in all our Area Associations and in the IAAF which perhaps makes the next year the most important in decades in our sport. For example, the composition of the IAAF Council will be changing and the individuals that will be running for a position or office in the IAAF Council must go through a Vetting Process to determine if the In other aspects such as championships, individual is eligible for nomination for election to competitions, development, marketing, athlete the IAAF Council and, if elected, could be eligible performances and leadership, the NACAC AA to hold the office. overall had a very positive year. I believe that one of the highlights of the year was winning the IAAF Soon the IAAF Compliance Office will be sending, Continental Cup as NACAC and CONSUDATLE (APA) unless it has been sent already, a communication shared the composition of Team Americas and we to all the Member Federations with the Vetting won for the second time in three versions that Process package of documents that must be fill out have been held of the Continental Cup. Team by those individuals who are nominated to run for AMERICAS was composed by a large amount of any IAAF Office position. This Vetting Process not Olympic and World Championships medalists and only include individuals that will be running for the finalists that united all their forces to deliver a IAAF Council but those that will be selected for the showcase in Ostrava. My congratulations to the different IAAF Commissions and Working Groups members of Team AMERICAS which included and for members of the IAAF staff. athletes, coaches, personal coaches, managerial In closing this message, I would like to make public staff, medical staff, athletes representatives and that early this year, I made the decision not to run leaders from the whole Hemisphere. for reelection as president of the NACAC AA. I would like to conclude my message by Although I am in a great state of health and that I emphasizing to the NACAC Athletics Family that we feel strong and in great spirit to keep helping in the will be facing in 2019 a very challenging year in development of our sport and contributing to the many aspects. First, the IAAF will be implementing IAAF, I understand that after 19 years as the president, first of the CACAC and then since 2013 NACAC NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2018 Page 4 of 23 as president of the NACAC AA, it is time to pass the wrong, I am not going anywhere since, I was born baton to somebody else to assume this important in Athletics and will die in Athletics. Furthermore, leadership role. I am not counting the 20 years that in one way or another I will stay involved in our I served as the president of the CACAC Technical beloved sport in whatever capacity the sports Committee and the 15 years that I was a member needs me at any level, international, regional and of the IAAF Technical Committee and Chairman of national.