December 9, 2004

Dear Members, Sponsors and Friends,

John Dane will be stepping down as Executive Director of USRowing at the end of December. Originally hired as our interim director, John quickly proved his worth, and when asked, he agreed to help us for four years, guiding the organization through the Athens Olympic Games. That four-year commitment is nearing its end. John's tenure saw 19 world championship medals and Olympic gold and silver medals; all-time record organizational membership and registered regattas numbers in 2004; and a revamped membership insurance program for 2005 that saves member organizations and registered regattas thousands of dollars in insurance premiums.

John's ability to build relationships brought disparate parts of the organization together and created significant goodwill with the USOC, sponsors, and sister NGBs. We congratulate John on his success as executive director and thank him for his service and guidance of the organization. Personally, I will miss John's enthusiasm, creative spark and our long brainstorming runs. We have had a great relationship. The Board and I wish him well as he moves on to new challenges.

Glenn Merry, USRowing Programs Director, has agreed to step in as acting executive director while the search for a new executive director is underway. Glenn's past work as a field representative, his work on educational programs for members and coaches, his knowledge of the day-to-day operations of USRowing, as well as his demonstrated leadership in management of the national and Olympic teams from 2002 through 2004, made Glenn the Board's unanimous choice to lead the organization during the interim.

The search for a new executive director has been launched, along with numerous initiatives that will enhance USRowing's ability to set the direction of the sport long into the future. The following is a summary of the numerous initiatives underway:

§         Membership initiatives that focus on delivering individualized value propositions to each membership segment have been launched.

§         USRowing's Web site will be redesigned in 2005 . Home pages with features specific to juniors, collegiate, masters and adaptive competitors are being designed, as are home pages for referees, coaches, clubs and parents. Also included in the new design are video feeds of technical tips from national team coaches, suggested workouts and other special features (e.g. chats with national team athletes, sports nutritionists and equipment repair experts.) Plans for future Web programs include e-coaching.

§         DVD/Web educational/training programs on rigging and basic sculling are in process and scheduled for release mid 2005.

§         USRowing has recently launched a new insurance program. Working with the Leonard Insurance Group of Havertown , Pa. , and underwriter Bollinger, Inc., of Short Hills , N.J. , the program we are now offering continues to be the best offered within the rowing community. All individual USRowing members are automatically covered by a $2 million liability policy and a $25,000 excess medical policy. All USRowing-approved member organizations will be covered automatically through their organizational dues by our liability and excess medical insurance at no additional cost to the organizations. This insurance not only covers the organization, but also its registered members when participating in a sponsored or approved rowing related activity. In addition, all USRowing registered regattas will be covered automatically by our liability and excess medical insurance. We anticipate the savings to member organizations and registered regattas from this new insurance offering will be in the hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of dollars.

§         Communication with membership will be enhanced during 2005 with the release of an enhanced e-newsletter and monthly "Letter from the President" focusing on strategic and key initiatives.

§         The conclusion of the Olympic Games begins the strategic planning process for the next two quadrennials. USRowing and its high performance committee are currently in discussions with the USOC on our path to success in Beijing and beyond. Simultaneously, the Board's strategic planning committee is developing the path forward for membership segments and the organization as a whole. Outcomes and conclusion on both will be communicated to you via the monthly President's letter and e-newsletter.

§         Part of strategic planning is development of an organizational structure that can deliver on the plan. The 2003 mandate by Congress to the USOC that it revise its governance structure is filtering down to the NGB level. Accordingly, the governance task force will be recommending changes to USRowing's current governance structure at the February board meeting. We anticipate a membership vote on a new structure at the 2005 Annual Meeting.

§         The Board has established a task force to review the location of USRowing headquarters. The expiration of Indiana Sports Corporation rent subsidies for our office space in January 2006 is driving our review. Task force conclusions will be communicated to membership via the President's Letter.

§           2005 will see a new emphasis on diversified fundraising programs and development of partnerships with corporate America . In 2005, the USRowing Board will be taking an active role in development activities and fundraising for all membership segments. We will be working with the NRF in fundraising for the national team. In addition to pursuing overall corporate sponsorships focused on "The Value of Teams," the Fundraising Task Force is looking at decentralized fundraising opportunities that cover sponsorships and targeted fundraising efforts for individual membership segments.

I am excited about the prospects for our sport and USRowing and look forward to a great 2005.

Pulling harder,

Don Langford, President