|
Nathan Drake Election Statement
|
Nathan Drake
|
Jul 15, 2007 10:34 PDT
|
Dear members of the WCCC-
My name is Nathan Drake and I am
asking for your vote for the position of trustee of Collegiate
Cycling. I have served you in that role for the last 3 years and I ask
for your support for 2 more to allow us to continue our efforts in the
areas
of rider safety and education; national championships technical guides;
rules overhaul; and mission statement and 5 year plan.
My full election statement is below, and you can find those of other candidates at http://usacycling.org/election/. Your
vote is important, so thank you for your careful consideration. I
would appreciate it if you would forward this email to your team
distribution lists and otherwise get the word out that voting is
underway!
Thanks very much,
Nathan Drake
Collegiate Cycling Trustee
* * *
Nathan Drake – Collegiate Cycling Candidate Statement
If you are a collegiate cyclist, please vote for me as
trustee of Collegiate Cycling. I have
been a trustee for the last three years, and as described below, I have the
experience, capabilities, demonstrated results and plan of action necessary to
represent you well. I would be honored
to receive your vote and continue my work on behalf of Collegiate Cycling.
Collegiate Cycling is the most exciting, intoxicating,
love-inducing part of bike racing in the U.S. It has a ton of potential. I believe I can help Collegiate Cycling
achieve that potential.
NATHAN’S EXPERIENCE, CAPABILITIES AND DEMONSTRATED RESULTS
Collegiate cycling got me into bike racing in 1998 and I
raced for my school’s team until I finished grad school in 2002. I led my team for two 2 of those 4 years,
growing our membership from 10 to 40+, our budget from $5,000 to $25,000, and our
results from pretty much dead last to conference champions.
Upon graduation in 2002, I joined the predecessor to
Collegiate Cycling’s current board of trustees (it was then a “National
Committee”). With 2 other members of
that committee, I persuaded USA Cycling to make Collegiate Cycling an
Association (on par with USCF, NORBA and USPRO), wrote a business plan that
supported USAC’s hiring of a full-time staff person for Collegiate Cycling, recruited
new conference directors and proselytized on behalf of Collegiate Cycling to
USAC staff members, potential sponsors and members of the general public.
When Collegiate Cycling became an Association in 2004, I was
elected to its first board of trustees.
As a trustee, I have equalized the treatment of men and women in
Collegiate Cycling’s rules, developed a license specific to Collegiate Cycling,
convinced USAC of the benefits of setting the Collegiate Cycling license fee at
approximately half the cost of a regular license, hired the current collegiate
cycling manager and prioritized the implementation of Collegiate
Cycling-related program opportunities.
For the last 12 months I have served as chairman of the
board of trustees. In that role I have
focused on three areas: supporting the
newly hired Collegiate Cycling manager; expediting rules related guidance to
members; and leading the board in several key areas. Those areas are: rider safety and education; national
championships technical guides; rules overhaul; and mission statement and 5
year plan. I believe that, by the end of
2007, the board will have substantial results in each of those areas to show to
our members.
The various roles I have occupied provide me with a good
perspective on Collegiate Cycling’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats. I know first-hand what it is
like to be a novice bike racer, to be a Category A rider, to be a team leader
and to be an alumni leader. Based on my
experience working at the national level over the last 5 years, I also know how
to be effective as a board member, how to identify and prioritize
opportunities, and how to accomplish them.
I have the personal relationships with USAC staff, conference directors,
coaches and others that enable me to be an effective trustee.
NATHAN’S PLAN OF ACTION
If re-elected, I will focus my energies in three areas. The first is supporting the collegiate
cycling manager at USAC to ensure that collegiate cycling gets the resources,
funding and attention it deserves within USA Cycling. I know that the staff of USA Cycling are
excited about the potential of Collegiate Cycling (and about what we have
accomplished in the last few years). It
is important to translate their excitement into tangible support for Collegiate
Cycling.
The second is ensuring that the board’s current agenda – the
areas of rider safety and education, national championships technical guides,
rules overhaul, and mission statement and 5 year plan – is successfully
implemented. Each of these will have a
positive effect, whether direct or indirect, on our sport and our members. It is important to push them through to
conclusion and successful implementation.
The third and final area on which I will focus is expanding
the structured opportunities for current and former members of Collegiate
Cycling to stay involved in our sport.
Each year a thousand or more members of Collegiate Cycling graduate, many
of whom are eager to stay involved and give back. Currently, it is not sufficiently easy for
them to get or stay involved. One of the
key
building blocks for Collegiate Cycling’s future success is to expand
our leadership talent pool, and over the next two years I will do that.
CONCLUSION
Thank you for your careful consideration of my candidate
statement and those of the other candidates.
Please choose carefully: your
vote matters!
Sincerely,
Nathan Drake
|
|
 |
|
