Hello biathletes. Please pass this on to any Masters you know of....
Forwarded from Bill Lilly of the USBA

----- Original Message -----
From: William Lilly
Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 7:20 PM
Subject: US NATIONAL MASTER BIATHLON CHAMPIONSHIPS


Dear Biathletes,


About a month ago Piotr Bednarski reported on a series of meetings he had on a
trip he took to Colorado. During these meetings, a significant focus was placed
on issues related to the Master Biathlete. One of the recommendations that
resulted was to establish a US National Master Biathlon Championships. I was
asked to chair a committee to investigate this possibility and "...get back to
USBA by the end of Dec ... "


With the season just about ready to get underway and the holiday season upon us,
it did not seem possible to form the committee and develop recommendations in
the time frame suggested. However, not wanting to put off a championship for a
full year, I looked for other options that would allow us to have an event this
year and create a more thoughtfully designed plan for future years. It just
happened that the day after I received Piotr's report, I participated in a
meeting with Tracy Lamb, Rick Costanza, and Dan Nardelo of the Lake Placid
Biathlon Club, the lead organization planning NorAm #6 on the Weekend of
February 10th & 11th. After some discussion, we agreed to add a master category
to the competitive classifications and contact the USBA with the offer to use
these events as a Master's Championship.


Our offer to the USBA recognized that this was not the best way to plan a
championship and that the recommended committee should be formed to create a
comprehensive plan for future years. Such a plan would include:
1) a bidding procedure to host the event
2) number of events, formats, distances, difficulty
2) if the event should be held with in conjunction Jr/Sr Nationals, with a NorAM
(Jan, Feb), or stand alone
3) site rotation, time of year,
4) should there a club component- scoring, relay


Recognizing that there really was not a lot of time to discuss this for this
season and with the understanding that there would be more consultation for
future years, the USBA accepted the offer.


Consequently, we are pleased to announce that the First Annual US NATIONAL
MASTER BIATHLON CHAMPIONSHIPS will take place in conjunction with NorAm #6 in
Lake Placid on February 10th and 11th. Interested athletes may register for
this event using the regular NorAm #6 registration form:
http://www.nybiathlon.org/NORAM6-invite.pdf Anyone checking the master
classification will be registered for the Master Championships. I will endeavor
to notify all members of the USBA who have registered as master athletes of this
event either by e-mail or regular mail as soon as possible. In the mean time, if
you could attempt to contact your master athletes wit this information we will
be sure that everyone at least know of the event.


I apologize for the lateness of this notification and assure you that plans for
the 2008 Championship will be more timely.


Bill Lilly






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------














--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Dear Biathletes,

About a month ago Piotr Bednarski reported on a series of meetings he
had on a trip he took to Colorado. During these meetings, there a
significant focus was place on issues related to the Master
Biathlete. One of the recommendations that resulted was to establish
a US National Master Biathlon Championships. I was asked to chair a
committee to investigate this possibility and "... get back to USBA
by the end of Dec ... "

With the season just about ready to get underway and the holiday
season upon us, it did not seem possible to form the committee and
develop recommendations in the time frame suggested. However, not
wanting to put off a championship for a full year, I looked for other
options that would allow us to have an event this year and create a
more thoughtfully designed plan for future years. It just happened
that the day after I received Piotr's report, I participated in a
meeting with Tracy Lamb, Rick Costanza, and Dan Nardelo of the Lake
Placid Biathlon Club, the lead organization planning NorAm #6 on the
Weekend of February 10th & 11th. After some discussion, we agreed to
add a master category to the competitive classifications and contact
the USBA with the offer to use these events as a Master's Championship.

Our offer to the USBA recognized that this was not the best way to
plan a championship and that the recommended committee should be
formed to create a comprehensive plan for future years. Such a plan
would include:
1) a bidding procedure to host the event
2) number of events, formats, distances, difficulty
2) if the event should be held with in conjunction Jr/Sr Nationals,
with a NorAM (Jan, Feb), or stand alone
3) site rotation, time of year,
4) should there a club component- scoring, relay

Recognizing that there really was not a lot of time to discuss this
for this season and with the understanding that there would be more
consultation for future years, the USBA accepted the offer.

Consequently, we are pleased to announce that the First Annual US
NATIONAL MASTER BIATHLON CHAMPIONSHIPS will take place in conjunction
with NorAm #6 in Lake Placid on February 10th and 11th. Interested
athletes may register for this event using the regular NorAm #6
registration form (attached). Anyone checking the master
classification will be registered for the Master Championships. I
will endeavor to notify all members of the USBA who have registered
as master athletes of this event either by e-mail or regular mail as
soon as possible. In the mean time, if you could attempt to contact
your master athletes wit this information we will be sure that
everyone at least know of the event.

I apologize for the lateness of this notification and assure you that
plans for the 2008 Championship will be more timely.

Bill Lilly








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