Mission Statement
USA Track & Field's mission is to continue its leadership role as the world's preeminent national governing body in Athletics -- from the grassroots to the elite level. USA Track & Field will provide opportunities for athletes of all ages to pursue excellence in long distance running, race walking and track and field in the USA.
In simplest terms, if you're a track and field, long-distance running or race walking athlete, coach, volunteer, official, administrator, parent or enthusiast, USA Track & Field is YOU.
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long distance running, race walking and cross country. Prior to 1992, you may have known us as "The Athletics Congress/USA (TAC/USA)." The name change was ratified at our '92 National Convention to more appropriately convey what we do as an organization; it has been a very positive move and one that has carried our visibility to unprecedented levels.
USATF is a volunteer-driven, not-for-profit organization with a small staff of program administrators headquartered in Indianapolis. Through our nationwide membership of more than 2,500 clubs, schools, colleges and universities, USATF promotes programs of training and competition for men, women and boys and girls of all ages; establishes and enforces the rules and regulations of our sport; sanctions events; provides insurance to sanctioned events, member clubs and member-athletes; and certifies race courses for accuracy.
USATF is comprised of 56 member Associations that oversee the sport at the local level. Our individual membership numbers over 100,000 each year, and our member organizations include the NCAA, NAIA, RRCA and NFSHSA.
The majority of our country's elite track and field athletes, including 1996's crop of Olympians, progressed up through USATF feeder systems such as Junior Olympics, Youth Athletics and Junior programs.
Besides more than 140 National Championships offered each year, USATF conducts instructional programs such as Coaching Education seminars, designed to elevate and standardize the level of coaching across the country. Young athletes can join a USATF member club to receive instruction and expertise in their chosen activity. Clinics are held nationwide, covering a wide range of disciplines, including race walking and pole vault. Activities such as Cultural Exchange trips, Association Workshops and Athlete Retreats allow our members opportunities to share ideas and information.
Our Annual Meeting brings together more than 1,200 of the sport's athletes, officials, coaches, administrators and supporters to consider policy changes, select national team staffs and Championship meet sites, elect national officers...in short, to chart the future of the sport. It is a forum for the individual's voice to be heard.
USATF's Exhibit Show at the Annual Meeting also offers national sponsors, equipment suppliers, book and magazine publishers, committees, travel bureaus, etc., to showcase their wares in front of the country's largest gathering of track and field conventioneers.
In addition to insurance benefits, "card-carrying" athlete members also receive copies of our national publication, The Record, which includes features on elite athletes and rising stars, information on and qualifying standards for upcoming events; order forms for USATF official publications and licensed apparel and news on important rules changes.
History / Equipment / Glossary / Rules
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