History
On January 30, 1878, in the city of New York, rower and runner William B. Curtis founded what officially became, in 1887, the Amateur Athletic Union. The AAU governed the sport of track and field in the United States until 1979, when the first Amateur Sports Act of 1978 decreed that the AAU could no longer hold international franchises for more than one sport. The enactment of the Amateur Sports Act was prompted by lobbying by amateur athletes, particularly runners, who felt that the AAU imposed artificial rules preventing widespread participation in sports.
The Athletics Congress (TAC) emerged from the AAU in late 1979, when its first annual meeting was conducted in Las Vegas, Nevada, in conjunction with the annual AAU Convention. A constitutional convention was subsequently held in Dallas/Fort Worth in 1980.
In 1992, TAC changed its name to USA Track & Field (USATF) to increase recognition for the organization and for the sport in the United States. However, USATF inherited from AAU the 57 regional associations which are responsible for promoting the sport in a particular state or locality. Many of these associations were viewed as unaccountable to their members and some were accused of operating in a racially discriminatory manner. In addition, in some areas, the AAU continues to organize track and field events, including youth running programs.
In response, the USATF restructured the Associations, and adopted Regulation 15, which set minimum standards for association performance and called for biannual accreditation of each association under those standards.
In May 2008, the United States Olympic Committee notified USATF that its governance was deficient and threatened to remove its national governing body status unless major reforms were made. In response, at USATF's December 2008 Convention, the size of its Board of Directors was reduced from 31 members to 15, and none of the new directors could have an operating role in the organization. On February 18, 2009, the members of the new, reduced Board were announced.
Read more about this topic: USA Track & Field
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