Creating a Federation of State Atlatl Associations
by Dennis Lantz
1/23/2006
Sometimes when you get a big idea, it is best to share it in small pieces… so the little bits can be taken one at a time. I want this idea to be read, absorbed, digested, contemplated and discussed with the intention of assisting the atlatl community to organize, grow and fulfill every need for every member.
Hopefully you and others can help me with the details.
I have talked with Gary, JoAnne, Bob Berg and Jack about some of this… and a little bit with Erich. I hope it answers some of the questions you have about state associations, state championships and more and sheds some light on what – in my opinion – needs to be done for the good of the community. This concept is in a rudimentary phase and I will need a lot of input to make it reality… if that is what the best course of action is determined to be.
I believe that the atlatl community needs to create a Federation of State Atlatl Associations. The idea is to have an association in every state, which I believe to be important for purposes of membership and networking (for recreational as well as hunting purposes). It doesn’t matter if there aren’t the numbers to have an association right now…with foresight and preparation the task of organizing in any state will be made easier when there are enough people.
The only purpose of a federation is to make it easier for “isolated” groups of people to organize an atlatl association in their state or region. Such a federation is not meant to supplant any existing organizations, nor will it be organized in a way that makes it so.
With a network of state and local associations, channels of communication can be opened for the transfer of ideas, resources and more. I believe that an important factor for such a network will be in the realm of public relations. The distribution of positive information concerning the atlatl community will allow us to get our voices heard across the continent… and around the world.
The proposed federation would only be allowed to accept one state association from each of the fifty states. All local associations would then fall under the auspices of the state association… or be independent and not a part of the federation.
Any already existing or future state association that decides not to join the federation would be deemed independent and would simply have their own memberships and competitions. This doesn’t exclude them from being a legitimate part of the atlatl community. Members of those associations would simply not automatically be members of the FSAA.
There are several good reasons for a state association to join the federation.
Guidelines would be available from the FSAA so that anyone wishing to set up an atlatl association in any state would not have to start from scratch. They wouldn’t have to re-invent the wheel so to speak, nor would they have to struggle with how to attract new members, be clueless about giving demonstrations, holding events, etc.
The federation will provide a basic established format for by-laws, mission statements, duties of officers… as well as assist with an informative packet on attracting new members, holding tournaments, etc.
One of the key issues in forming an atlatl association seems to be communication between various residents of a state. Getting everyone to accept the basic premises of an association can only be done when all of the voices are heard. The main purpose of the FSAA will be to assist the communication between organizing state association “members” by allowing notices or reports to be posted on an eventual website (more on that later).
Another good reason to create a federation is monetary. I believe that if a person is a member of their state atlatl association, he or she is automatically an associate member in all the other state associations in the federation. They would not have to pay dues to compete or be a part of any other state association that is in the FSAA.
I envision local atlatl associations doing most of the footwork or missionary work (if you will) for the larger organizations. It’s the old pyramid scheme… on the bottom rung are the little guys; then the state associations, then the FSAA or inevitable other countrywide associations and finally the world associations.
The larger associations had to be created first because doing otherwise would have kept us mired in obscurity… but now that they are in place we can narrow our focus to regions. I believe that thinking globally, acting locally is pretty apt in this case.
Mark’s concerns about members of various associations getting along are obviously important, but I can only say that as long as humans are involved it isn’t going to be perfect… However, if we strive to do only what is our best and for the common good, we should be OK.
This isn’t about any rivalry or contests between multiple organizations. This is about creating a means for people to easily join the atlatl community in locations where atlatl activity isn’t very heavy.
The FSAA is only a network of state associations. It will not hold tournaments or special competitions. These are the duty or endeavor of the state and local associations.
Thoughts on Funding:
The state associations raise money through memberships, donations and special events that could include qualifying fees for a state championship, auctions, etc.
The local atlatl associations can get money any way that they want. I would prefer that most of their funding came from donations, fundraisers or auctions… and allocations from the state association, but I won’t tell them that they cannot have memberships fees and I don’t believe the FSAA should have the authority to determine their moneymaking endeavors. I know that the Tyoga Atlatl Association has done well enough without membership fees and I would encourage local associations to try to do without them.
The FSAA would receive no membership fees. Any monetary needs of the FSAA would be small and made up of donations from the various state associations. There could conceivably be legal, printing or website costs… eventually. These aren’t necessary at present, however.
I am going to initially place all atlatl association related information on the Atlatls-N-More website. This may take a little time for me to develop the best presentation. Ideally we would want to create a separate website, but for now we have to work with what we have… and I have already given the use of the ANM site to the atlatl community to use in any way that they want.
Thoughts on State Championships
The qualifying for and holding of state championships are probably the most important issue facing a state association after they are organized.
After talking with Gary, Jack and others a general idea was given life. Obviously each state association can change these to fit their own requirements or budgets. What follows are the preliminary Pennsylvania rules. They aren’t set in stone and will only be finalized by the vote of the board of directors and/or members after more information is received.
Pennsylvania is going to have at least 9 (maybe 10) different categories called divisions. At present these divisions are set using World Atlatl Association ISAC scores. That may or may not change in the future.
Youth:
Division I includes any youth member who has achieved WAA ranking (a 40 or more in the ISAC)
Division II includes any youth member who has not achieved WAA ranking.
Women:
Division I includes any member (adult woman) who has achieved a 70 & over in the ISAC.
Divison II includes any member (adult woman) who has achieved a 50 to 69 in an ISAC.
Division III includes any member (adult woman) any who has not yet achieved WAA ranking.
Men:
Division I includes any member (adult male) who has achieved 85 & over in an ISAC.
Division II includes any member (adult male) who has achieved a 70 to 84 in an ISAC.
Division III includes any member (adult male) who has not yet achieved WAA ranking.
Senior Division:
Senior Men: age 65 & older
Senior Women: age 65 & older
Thoughts on Qualifying for the Championships
What follows are ideas for qualifying games in Pennsylvania. Please note that these are simply ideas… not finalized in any way. Also note that a lot of game details are still unwritten because a lot more input needs to be gathered before final decisions are made.
The first necessary step is to determine what championships will be available. In Pennsylvania, it seems that we will have a championship award in each of the nine (or more) divisions… and for a set number of games. That is a lot of prizes, but it makes for a more enjoyable championship event.
What games will a state decide to include in the championship?
Some possible games could be: (note that game rules are not detailed here because such rules would need to be determined by the state association.)
State Round – description of a game with various distances. The rules will need to be written down so that everyone plays it the same way. This game could be as simple as having a person throw one dart from multiple positions/ distances or could be more involved… but the state association should set the rules so that they are standard.
Distance – description and rules for a distance throw contest that will be easy and safe.
Ultra ISAC – description of the rules using the Ultra ISAC target with dimensions that are universal.
Animal Round – description of a game similar to the European contest using animal targets with universal scoring and distances.
Moving Target – description of a game using a moving target with universal distances and scoring.
Two-people or team games – aggregate scoring games can be included in the qualifying and championships. (a concept we would have to address would be substitute throwers… which I think should be allowed as long as one of the members has qualified.)
Championship Event/ Tournament: In September or thereabouts a state championship tournament would be held to determine the annual champion for each of the games. There would be a Division I, II & (when necessary III) champion for each game.
Overall Champion – If the state association wanted to crown an overall champion for each division, it could use a reverse scoring method similar to what the Tyoga Atlatl Association used at the Atlatl Olympics.
For the single person events… a first place in a game would earn a participant 5 points; a second place would earn 4 points; a third place would earn 3 points; a fourth place would earn 2 points and a fifth place would earn 1 point.
Whoever had the most points would be the overall champion for his/ her division. (it is necessary to qualify for a game in order to participate in it at the championships)
Qualifying:
The general idea is that each event sponsored by the state association or local associations would have the same game setups as would be at the championship. A person would have to meet a certain level of success at one of these qualifying tournaments in that game in order to participate in the championship event for that game.
The state associations would have to set the standards and the necessary levels. To make this easier to understand, think about the ISAC. In order to be listed on the world rankings, a youth must throw a 40, a woman must throw a 50 and a man a 70. Each game would have a similar qualifying score that had to be met or exceeded in order to participate in the championship tournament.
Not all events are going to be able to hold every game… at least if certain games are included. It is up to the state association to take this into account when determining what games they will include in their championship.
Contests with qualifying games can be held from January through September… or whatever autumn/winter month is chosen for the Championship tournament.
States may want to charge a small fee (like $1) for qualifying attempts. That is entirely up to them.
Prizes: A nice award can be made for between $12 - $20 dollars. If a qualifying fee of $1 were to be used to pay for awards, then each division would need approximately 15 participants throughout the course of the year. That could be a lot in some of the divisions, so states need to figure out how they will pay for awards in the case of a thrower shortage.
If money were not used as a means of entering a qualifying game, the state association would have to use money from their general funds to pay for prizes.
As one who believes that a true championship deserves a proper award, I hope that the associations choose to spend some money for something nice.
This idea is still in its early form. I hope to hear each of your ideas to determine whether or not it should be pursued. The guidelines for setting up associations, holding tournaments, setting up a website, etc. will be written at a future time after more data is collected.