Two years ago, I embarked on a journey to become Youth Chair for USATF Georgia. In that short time, I was able to work alongside others to lead the Youth Committee in doing some things that had been unprecedented. We hosted two Region Championships in 9 months with great success; we approached near record participation for Area Preliminaries and Association Championships; we published a 1^st ever Junior Olympics Medal Count showing that Georgia is “truly” the #1 Youth Association; and we had more transparency in our reporting of our financials and activity unlike ever before. And in managing your finances, we were told that we managed and achieved record gate revenues for a year in which we hosted a Regional championship.

But there is much unfinished business. My desire was always to build a sense of a track and field community here in Georgia like never before…. showing that we are truly the center of Youth Track and Field in the United States. I wanted everything that we do to embody our national mission statement to “drive competitive excellence and popular engagement in our sport”. So I tried to establish a philosophy of “Team Georgia” that showcased the best that track and field has to offer from Georgia….. showing that “our” competitive excellence can be unrivaled across the country. I worked hard to revise how we award travel reimbursement to all our athletes; to ensure that we are always sending our best to our National Championships.

I want to continue to address this unfinished business as your Association President. I want to make everything we do a celebration of track and field and running. And I want Georgia to showcase the best in every aspect of the sport. Our Officials are paramount to our success. And I believe that we have some of the best officials in the country. And we need to start acting like it. I emphatically wanted to make sure our officials were rewarded their stipends after our championship meets last year. I am happy to see that finally this past Association Championship, it was done for the first time. But more needs to be done to ensure that the people that make our success paramount, that they are duly rewarded for playing the utmost part in doing so. I want to lead that charge.

I have a 6-Year Strategic Plan that will not only grow our financial reserves by 300%, but it will allow us to finance the recognition of “all” our athletes that represent Georgia on a National and International stage, have a true Travel Reimbursement Program for our athletes and Clubs that represent Georgia in our National Championships, have an unprecedented stipend program for our Officials, and allow us to make capital expenditures that facilitate long-term facility improvements in Georgia to make Georgia the destination for track and field championships.

I would like your support in helping me tackle this unfinished business. If you do not have a USATF membership, get one immediately (before July 16). If you have one that is inactive, renew it. And show up to our Georgia Annual Meeting on August 17^th in Marietta and vote for me for USATF Georgia President. My promise to you is that this track and field community will be unrivaled in this country. Thank you for your support.

Charles Muhammad