U.S. Championships - June 2009

[boxmel]

Amy, there might not be any funding this year. I know the Foundation underwrote the women's program for many years and they no longer do so.

[boxmel]

Sorry, Amy - probably should have been more clear. Men's prize money comes from USOC funding. There is no USOC funding for the women.

[Dennis]

The "prize money" is not the same as the monthly training stipends. They are two different entities. The "prize money" goes to the gold and silver medalist; the monthly training stipends go to the top 4 ranked in each weight class.

Mel are you sure that they are giving the prize money in addition to the training money? If so, 1st place will probably receive a total of $2,000 per month. 2nd place - $1,000 - 1,200 per month.

[boxmel]

Dennis, unless things have changed, the "prize money" has been separate from the monthly training stipend. I haven't seen the Championships fact sheet - and couldn't find it at USAB's web site. Is USAB now saying the "prize money" is what the top two will receive every month?

[Trained By CHAD]

It is another example of different treatment for the women.[/quote]

of course its different for women. its about product and demand. usa boxing is a business. a non-profit business, but a business none the less. it's bad business to invest into a product that does not give at least an equal return. women's amateur boxing has less tournaments which equals less press which equals less incentive for sponsors to put their money into it. womens boxing will grow when fans and the companies who invest, see the value in the sport.

it would take a lot of work but the value could be created if someone wanted to put the time and effort into it.[/quote]Wow. What year is this? Money for winners has nothing to do on ROI. It should be the same, plain and simple. Value in the sport?. . . I'm really too tired to even tackle this one, but Amy, I guess it does explain what I'm sure you already knew about how the women's side is perceived.[/quote]

I apologize for not being clear. Part of being a coach is using unbiased observational skills. Not just looking at what works well but also what’s not working. Athletics in America is a business. Denying this is a limiting attitude. Acknowledging and learning how to use it to an advantage will be an asset instead of a liability. It’s like life in general. If I see something that’s “not right” I can either sit around and wait for someone else to change it or I can do something about it myself.

You and I can see that women athletes should be treated equally to men but we are biased with our involvement because we are in the deep waters with these women athletes. We see how hard they work and quite frankly I sometimes prefer to work with women over men. As beginners I find that women are technically more sound than men because they look at it as a “sport” with skills and strategies and not instinctive “fighting”. Their skeletal structure (not muscular structure) is also superior to men. Women usually have larger pelvic bones/ hips which lowers their center of gravity allowing for greater stability and force behind the punch. Lots of male boxers have spindly little legs and large upper bodies which makes their bodies “top heavy”.

Change happens through education, not by me advocating and jamming my beliefs down someone’s throat. The “creating value” I am talking about is doing the leg work and MAKING CHANGE happen. How many of the women athletes do you think have gone to schools and done presentations for middle school students on the benefits of sports participation? some have and I applaud them for it. Those who have not, I suggest they start. They could do a presentation for middle school girls and empower their audience to become confident, independent and strong. Then they could do a separate presentation for both boys and girls and educate their audience on the value of women in sports. Little boys grow up watching men play sports. This creates an opportunity for misinterpretation that “men play sports, women don’t play sports”. Change that interpretation through education.

In Sport Marketing 2nd Ed (Human Kinetics Pub) there are 4 categories of “non-consumers”
-unaware non consumer – they don’t know the sport/industry exists
-misinformed non consumer – eg. Women’s boxing is too dangerous and manly
-aware non consumer – they know about the sport and maybe don’t have an opinion. They do not have any involvement with the sport/industry
-media non consumer – so many people fall into this category with boxing. They flip the channels and stop every time they see boxing but have never bought PPV, equipment, gym membership or been to see live matches.

The goal is to take the unaware non consumer and progress them through to media non consumer THEN cross the threshold to become a consumer in the industry.

Women’s boxing is no different than any other sport. There are a lot of people in the misinformed category. How do we change that?

[boxmel]

Women’s boxing is no different than any other sport. There are a lot of people in the misinformed category. How do we change that?

Chad, I'm not sure what issue you are addressing. The bottom line is - that until women's boxing becomes an Olympic sport, there is no funding from the USOC for stipends or travel.

it's bad business to invest into a product that does not give at least an equal return. women's amateur boxing has less tournaments which equals less press which equals less incentive for sponsors to put their money into it.

I totally disagree. Women do not have less tournaments, national or international (well, they don't box in the U-19) but they do participate in the Championships, PAL, Women's Golden Gloves, women's dual meets, women's Pan Am and World Championships. And, in my opinion, amateur boxing as a whole gets very little, if any, press and has very little, if any, sponsorship interest. I don't know what is being done, if anything, by USAB to raise funds for the women's program but if there were funding, it would certainly allow for more international opportunities.

[Trained By CHAD]

i definitely do agree that funding gets to come from somewhere for womens boxing. it is not fair and it gets to change.

hmmmm, i keep reading over and over again your statement of, "Chad, I'm not sure what issue you are addressing. The bottom line is - that until women's boxing becomes an Olympic sport, there is no funding from the USOC for stipends or travel", and i keep looking at it wondering what the other angle options are. you are totally right. until womens boxing becomes and Olympic sport, there is no funding "from the USOC". what i am asking is, how can funding come from somewhere else?

life is like a game of billiards. there is always a shot. the question is, do i have the skill and talent to make the shot. maybe the USOC isn't the shot. it seems like the obvious shot because its right in front of us but its not working for womens boxing so maybe there gets to be another shot that's not quite so obvious.

what if a group of people organized a separate non profit organization and found funding for womens boxing? i know there has to be grant monies out there for women's athletics. its just a matter of making it happen.

[Dennis]

I don't know why USAB makes it so hard to find certain things on their website. The fact sheet was right there, but now the link on the home page doesn't find the Fact Sheet for the 2009 U.S.A. Boxing National Championships.

Here is a link to it:
http://assets.teamusa.org/assets/docume ... _Sheet.pdf

[boxmel]

what if a group of people organized a separate non profit organization and found funding for womens boxing? i know there has to be grant monies out there for women's athletics. its just a matter of making it happen.

Sounds good to me. No one has done it so far - but you never know. I know that the Women's Committee Chair, Christy Halbert, is doing a lot - specifically tailored to getting the women in the 2012 Olympics.

[Dennis]

The Prize Money section is on page 4 of the Fact Sheet.

[boxmel]

The Prize Money section is on page 4 of the Fact Sheet.

Thanks, Dennis. This is new and I've never seen it stated this way. It could be the stipend funded by the USOC just called by a different name. Yeah - can't find most anything on USAB's web site! D

[DCAmateurBoxing]

FACT SHEET can be found here as html:
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:YWH ... ent=safari