Oh the politics of it all. BOOOOOOO!!!!

[matt.m]

June 3, 2009.


USA Judo Suspends Group A Membership of United States Judo Association

USA Judo, as the National Governing Body recognized by the USOC for the Olympic Sport of judo in the United States, is the only organization authorized to sanction the participation by U.S. amateur athletes in international amateur athletic competition. This authority is mandated through the Olympic and Amateur Sport Act passed by Congress. The same authorization is reinforced in Article 15 of the Bylaws of USA Judo. The Bylaws are well distributed and posted on our Web site, www.usjudo.org.

On May 30, the USA Judo Board of Directors voted to suspend the United States Judo Association (USJA) as a Group A member of USA Judo, with a right to a hearing if USJA so requests one, prior to this suspension becoming a termination of membership.

This decision was made after the Board evaluated information and documents which showed that USJA leadership actively sought, organized and supported a trip by junior athletes to an international competition in Dominican Republic within the last 90 days without applying to USA Judo for a sanction to do so. Further, one of the coaches traveling with the athletes was under a two-year suspension by USA Judo and, according to the Triad Agreement which exists between USA Judo, the U.S. Judo Federation and USJA, this coach was to have been under suspension by all three organizations.

Another possible breach of the Olympic and Amateur Sport Act and USA Judo Bylaws included potential sanctioning of international competitions within the United States, which is also subject to the requirement for a sanction from USA Judo as the National Governing Body.

The leadership of USJA was given an opportunity to address these matters through certified mail on May 5 and again on May 21. Regrettably, there was no
response.

The decision to suspend USJA was made by a unanimous vote of the Board of Director by those who participated in the Board meeting, with eight members taking part in the meeting.

USA Judo did not make this decision lightly. Moving forward USA Judo will continue to make whatever hard decisions we will need to as it relates to this matter.

The action of USJA will not affect in any way the athlete members of this organization as it relates to participation in the sport. USA Judo shall continue to honor the Open Tournament Agreement throughout the rest of the year, or until a final determination is made on this matter.



USA Judo
1 Olympic Plaza Suite 505
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80909

 

[matt.m]

June 3, 2009

AnnMaria De Mars Response:

Our lawyers are responding to these allegations. Let me just say unequivocally that the USJA in NO WAY supported having a coach under suspension traveling to the Dominican Republic or anywhere else. We cannot stop someone from buying a ticket and going to an event. One could just as well say that he was supported by the USJI, USJF or Canadian Mounties since they didn't stop him either.

USJI sent letters which were turned over to our legal team which has prepared a response. USJI sent three letters within three weeks. ONE DAY after the last letter they publicly announced a suspension. It seems pretty clear to me that there is an ulterior motive here. By sending the last letter, via email, on one day and announcing this suspension the next, it is evident that they had planned this from the beginning.

You might wonder why USJI was in such a hurry to act on this suspension when they couldn't suspend Fletcher in 30 years.

Four years ago, when a USJA election was approaching, USJI stated that the USJA didn't have insurance and moved to suspend the USJA from the USJI. Some people on our board argued Jim Bregman should not be president because he "couldn't get along with USJI" and Jim Bregman resigned as president when the majority of the board did not back him up.

Coincidentally, the next USJA national meeting is June 19th. It is pretty obvious to me that USJI very badly wanted to have something that could be used at our national meeting and to be used in the election coming up in the next few months. I expect they will find that our current board is pretty strong with good old American independence and their bullying and intimidation tactics are not going to be very well-received by the USJA membership.

Our legal team is preparing a response to the latest salvo from USJI.

As for the rest of us in the USJA - we are continuing with the activities that have so threatened USJI. We are having a junior nationals in San Diego in three weeks, followed by a USJA/ Judo Forum training camp. We will continue to promote judo at all levels, no matter how hard USJI tries to stop us.

Given the poor international performance, for which they are responsible, one would really think they would have something else to do than get into public ****ing contests. I know I have better things to do. So, that is my only real statement on it.

Hope to see you all in San Diego.

AnnMaria Rousey De Mars, Ph.D., President
United States Judo Association