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Letter from the NHAA Guy.
I am excited about the future of HAUSA and the future of horse archery in the U.S. The name change to
Horse Archery USA is a big part of the new direction! Horse archery in the U.S. will be different from elsewhere in the world. The membership demanded it, and they were right to do so.
HAUSA doesn't exist for the membership to support it. It is all about the success of the schools, and producing safe and successful students,
The position of HAUSA Board Vice President has been created to allow for continuity of growth and purpose.
This position, as I see it, is for those who will one day likely serve as the board president/CEO. By serving in this position for a period of time, they become very intimate with the details and future direction of our successes and challenges. It also allows the membership to get to know them!
I am proud to announce that Hilary Hargreaves has accepted the position of HAUSA Board Vice President effective immediately. She will lead our transition from a "Startup non profit" to an organization which will better serve the growth of the sport. I am very impressed with her clear integrity and grateful for her as a co-conspirator in this excellent adventure!
I started the National Horse Archery Association because there was no way to donate money to a mounted archery school and gain a tax deduction. I was also astonished at how suddenly the sport had been overtaken by an ugliness and negativity which would certainly have killed any hope of growth. There was no certification process for producing safe and successful students. The leadership of the sport in the U.S. appeared to me to be an unfriendly group who saw the sport as nothing more than a way to produce Korean riders. Americans have a very different relationship with our horses than most other cultures. We are the biggest horse country in the world.
It isn't our place to follow others, it is for us to take this sport to a place that suits us.
In stepping aside as the CEO, I am leaving an organizanization which is one of the largest in the world, and certainly the largest in the Americas. We now have over 225 members. Every week between 1 to 6 new members join. Given my health challenges, it might have been twice as large! We have an operating budget that is funded a year in advance with a sustainable plan to carry it into a positive future. We have strong bylaws to keep the sport positive, safe and growing
and continue to grow a culture of cooperation and charity.
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We have the support of the horse community at large and horse archery is no longer an unknown or obscure sport.
The new board members have the backbone to nurture the organization so that it will continue to grow and the have the vision to serve our constituents and carry forward the mission!
I am VERY proud of them all! The only request I have is simply this...get to know your board,,,thank them for what they do...help them with positivity...continue to foster a spirit of cooperation and charity at HAUSA. I am deeply grateful for the depth of talent, ingenuity and creativity they bring.
I also want to thank all who have helped along the way.
I hope to see each of you at least once this year at a national or regional tournament. Come for the party if nothing else!
Now it is time for me and Nipper to get back to training! Yippee!
God Bless you all.
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