Nov 28, 2012
The TAFWA All-Time World Indoor List 2013, also known as The Indoor Book, is now available as a PDF download for TAFWA members on this site. As has been mentioned elsewhere, this year for the first time the book will not be printed, bound, and mailed; this PDF is the only way of getting the book.
Not a member? Click the "How to Join" link in the top bar, and get access not only to the Indoor Book, but back issues of our Newsletter, which are also archived on this site for logged-in members.
Jul 22, 2012
Are you a TAFWA member looking for some of our members-only pages, such as the TAFWA directory, the Indoor Book, or our monthly newsletter? Make sure you're logged in to gain access. (The login and password form is on the right side of the page.)
May 14, 2012
Our annual Awards Breakfast will be held at 9 a.m. Friday, June 29, at the Eugene Hilton (map). We encourage all members who are in Eugene to attend. If you wish to bring a non-member guest, you are free to do so; the cost of breakfast-only will be $10.
It is important that you attend. We only get together once a year. Dues for 2012 may be paid at the Breakfast, and for 2013 as well should you so desire.
All of our 2011 awards will be presented at this year’s Breakfast. Please be on time. We will have as many winners as possible on hand in person.
May 16, 2011
TAFWA’s annual get-together will be Friday morning, June 24, in the Vistas Room, 12
It is important that you attend. We only get together once a year. If you are a member, there is no charge for breakfast. Dues for 2011 will be collected for new or unpaid members. Dues may also be paid at that time for 2012.
All of our 2011 awards will be presented at this year’s Breakfast. Please be on time. We will have as many winners as possible on hand in person.
Nike has graciously agreed to sponsor this year’s Awards Breakfast.
Jun 15, 2010
The 2010 TAFWA annual awards were announced at our breakfast last Friday in Eugene. The winners for 2010 are:
Jesse Abramson Award: Sieg Lindstrom, Track & Field News, Los Altos, Calif. This award is named in honor of the late Jesse Abramson of the New York Herald Tribune, presented yearly to a TAFWA member in recognition of excellence in track and field journalism. Over the last year as an editor at the magazine, Sieg has covered the NCAA's new, controversial regionals system it adopted, Usain Bolt's stellar achievements in Berlin, and the USATF's governance of the sport, among other stories.
Sam Skinner Award: Dave Johnson, director of the Penn Relays, Philadelphia. This award goes to an administrator, athlete, or anyone who has supported the sport of track & field from within an institution, by exhibiting exemplary cooperation with the media.
The inaugural Cordner Nelson Book Award -- Christopher McDougall, the author of "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen," published by Alfred A. Knopf.
Adam Jacobs Memorial Award: Paul Merca, of paulmerca.blogspot.com, Seattle, Wash. This award was first given in 2009 for excellence in online journalism, and is meant to recognize the growing group of athletics journalists covering the sport online rather than in print.
Rich Clarkson Award: Cheryl Treworgy, of PrettySporty.com, Saxapahaw, N.C. This award is dedicated to excellence in photography.
The TAFWA awards were announced by Scott Davis, awards chairman, Peter Walsh of Coogan's Restaurant in NY, and Jack Pfeifer, president of TAFWA. Also presenting on June 11 were collegiate coaches such as Jason Vigilante, Virginia; Beth Alford-Sullivan, Penn State; John Moon, Seton Hall, and Lance Deal, assistant coach at Oregon, plus one athlete, Bridget Franek, Penn State steeplechaser, who all spoke and answered questions.
There were also presentations by Sam Seemes, president of the US Track & Field & Cross Country Coaches Association, on the Bowerman Award, and by John Capriotti, director of global marketing for Nike, on the upcoming Nike Track Nationals in Eugene July 2. This year's TAFWA breakfast was underwritten by Nike.
Jan 05, 2010
Secretary Fred Baer has announced the results of the recent election of officers. The following are the TAFWA officers for 2010:
President
Jack Pfeifer
Armory Track and Field Center
Vice President
Parker Morse
Common Media
Secretary
Fred Baer
USA Today & TV Producer/Consultant
Treasurer
Ed Gordon
Free Lance Correspondent-IAAF
Past President
Ron Bellamy
Eugene Register-Guard
Jun 26, 2009
The annual TAFWA Breakfast was held on Friday morning in Eugene, and the attendees (including a half-dozen new members) heard from athletes, administrators, and coaches from the ongoing USATF Championships.
In the Vista Room of the Eugene Hilton, members heard from and questioned USATF CEO Doug Logan, incoming USATF Chief of Sport Performance Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, and USATF President Stephanie Hightower. Among other topics, Logan announced USATF's renewal of their partnership with Nike.
The breakfast was also joined by Amy Yoder Begley, Shalane Flanagan, Galen Rupp, Dathan Ritzenhein, and Tim Nelson, all Oregon-based athletes who earned places on the US team for Berlin in the 10,000m finals on Thursday evening. After the athletes answered questions, Alberto Salazar, coach of Begley and Rupp, also spoke briefly.
Also, the USTFCCCA announced The Bowerman, a new award for an outstanding athlete in NCAA athletics.
Finally, Scott Davis of the awards committee and president Ron Bellamy announced recipients of TAFWA's four awards:
May 19, 2009
The annual Track and Field Writers of America breakfast has been set for 9 a.m. Friday, June 26, in the Vistas I room on the 12th floor of the Eugene Hilton. Once again, thanks to John Capriotti, our annual gathering will be sponsored by Nike.
Doug Logan, CEO of USA Track & Field, and Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, newly designated chief of sport performance, will be featured speakers at the breakfast. The program will conclude by 11 a.m.
This will be the morning of the second day of the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field. We'll have guest speakers and also announce our award winners for writing, photography and blogging. Updates will be sent out as the event gets closer, and there will also be fliers at the media hotel and at credential pickup.
One of TAFWA's annual awards is the Sam Skinner Award, which honors the memory of Sam Skinner, a longtime San Francisco-based radio journalist, and is presented to an athlete, official, meet promoter, sports information director, coach or anyone who has shown exemplary cooperation with the media. Please send your recommendation and arguments to Scott Davis, ssd@aol.com.
May 12, 2009
From the USATF: "All members of the media interested in covering the 2009 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, June 25-28, must apply for credentials online at the USA Track & Field web site: www.usatf.org.
"The sixth and final event of the 2009 USA Track & Field Outdoor Visa Championships Series, the USA Outdoor Championships will feature the nation's finest professional track and field athletes competing for national honors and spots on the Team USA roster for the 2009 World Outdoor Championships in Berlin, Germany. The World Championships will be held at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Stadium, where National Track & Field Hall of Famer and American icon Jesse Owens won gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and long jump. The USA Junior Championships, held in conjunction with the USA Outdoor Championships, will serve as the selection meet for the 2009 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships, July 31-August 2 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago.
"To apply for media credentials, click on the "Resources For" link in the upper right corner of the USATF homepage. When the "Media" section appears, look under the "Credentials" section and click the link for the 2009 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Fill out the form completely and hit the submit button. USATF will review your application, and if approved, confirmation will be emailed to you. The deadline for credential requests is June 12, 2009. The media hotel is the Red Lion, 205 Coburg Road Eugene, OR 97401; (800) 733-5466 redlion.rdln.com
"If you have any questions, please contact USATF Media Information Manager Tom Surber at 317-713-4690, or via email at Tom.Surber@usatf.org. For more information on the 2009 USATF Visa Championship Series, including television air dates and times, visit www.usatf.org.
Apr 08, 2009
The association's most venerable contest, the Jesse Abramson Award for writing, is now open for submissions. We are also excited to announce the creation of two new awards this year.
Our plan is that all the awards will be presented at the TAFWA breakfast, to be held in Eugene during the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, June 25-28. With all the awards, one may nominate oneself, or nominate someone else. The contest is open to TAFWA members; this may be a good opportunity to renew your membership along with your entry.
Further details about the 2009 awards:
1. The Jesse Abramson Award, won last year by John Meyer of the Denver Post. Please submit five samples of track and field/running writing for 2008 — at least one feature, at least one meet/competition story, and three other articles of your choosing. Tear sheets, printouts or PDF copies all admissible.
Please send to Scott Davis, 4432 Snowbird Circle, Cerritos, Calif., 90703, or email to ssd@aol.com. The deadline is May 10.
2. Our first-ever award for photography, which we are calling, with his permission (and thanks), the Rich Clarkson Award.
A longtime TAFWA member, Rich Clarkson has worked in photojournalism for over 50 years. His professional career has included the positions of director of photography and senior assistant editor of The National Geographic Society, assistant managing editor/graphics of the Denver Post and director of photography of The Topeka Capital-Journal. He has worked over the years as a contract photographer for Sports Illustrated, has photographed at least seven Summer Olympics and a Winter Olympics, and was manager of photography in the main stadium of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
He has been not only a leading photographer, but a leader in the profession, as well as a mentor to young photographers. He’s very, very deserving of this recognition. Hopefully, he’ll be in Eugene to present the award himself; heck, he might even wind up presenting it to himself.
Please submit five track and field/running photographs from 2008 — at least one feature photo, one action photo, and three other photos of your choosing. (Prints or jpegs).
Please send to Rob Romig, Graphics director, The Register-Guard, 3500 Chad Drive, Eugene, Or., 97408, or email to rob.romig@registerguard.com. The deadline is May 10.
3. Our first-ever award for track and field blogging. Name to be determined, as this is probably an award that will evolve in the coming years.
An eligible nominee is a person for whom the blog is the primary outlet, as opposed to writers with other forums (newspapers, magazines). A "blog", for the purposes of this award, is an online publication where articles are dated and time-stamped, and allow readers to respond directly to individual articles.
Please submit links to five samples of your work from 2008. If a sample includes a series of posts, please indicate which posts are to be considered.
Please send to Parker Morse, pjm@parkermorse.net. Deadline is May 10.
Now, on other news of interest:
1. Michael Reilly, UO assistant athletic director, says the setup for the USATF meet in Eugene will be similar to that for the Olympic Trials, except on a scaled down version. The media tent won’t be as large, as they expect to be able to accommodate all the writers in the West Grandstand. But the general traffic flow will be the same, in terms of the location of the mixed zone and interview tent, and they plan to have the temporary staircase leading directly from the West Grandstand work area to the mixed zone area.
2. Finally, nonprofit groups are always in need of new, energetic leadership. Ideally, we’d get a team in place, with a line of succession (new president and first vice president and even second vice president) shortly after the USATF meet, to work with Ed Gordon and others who have been the glue holding this together. Please let President Ron Bellamy know if you are willing to make a commitment of time and ideas to TAFWA.