About the IATC Jersey Thing

I kinda waffled on writing anything about this IATC jersey topic. For one, the way it blew up on the axe socials pretty much means writing anything about it is a bit overplayed. For another, I’m not typically in the business of going foamy-at-the-mouth against the IATF, as a rule. Mostly because I don’t necessarily want to mess up that relationship, but also because it’s a boring default. Call me a sensitive little creature, but I don’t particularly want to make people’s lives any harder than what they already are.

However, I also think it’s valuable to…uh…report(?) on the happenings in the sport, and in pointing out when things go wrong. This qualifies, so here we go.

The long and short of The IATC Jersey Drama:

IATF throwers who qualified for Round 2 also got a free jersey, which is nice.

However, in the most recent email from the IATF (a confirmation email concerning the aforementioned jerseys), there was a little note under a jersey image:

to quote if you can’t see the image: You must wear this jersey during Round 2 competition. If you do not, you will not be allowed to compete.

As one could expect, if they spent even a week throwing in the IATF: throwers were generally pissed off.

I’m not necessarily angry about the IATC Jersey requirement. I am frustrated by the way it was announced.

Listen: I am of the mind that the IATF has some contractual stuff they need to meet with the sponsors that are appearing on the IATC jerseys. It makes sense. And frankly, if all I have to do as a thrower is wear a jersey for a day (I have no illusions about making it to day 2), I’m happy to do it.

But.

Well I guess, this gets into the root of what rubs me the wrong way about how this was approached.

Ignoring all of the really great points that throwers have brought up, including body shapes, sensory issues, moral quandaries and superstitions, it feels like this all comes down to — again — communication issues between the IATF and its throwers.

A friend chat vs a corporate email

Here’s the thing: if the IATF sent an email to all Round 2 throwers that read something like:

Hey gang, we really need sponsorships to make sure we can make IATC as fun and seamless as possible. To that end, we needed to agree to our sponsors’ logos being on those free jerseys, and that throwers would wear them during competition.

We’d really appreciate if you wore them so we can show that sponsorship is worth it. If you have issues with wearing a jersey while you throw due to fit or feel, we’ll work with you to get a different jersey or find another solution — thanks for [IATF boilerplate language].

It’d be approachable and understandable. It’d let throwers feel like we were doing a favor for a favor. Free jersey for us, secured agreement for the IATF. Just two pals trying to move the sport forward.

Instead, it felt like a whispered threat. Okay, maybe that’s a bit too sharp a phrase. It felt like a forced agreement. Like all that tiny text at the bottom of a corporate email that tells you all the things you’re agreeing to by downloading the newest “Ms. Merps Garden Adventure” game on your computer or whatever.

I’m hoping it’s a learning curve/a lesson

Again, I’m not here to dunk on the IATF. I get that it’s just a few people running the whole thing, and they are humans. It’s not helpful to just rail against them as individuals.

So I’m hoping this is just another thing they can learn from. Another little moment where the IATF’s leadership can look back and say “next time we do this, let’s XYZ instead of ABC.”

In this case, the XYZ should be community involvement, communication during the process, and flexibility built in for throwers. I am of the opinion that most throwers wouldn’t be against wearing a jersey — but taking this community and telling them they must do something like this, around a month away from the world championship is, and I want to be clear: a tone-deaf choice.

I am hopeful the “will not be allowed to compete” language is walked back. But I also realize (if it is part of the contract with sponsors), that it maybe might not be walked back at all. So if we as throwers can’t have that walk back, I hope for two other things: that the IATF explains why they made this choice, and that I’ll see a lot of throwers do wild stuff with the jerseys. Not because I think it’s particularly helpful, but because I just love the drama.