The IATF Shift and a rare moment of consideration

Dear readers, it cannot often be said that I think before I publish a post. Point in fact (between us), I oftentimes write posts for this site over the course of…like…a half hour. I don’t proofread. I don’t check tenses or repeating word usage or any of that junk. I just think a thought, write it down, and hit publish.

I am a simple, sensitive creature.

But I wrote a post tonight (last night, now) about Matt Wilson’s stepping down and Houman Javidnia stepping into the commissioner position. And after about 1,600 words (and not even finished), and I started feeling really, really bad.

I felt miserable about how frustrated every sentence seemed. About how much fire and brimstone I was hucking around at the IATF, the people in it, and the future of the IATF. Nothing that was, like, damning, but hella judgmental and really, really negative.

Fortunately, Babs reached out to me just as I was lining up my last paragraph and suggested I interview the new commissioner, Houman, about what his plans are, and with any questions I might be able to get answers about before I just scorch-earthed the tenuous relationship I already have with our federated leadership.

So I did reach out to the new comish, and he was very excited about the opportunity to speak with me.

But. But.

I ALSO don’t want to be a mouthpiece for the IATF, really. It’s one of the main reasons I don’t ever want to be a regional rep, outside of the fact that I will never win a popularity contest. Even so, holding my tongue for the sake of not hurting any fee-fees really made me feel crummy, too. After all, a big part of the trust you all put in me is that I’m an independent agent, as far as leadership/influence goes, and becoming too cozy with the IATF — becoming an extension of them — would really put that trust in jeopardy.

So now I find myself in a weird little shame spiral: feeling bad for writing 1.6k words about all the mistakes the IATF is making (in my mind), and feeling bad for not publishing those before-mentioned words.

So here’s my promise, and my ask:

I am going to interview Houman, and give him a fair shake on the problems he sees. I’m also going to share my concerns — all of ’em — and give him the chance to address those concerns. The majority of my concerns, while we’re talking about it, has to do with what this whole ding dang article is about: trust.

I feel like the IATF, as a whole, has a lot of work to do in order to gain back the trust they’ve but in jeopardy because of how they’ve addressed issues in the past. How they are trying to build an organization from the top down rather than the bottom up. And, maybe, their vision for growing the sport (and how it feels a bit disconnected from what the throwers, generally, see as the way forward in growth).

And I’d really appreciate it if you folks could share (with me) the questions you hope I’ll ask him. I’m not gonna be a jerk about it, hopefully, but I am going to be open and honest about the questions, and I’m not gonna pull any punches when it comes to challenging him for answers.

So here I am, at 11:20 at night, writing a post about a post that nobody but me and Clutchy are gonna see. Sheesh. What a weird life I’ve constructed for myself.