There has been a lot of talk and angst regarding the H/J mileage rule. My understanding (which could be wrong) is the mileage rule was originally adopted by the NGB to comply with the Stevens Act.
If the general USEF membership is calling for an end to the mileage rule, how do we propose the NGB, which is USEF, comply with the Stevens Act?
Is the mileage rule completely antiquated? Or is modification the answer?
For reference, the applicable portion of the Stevens Act seems to be the following:
(2) minimize, through coordination with other amateur sports organizations, conflicts in the scheduling of all practices and competitions;
If any one else knows other sections that apply please include them.
I think it would be interesting to look at how other NGBs manage competition licensing and scheduling to see what other approaches are used. I tried to quickly skim USA Gymnastics and USA Figure Skating rules and they seem to more strictly control state/regional/national championships but generally allow any club to submit an application for competition and no mention of mileage or conflicts. In figure skating clubs can host non-qualifying competitions that are sanctioned but aren’t qualifying events for championships. If anyone has direct experience with other NGBs it would be interesting to have context on how scheduling works for those organizations.
Your understanding is wrong. The AHSA mileage rule predates the Ted Stevens Act by almost a decade. As this COTH article shows, the AHSA admitted in court that:
“… the purpose of the mileage rule was to prevent “upstarts” from coming along and upsetting the good old shows.”
The article is
The Ted Stephens Act just provides a useful excuse.
In distance running, USATF is the NGB. Distance running is different from hunter/jumper in that there isn’t the same national year-end award/point chasing structure. As a result, many road races are not sanctioned by USATF, since your average runner really doesn’t care.
The big races, for the most part, are sanctioned by USATF (the race has to be USATF sanctioned in order for an age group or national record to be set, or for one to qualify for the Olympic trials). I am not aware of any limitation or equivalent to the mileage rule for USATF.
That being said, there is a practical limitation that keeps large road races from being held too close together - if each race has to close down several roads for the race, the local jurisdiction is unlikely to let several different races close roads simultaneously.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
