December 2005

Friends and Fellow Sprinters:

Your membership in USATF will need to be renewed soon and it's time for Mass Velocity to take a quick roll call to make sure we are all accounted for. The following people are officially members of Mass Velocity Track Club and should list Mass Velocity club number 273 on your USATF membership renewal form:

Appleman, Jay (need photo)
Barre, Laura (need photo)
Blake, Carroll
Camp, Dick (need photo)
Currie, Roy
Fortuna, Paula
Gillen, Tom (need photo)
Graff, Warren
Heissner, Russ
Johns-Rees, Gail
Libow, Larry
Mitchitson, Tim
Needham, Mike
Neumann, David (need photo)
Osbon, John
Pierce, Roger
Polevy, John
Ronsivalli, Lou
Segal, Bob
Souppa, Ralph
Taft, Tucker
Westover, David (need photo)

If your name is not on this list and you have filled out the online membership for or sent in a form and a check, please get in touch with Larry. It's quite possible that someone has fallen through the cracks.

If your name is not on this list, you are encouraged to help make Mass Velocity a strong voice for Masters track and field, help the club grow and help us field the strongest possible USATF Masters club. It's $15.00 annually and you can jump on over to the MVtc membership application by clicking on this link. You can be a member of more than one club if neither club requires exclusive membership (we don't) but you can only represent one club when competing.

USATF Rules on Club Affiliation say that in order to change clubs, there must be a 90-day unattached period. As I read it, the 90 day period begins from the last time one competes as a particular club member. So if one competed for MVS (or any other club) during the summer of 2005, by the time the winter of 2005/2006 rolled around, the 90-day unattached period would be met and one could then request a club change through the membership chair of their association. Lee Hess (USATF-NE Masters Chair) has just written to say "it is important that athletes change their club affiliation with USATF when they renew their annual membership. A letter of resignation/transfer has to be sent to Steve Vaitones. This should be done prior to the athletes first meet of the indoor season." (I have provided an e-mail link to Steve so those about to run can send their letter).

The only other caveat to add is that members of other USATF associations must join/be a member of USATF-New England in order to join/switch to Mass Velocity (as I understand it). Check with your association to be sure.

You can get started on the USATF membership renewal by going to: https://www.usatf.org/membership/application/index.asp, but the national membership online registration will determine your USATF association based on your address. Keep in mind that Maine and Conn. are not a part of USATF-NE and have their own associations. Should that be a problem, then go to the USATF-NE membership page at: http://www.usatfne.org/member/


Team Uniforms

Based on the results of the uniform survey from last month, the most votes were for keeping the red & white colors for Mass Velocity. It wasn't unanimous and it wasn't overwhelming, but hey, that's how we seem to elect presidents, so why not team uniforms?

After much discussion and debate we have settled on a logo for Mass Velocity. The color scheme is red and white with stylized lettering leaning forward. The "inverse swoosh" adds a feeling of speed and depicts the lanes of a track. The final version that goes on the uniforms might be slightly altered to accommodate printing requirements.

After a long search to locate a source for our uniforms we have decided to work with the good people at JLTrack (www.jltrack.com). Laura at JLTrack was the only person who understood our needs, had a complete selection of competition apparel for men and women and could offer the complete line in the same design for all items. The Executive Committee of MVTC (Larry Libow, Tucker Taft and Bob Segal), after looking at the responses of the uniform survey and after much debate and discussion, decided to go with a primarily red uniform with a white vertical stripe accent. Below are some of the JLTrack offerings:

Speedsuit #23326 - $67.00

Speedsuit #23327 - $67.00

Long Tights $48.00

Women's briefs - $28.00

Sleeved speedsuit $80.00

V notch short $32.00 /
Split short $35.00



Singlet Not Shown

Half tight #27 - $35.00
Singlet (loose fitting) $31.00

JL trainer long sleeve (with zipper) $50.00 / (w/o zipper) $42.00

Race tank (tight fitting) $40.00
Half tight #26 - $35.00


The Executive Committee decided it was best to let members choose whatever apparel they they liked rather than limit choices. So if you'd prefer the sleeved speedsuit instead of the traditional one, order it.

Another reason we're working with JLTrack is that they will take orders in small quantities. The alternative was for someone at Mass Velocity to gather size, apparel choice and money in order to place a bulk order. Even if nothing got screwed-up, invariable people would come along after the order was placed looking for uniforms. Either they couldn't get a uniform or it would be cost-prohibitive. To make your uniform purchase easier and to make the uniform look classier, we are going with an embroidered custom logo, placed un the upper-left chest (similar to the placement oon the sleeved speedsuit).

Embroidery is sharper-looking and longer-lasting. There is enough money in our account from dues to cover the one-time embroidery set-up fee of $125.00. Once it's set up, it can be put on any piece of apparel you select at no additional cost. Obviously by not purchasing in bulk we miss out on a quantity discount but that's offset by us not having the administrative headaches and we don't have the financial wherewithal to buy uniforms for inventory.

When you are ready to place your order, call Laura at JLTrack at (800) 729-5563 or contact her by e-mail (LauraS@JLTrack.com). Let her know you're with Mass Velocity and what you want to order. She takes all major credit cards and says "Shipping will be determined on the number of garments and how fast they need it shipped (range is $6.50-$20 typically). If more than one of the same garment is ordered at the same time, I can give a discount (they will save about 10%)."

This uniform and logo matter has been weighing heavily on me for some time. I realize that it's impossible to please everyone, but I hope that the majority of you are satisfied with the direction we have taken.



The Passing Zone


The MVTC Meet Schedule is being constantly updated. If anyone knows of meets that are not listed, please send an e-mail to Larry so they can be added. As meet results are posted online, there will be a link to them in Links / Meet Results on the MVTC web site.

UPDATE: Of the 44 people who's photos grace the Who We Are section, we now have 21 mini-bios. Come on folks, inquiring minds want to know more about you. Head on over to http://www.massvelocity.org/minibio.html and fill it out. I need photos from missing Mass Velocity members too.



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