United States Eventing Association

2019 U.S. Eventing Team Strategic Plan Revealed at USEA Convention

Erik Duvander revealed the 2019 Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team Strategic Plan in the USEF High Performance Athletes Open Forum today. The mission of the plan is “to create an environment where U.S. riders learn how to succeed at championships.” And the philosophy is “a relentless pursuit of our mission. Every day is committed to creating a winning team.” The immediate goal is to achieve Olympic qualification at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

Key Factors for success:

• - Planning
• - Talent identification at Emerging, Development, and Elite levels
• - Targeting resources (prioritizing, benchmarking, and accountability) to achieve goals
• - Evaluating, maintaining, and improving horse power

The strategic plan highlighted an increase focus on practice and performance in a team environment. In order to give athletes opportunities to experience the dynamics and pressure of riding in a team. Through practice, they will develop athletes who are comfortable with riding to team instructions and are comfortable with the responsibilities and the pressure of riding in a team environment. Duvander said that they are hoping to establish domestic team opportunities for riders to simulate the Nation’s Cup environment. They have approached CCI4*-L and CCI4*-S organizers about overlaying a team competition within their existing competition. USEF is already working with the organizing committees to provide organizational support, so there should not be increased cost to the organizer.

They are also hoping to identify dressage, cross-country, and show jumping specialists to be involved in team training days.

In order to succeed a with the plan Duvander said that they will “develop and maintain a comprehensive individual performance plan platform that will be used for development discussions with athletes and monitor progress. The platform will be for competition planning across all areas (training, specialized competition, preparation events, and CCIs). This platform can be used as a blueprint for future campaigns once effective strategy is developed. Each identified horse will have a competition and training plan in place by January 2019 solely defined to maximize performance at Tokyo.”

A new performance advisory group is being created to bridge the gap between the Eventing-25 program and the elite program. It will be a small performance-focused group of diverse experts/stakeholders in the U.S. eventing community that advises, monitors, challenges, reviews, and provides feedback. This new group will recommend the training lists/squads (with input from talent spotters) and will recommend the national and international travel funding. The team selectors will be different.

Duvander is hoping to develop a new U.S. performance environment. He said that the “environment is very influential on performance and it needs to be continuously maintained and improved.” He is hoping to drive a change in the environment to inspire athletes to work as a team to create a program that the athletes want to be a part at every level.

The USEF will use their resources from top down: Championships, Elite, Development, but will also work alongside the USEA to further develop the Emerging Athlete Program and deliver it nationwide. “With investment comes expectation, responsibility, and accountability,” Duvander explained. “Athletes need to prove the right to continued support via improvement and consistent results. Investment is fair, but not always equal. Funding is not a right. Funding processes should be transparent as possible where subjectivity is concerned. Investment must be performance driven and measure against outcomes.”

In addition to the rider, the USEF is going to focus on horse power by analyzing results and tracking of young horses and how they compare to current top horses in their development.

They hope to identify the athletes who need more horses of higher quality at every level of development to consistently compete with the leading nations and guide athletes in their effort to produce horses for the long term.

USADA Education for Athletes

A representative from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) came to educate riders about what agency does and what athletes need to know. USADA is a signatory of WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, and exists to preserve the integrity of competition, inspire true sport, and protect the rights of athletes. WADA releases the prohibited list and every country is supposed to follow it to make an equal global playing field.

USADA can test anyone who is a member of the USEF – coaches, riders, trainers, etc. They are very strategic at what events they choose to test, however, it is important to know that you can be tested. Some elite riders are selected to be in the testing pool and can be tested at anytime and any place. USADA said their goal isn’t to catch people, but to educate. If you are tested you will be notified of your results by USADA whether or not you tested positive for a prohibited substance.

2018 Prohibited List at all times

• - Steroids
• - Insulin
• - EPO
• - Beta-2 Agonists
• - Fertility Treatments
• - Non-approved substances

In-Competitions

• - Amphetamines
• - ADD Medications
• - Cocaine
• - Cortisone
• - Oxycodone
• - Pseudoephedrine
• - THC (marijuana)

If you need an above item you can apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). If you are unsure about a drug check www.globaldro.com. It is important to be very careful with supplements as well as there is no standardization so you are taking a big risk when taking a supplement.

Helpful Links

• USEA Website
• Convention Page
• USEA’s Convention Coverage
• Live Stream
• Convention App for Apple iOS
• Convention App for Google Android
• Program
• Schedule
• Floor Plan
• Vendor List

Follow the USEA coverage on social media!

#USEAConvention | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | USEA’s Convention Coverage

About the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention
The USEA Annual Meeting & Convention takes place each December and brings together a large group of dedicated USEA members and supporters to discuss, learn, and enjoy being surrounded by other eventing enthusiasts. The USEA organizes multiple seminars in addition to committee meetings, open forums, and tons of fun! The 2018 Annual Meeting & Convention will take place at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana on December 6-9, 2018. Visit the 2018 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention page to stay up to date on news, announcements, and details.

The USEA would like to thank Adequan, Devoucoux, Nutrena, Charles Owen, Standlee Hay, Merck Animal Health, SmartPak, Mountain Horse, Parker Equine Insurance, Rebecca Farm, Auburn Laboratories, Stackhouse & Ellis Saddles, Bit of Britain, World Equestrian Brands, Gallops Saddlery, Revitavet, CWD, H.E. Tex Sutton Forwarding Company, Trio Safety CPR + AED Solutions, and Hylofitfor sponsoring the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention.