Description
USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US).
The USATF was known between 1979 and 1992 as The Athletics Congress (TAC) after its spin-off from the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), which governed the sport in the US through most of the 20th century until the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 dissolved its responsibility. Based in Indianapolis, USATF is a non-profit organization with a membership of more than 130,000. The organization has three key leadership positions: CEO Max Siegel, Board of Directors Chair Steve Miller, and elected president Vin Lananna.
U.S. citizens and permanent residents can be USATF members (annual individual membership fee: $30 for 18-year-old members and younger, $55 for the rest), but permanent residents can only participate in masters events in the country, and they cannot win USATF medals, prize money, or score points for a team, per World Athletics regulations.
USA Track & Field is involved in many aspects of the sport at the local, national, and international level, providing the rules, officials, coaching education, sports science and athlete development, youth programs, masters (age 25+) competition, the National Track & Field Hall of Fame, and an annual meeting. It also organizes the annual USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships, the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships, the USA Cross Country Championships, the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships, and the USATF National Club Track & Field Championships.
Through its sanctioning program, the national body provides the insurance coverage necessary for members to rent facilities, thus allowing for competitive opportunities for all athletes to happen. USA Track and Field has held National conventions since the 1870s or 1880s. NAAA Track and Field Championship and Convention locations Dec 3-6, 2020 ,virtually; earlier announced the 2020 USat thATF Annual Meeting to be held virtually instead of face-to-face.
