US Equestrian hosted a first-ever driving town hall meeting at the 2022 Grand Oaks CDE to acknowledge a refocused dedication to the sport. In June of 2019, US Equestrian took on the role of supporting driving at the affiliate level from the grassroots up through the international level, but admittedly lost momentum when 2020 was hit with the pandemic. It was time to reassess the issues in the driving community and create a plan to move forward.
In the driving town hall meeting, members and non-members were given the opportunity to express their concerns in an open discussion and challenges hindering sport development were addressed. Areas of concern included Federation communication, competition sustainability, retention of drivers (new and seasoned), and questions regarding governance processes. While there are certainly more discussions to be had, US Equestrian and the Driving Sport Committee have outlined the following initiatives:
1. Improved Communication
The USEF Communications team has reviewed the driving newsletter distribution and found a few opportunities to improve outreach to driving members. Members should note that if they have unsubscribed from all USEF email lists, then they will NOT receive these communications – check your email preferences on your Member Dashboard. Alternatively, news and information can be found on the Combined Driving page of the USEF website.
By harnessing the active USA Driving Facebook page, news and information will be more focused and include more details on the many ways the Federation supports driving.
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2. Website Reorganization
Save the link!
The Combined Driving page can now be found directly at: www.USEF.org/CombinedDriving
Watch for a complete restructuring of the Combined Driving page of the website, which will guide drivers and organizers more efficiently to the sport information they need. More content will be developed and added throughout the year to support drivers and competitions from the grassroots to the international level.
3. Refocus on Sport Development
The Driving Sport Committee reflected on the current responsibilities of managing the sport versus the needs of outreach and growth. In response, a Sport Development Task Force will be created to outline a Strategic Plan for driving and implement more outreach to the broader equestrian community. The aim will be to identify or create opportunities for new drivers, new competitions, and the driving community at large.
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