Josh wrote,
"with all that money sitting in the bank, why doesnt the JF start some serious college clubs around the country.. they could try to make it a go in all the areas where they have strong yudanshikai (NANKA, CENCO, CJBBA, etc..) and then give their up and coming kids someplace to go that will also keep them in the JF for life...."
The issue of collegiate programs has bothered me greatly over the last several months. If judo is going to work in this country, we NEED several higher learning institutions around the country that offer competitive judo programs, similar to SJSU. If the grass roots judo programs are successful, we need to transistion the students to quality programs as they pursue their educational interests. The question I think that has to be answered is "Is the USJF the organization that should do it?"
I gotta say no. If you read their mission statement in the year end report, they are looking to promote judo at the grade school and high school level.
Secondly, the reason the JF is so strong is that they are not spending all their free cash flow and adding to the assets of the organization. Starting collegiate programs at the expense of the balance sheet, is something I wouldn't want to do.
If you read the YE report, you will also see that about 1/2 the assets are restricted cash. That money can only be used for the purposes they were intended. They are further restricted because only the income generated by the cash balances can be used to fund their individual programs. They are in effect, funds that will exist in perpetuity.
The YE report also shows you how the JF spent their money generated over fixed and variable operating expenses to fund development programs. That money has to be spread around, and I think they did a good job in dispersing funds. Its imperative that the JF funds the Yudanshakai's that fund them, otherwise there is no reason to belong to the JF.
The answers to the collegiate program question reside in the combined strengths of JA,JF and JI. That's why I think this YE report of the JF is so important. That's why I think the JI and JA should do it as well. They should also be as detailed as the JF.
If we knew exactly how many judokas, clubs, funds etc that were involved in judo, we could come to a consensus of how to fund something as important as collegiate programs. There is an answer there, but without information shared among us, it is very difficult to come up with a solution.
On another note, we have to do something about funding young judokas who want to go to college and pursue their judo careers and education. Here is a bone of contention I have with the JF and the other organizations. We have some scholarship programs, but they are never contigent on the athlete going to a college program that has an elite team. What sense does that make? Scholarship money should be used exclusively for students attending colleges with aspiring or elite judo programs.