Who am I!
- Name: Gary Snyder
- Nationality: American
- Event Competed in: Sprinter – 60m, 100m, 200m & Javelin
- When did I start being involved with Masters Athletics: 2003
What is your biggest accomplishment within ‘masters-athletics’ so far? And how did/does it make you feel?
Several WMA 100m relay gold medals – great to be part of a team win!
How do you balance life and athletics?
I’m retired and active in a number of sports including T&F, tennis, softball and golf. Also I do a little kayaking, hiking and cycling. Fortunately my wife, Joyce, is also very active and we participate in activities together.
What was the best advice you were ever given?
“The telephone company is hiring you should apply”. I did and forty three years later retired from AT&T.
Do you have a saying or motto that you live your life by?
Just keep moving!
Where can people follow you? (Links to social media etc.):
I’m on Facebook and twitter:
FB: zpkz@yahoo.com
Twitter: garysnyder50@gmail.com
About the Role!
What do you believe will be your biggest challenge as the WMA President? And how would you approach it?
I believe the biggest challenge is to revise the stadia schedule. It’s simply too long. I would chair a committee of internationally recognized experts who have experience in scheduling complex track meets and other similar events.
What do you see about the WMA currently that is successful and you would like to keep it going and push further?
Documents such as the Constitution and By-Laws, Operating Guidelines, Bid Documents Entry Booklet etc. have been either created and or updated and are very good. These documents provide a strong foundation for WMA and it is now time to address the needs of the country teams and their athletes.
What would you like to change or develop in order to improve the WMA either as a sporting organisation of its public image?
WMA puts on a great meet but needs to move to the next level and provide masters athletes support at the member level. For example a list of local clubs or a list of qualified trainers would be a benefit for new athletes.
What’s your position on how to increase the global inclusion of athletes from smaller countries, and increase the awareness of the WMA?
I plan to meet with the member countries to understand their unique needs and develop plans to help them grow.
A little bit extra information about Candidate – Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder BRIEF Bio
As a candidate for President of World Masters Athletics I hope this brief bio will give you a better understanding of my experience, qualifications and interest in serving.
I bring both an athletes and an administrators perspective to our sport. As an active athlete I compete in short sprints, running the 60m, 100m and 200m events. I practice and train seriously and enjoy the quest to improve.
As an elected administrator I recently completed ten years as the National Chair of USA Masters Track & Field. I chaired a committee of approximately eighty members who conducted local, region and national championships. I was directly responsible for twenty indoor and outdoor national championship meets. Also I was the responsible for all aspects of USA Teams at ten World Masters Athletics championships.
During my tenure:
The USA initiated drug testing at all national championships.
Each world competitor receives a full USA Olympic uniform free of charge.
The national committee increased budget three fold.
Initiated USA team hotel and athletes party at WMA Championships.
Expanded athletes meeting at USA Indoor Championships.
The national committee enjoyed ten years of civility.
From 2002 – 2006 I served as President of USATF’s New England Association. The association is one of the largest and most successful and certainly a leader in promoting Masters T&F. During my tenure we hosted three USA National Masters Indoor Championships.
Prior to New England I served as President of the Greater Boston Track Club for five years. At that time the club was in financial trouble and had less than one hundred members. I was instrumental in the clubs recover that now boasts over two members and nearly $30k in reserve.
My professional career as a manager with AT&T and related companies provided me with extensive life experience including:
Manager of numerous staff and field organisations.
National presidents staff with responsibilities in operations, planning, finance and sales.
Chief Financial Officer for national commercial building wire business.
Chief Financial Officer for New England Sales (six states) with responsibilities for sales plan, contract management and a $125m expense budget.
Sales Manager for all government accounts in New England with over $50m in sales.
