Q&A -- USOC Chairman Larry Probst

Larry Probst at his first PASO General Assembly meeting last week in Guadalajara. (ATR/Panasonic:Lumix) The head of the U.S. Olympic Committee says he is committed to the rigors of travel and international meetings needed to rebuild the image of the USOC after the loss of the Chicago bid for the 2016 Olympics. Larry Probst also says changes to the governance of the USOC may be needed. He explains in this Around the Rings Q&A conducted by ATR Editor Ed Hula last week at the Pan American Sports Organization General Assembly in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Around the Rings: This is the first Pan Am Sports Organization assembly you have attended since becoming USOC chair last year. What is your impression of this meeting?

Larry Probst: I had a meeting when I arrived with PASO President Mario Vazquez Rana and told him that we very much wanted to be involved in and a supportive participant and do everything we can to help with the efforts that PASO is making and I’m personally committed to doing that. And he said, well then, let’s make you a provisional member of the executive committee.

He invited me to participate in the executive committee meeting and a lot of issues were covered and discussed with tremendous focus on preparation for the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara.

But it’s also been an opportunity to meet some of the PASO leaders. I sat next to Carlos Nuzman last night from Brazil and learned a lot about what made the bid so successful for 2016. It’s just been an opportunity to get to meet some people and start to develop some relationships that I think are going to be valuable longer term.

ATR: What can the U.S. contribute to Pan American Sports Organization?

LP: Well I think that we can certainly contribute some of our expertise with regard to coaching and training athletes for their performance in various games whether it’s the Pan American Games or Olympic Games, and we’re certainly willing to put our resources at the disposal of some of the other PASO members. And that could certainly include some financial support as well. So, all of the things that we have been doing through the years, I think we’ll continue to do and look for ways to be even more involved and more supportive of PASO’s efforts.

ATR: How does the United States take a larger role in the decisions that are made at PASO and influencing the way things go here?

LP: Well I think we’ve got to have a seat at the table. We’ve got to show up on a regular basis. We have to participate on the commissions. We have to develop and build relationships with the decision makers in PASO. As I said earlier, I’m committed to do that and unfortunately I have to leave this meeting a little early, but I got here early, and I spent some good time with Mario Vazquez Rana. And I think I had a good day yesterday with the executive committee and started to build some relationships that I think are going to be helpful.

ATR: What is your role going to be versus say the new CEO who is going to be hired by the end of the year?

LP: I think the obviously in the international world of the Olympics, the expectations is for the president of the NOC, in this case, it’s me, for that person to be the primary face of the NOC on an international basis, and I’m signed up to that. So if that means me being a member of PASO and traveling around the world and meeting with all the appropriate people and attending the appropriate conferences and meetings, I will do that.

I think it’s also important that the CEO, who is referred to as the secretary general in Olympics parlance, that they have some exposure to that international community as well because we’ve talked about getting the ship pointed in the right direction and that means that we‘ve got to have a long term, strategic plan to enhance our reputation in the international community.

It’s also going to be part of the responsibility of the CEO but obviously most of the CEO’s focus is going to be domestic.

ATR: The fallout from the Chicago defeat you said puts the USOC in a rebuilding position. Is it too early to say what this international strategy moving forward will be until you get a CEO?

LP: Well I think we’ve got to get a new CEO hired. That new CEO has to participate in the development of that long term, strategic plan. But there’re obviously some things that we can start thinking about. But yeah, we’ve got to get that new CEO hired. At the end of the day, it will be the CEO’s responsibility to help develop that strategy with input and guidance and oversight from the board.

ATR: The possibility of a Pan Am Games bid, do you see that at all in the future?

LP: I certainly think it’s a possibility. You know obviously the 2015 Pan Am site is going to be decided this week, so I guess the next one that comes for bid will be 2019, and that’s something that could certainly be considered.

USOC chair Larry Probst with USOC international relations staffers Carolina Bayon and Robert Fasulo. (ATR/Panasonic:Lumix)

ATR: What about the role of the U.S. IOC members? Does the U.S. Olympic Committee have any influence over them, trying to bring them into this more fully? Do they have a different role of play?

LP: Well our two IOC members are as you know, members of the Board of Directors, and so in terms of helping to develop a longer term international strategy, they’ll be involved. They’ve got a lot of previous experience, so their relationships and their know-how will be important and will certainly be integrated into what we come up with ultimately. And sure, they’re going to play a role that is appropriate based upon their experience and relationships.

ATR: Thinking about other bids too at this moment, what has to go into the thinking for the U.S. to consider at some point, another Olympic bid? People are going to be asking pretty soon, well what about 2020 or what about a 2022 Winter Olympic bid?

LP: Well I think that we will have to develop this strategy. We will have to feel as though we’re making progress against some of the longer term goals and objectives, that some of the relationships that need to be built are beginning to happen. And that we’re feeling encouragement from the International Olympic Committee to participate in the bidding process.

ATR: You had a meeting recently with the heads of some of the U.S. National Governing Bodies who are concerned with your leadership. How are you feeling about your relationship with the NGBs?

LP: I think we had a very constructive Larry Probst meets Puerto Rico NOC President Daniel Bernier.(ATR/Panasonic:Lumix) meeting. We had a good discussion. There were representatives from eight different NGBs in the room. I don’t think anyone pulled any punches. I think everybody got the opportunity to voice their opinions. We talked about some potential short term things that we can do, and we talked about collaborating on some long term initiatives as well. And, I told them I would recommend some short term action items to our board, which I’ve done. And we’re in the mist of working through that process. And I’m hoping that we can initiate some changes and activities that the NGBs will find constructive.

ATR: The other source of advice for you has come from the media in quite a pretty heavy dose over the past month or so.

LP: I get lots of advice. It’s gotten very personal, which I find interesting, but I’ll tell you the same thing that I told the group of NGBs. I’m not going to resign. I am signed up to do whatever it is going to take to get this on a positive track. I don’t like to come in second, let alone fourth, which is what happened to us in Copenhagen. There are great opportunities here if we can all work together and communicate more effectively. And that’s the goal, to improve communication, to enhance the level of engagement with all the constituencies to make sure that they are feeling that they are participating partners in whatever the USOC is doing, develop a long term strategy to put us in better standing with the international community.

ATR: Do you feel like you’re sort of up against the wall because you’re limited to four years in office?

LP: Well I think that’s something that we’ve got to take a look at, because by definition it’s challenging for us to build these long term relationships that you need to be impactful in the international community. With a four year term, it doesn’t give you much time to build the relationships that need to be in place. One of the members of the PASO executive committee at lunch yesterday said to me, “You know, I didn’t even know what was going on for four years.”

So we’ve got to take a look at that and figure out what makes sense longer term, and as we think about the size, the structure and the operating practice of the USOC board, I think we have to take a look at the term limitations that are in place currently and make whatever changes we think are appropriate that are compatible with the long term strategy.

ATR: Reforms were put in place a few years ago. Does this mean it’s time to look at them and see how they might be changed?

LP: I think it is. We went through the the reform process five years ago, and I don’t think we got everything perfectly right. And so I think on a, I don’t know whether five years or six years is the right time to take a look, but I think on a systematic basis, we ought to take a look at what’s working and what’s not working and make the appropriate changes. You know change is inevitable and we ought to be practical about that.

Conducted by Ed HulaFor general comments or questions, click here