Posted by Curtis Anderson
Team XO, a group of post-collegiate track and field athletes based in Eugene, has disbanded.
Ross Krempley, a former University of
Oregon runner, and one of the team’s founders six years ago,
delivered the news to about 50 athletes on Wednesday night in a
personal blog posted on his Web site at RunnerSpace.com.
The 30-year-old Krempley said the decision was driven by financial considerations.
“The business model for XO was based
on a small team that was easy to manage and relatively cheap to
run,” he wrote. “But as the years passed by, the team kept
increasing while the budget stayed the same.”
Krempley said Team XO was able to survive
on a minimum annual budget of $15,000, but as the club grew and added
members with each passing season, there was no corresponding rise in
funding or sponsorships.
Too often, he was forced to make up budget
shortfalls out of his own pocket, once having to choose between buying
flowers for his wedding or sending an athlete to the USA Outdoor Track
& Field Championships.
“It’s discouraging when you
can’t even get $15,000,” Krempley said. “That’s
not an extraordinary amount of money.”
The decision to shut down Team XO
wasn’t that surprising, especially to those closest to the
situation. Former UO high jumper Kyley Johnson, one of the club’s
original founders who now lives in Portland, could see it coming.
“I’d be lying if I said it
wasn’t heartbreaking, but I totally understand it,” he
said. “Ross was trying to do the whole thing by himself, and when
it got to be over 40 people, we just ran out of resources and he
wasn’t left with much of a choice.”
Team XO had six provisional qualifiers at
the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in Eugene last summer.
The club also competed in..... READ MORE
