• Serve in the role of Chef d’Equipe at the Olympic, Pan American, and World Equestrian Games, and at other CCI/CCIO’s/CHIO’s as mutually agreed upon each year;
• Serve as a non-voting Advisor to the Eventing selectors and with the team farrier and veterinarians;
• Report directly to the Managing Director of Eventing activities and work in conjunction with the High Performance Committee, to perform the duties outlined above at times and locations mutually agreed upon by the Chef d’Equipe and USEF;
• Provide an annual written year-end performance report to the Managing Director of Eventing and the Chairman of the Eventing High Performance Committee for their review and analysis.
• Identify, oversee and work directly with other specialty coaches, if the program warrants it;
• Retain final decision-making authority for all competitive matters after the selection of teams;
• Exercise judgment and discretion in the manner and means by which the job is accomplished;
• Conduct and/or oversee training sessions/veterinary evaluations throughout the year;
• Additionally, there is agreement that on days when the Chef d’Equipe is required to perform services for USEF, s/he will not be engaged by another individual or organization on the same day without permission from USEF;
• Be domicile in the US (preferred, but not mandatory)
So far, so good. It would be interesting to see how this description differs from the one used to hire CMP, but I was in grade school at the time. One big question moving forward is how much of an instructional versus organizational role will the new Chef have? This year there is a big emphasis on using Oded for the dressage and Katie Prudent for the show jumping coaching. I have heard some people advocate hiring a Chef that will not instruct at all, but will just coordinate the team riders working with discipline specific coaches.
Continuing with the job description, the Chef “will have the following qualities”:
• Defines him/herself by this role;
• The will to win;
• Successful international experience at the Championship level; or produced winners at the Championship level;
• Be a horseman;
• Be organized;
• Possess a personal strength of character;
• Possess proven judgment skills, discretion in decisions and personal integrity
• Possess strong interpersonal skills;
• Be firm and confident in decisions;
• Possess international stature;
• Knowledgeable and influential internationally;
• Be willing, ready, and able to travel to all areas of the globe in order to fulfill job duties.
• Provide verifiable assurance that personal conflicts of interest do not exist, including the sale of horses;
• Possess proven leadership ability to guide the High Performance Plan to win at the Championship level, having been given the authority to do so;
• Able to work successfully with: athletes, veterinarians, owners, fellow USEF staff members, athlete’s individual coaches/trainers; and members of the High Performance Eventing Committee;
• Approachable, forthcoming with advice, and approachable enough so that riders do not hesitate to ask for assistance;
• Able to think strategically on a national and international level, considering riders throughout the country, including Developing Riders.
• Able to conduct Eventing training sessions at a High Performance level;
• Able to foster talent, i.e. guide the careers of horses of horses and riders.
• Identify, select and secure assistant coaches if the program warrants.
I’m slightly worried that the “organizational skills” requirement excludes pretty much anyone I had in mind for the job, but that’s one of the many reasons the USEF has Sara Ike. I’d also like to add “knows when to end a speech” to the required qualities. Notice I made zero comment about the character thing–do I get another little blue ribbon?
