CAFA vs AIDA CANADA

[gbo200]

Dear All Freedivers,

As I have not seen anything up on this site about the goings on in Canadian Freediving, I would I would bring this to light here.

AIDA International has recently decided to take away CAFA's membership within AIDA International as the Canada's representing body to AIDA and award it to a new organisation called AIDA Canada.

A few facts: The Canadian Association of Freediving and Apnea was founded by Kirk Krack and a number of other founding members in 2000. Since then it has been voted best National Body in the ICARE awards, hosted the Team World Championships, placed well at a number of International Freediving competitions, and has a large membership base in Canada.

AIDA Canada has no history, but clearly a few individuals who are driven hard enough to effect a change with the help of AIDA International. That's all I know. Their website is not up.

What I hope will be discussed here is: how AIDA could possibly make such a decision? Even if there were serious problems within CAFA, surely a message goes out to the executive to sort it out within a reasonable amount of time, or AIDA will give another organisation the membership to AIDA International.

I think all this proves is that AIDA is a seriously flawed organisation. In my time in freediving since 1998, I have not seen AIDA accomplish anything. Freediving still has no real standing in world sports. I believe it is still viewed as a freak side show, rather than as a serious sporting endeavour. I have lost all respect for AIDA International and all hope that they will ever bring our sport truly onto the world stage.

If you are part of an AIDA national organisation, you should know that your organisation could lose their membership within AIDA at any time, to a few individuals with friends within AIDA International, and with no explanation from AIDA International.

Please discuss.

Sincerely,

George Bryan-Orr

 

[Billextreme]

Dear George Bryan-Orr,

I can totally understand your disappointment - and with lack of information from AIDA Canada it gets even one step more frustrating. I hope AIDA Canada will have their website up-running ASAP.

BUT don't lose the trust in AIDA because of this. The AIDA Executive Board have spent weeks to go through all documents and information we got both from CAFA and AIDA Canada. There is no one in the AIDA Executive Board that has any personal interest in any of this both organizations. AND the vote inside of the Board was an anonymous vote with a clear majority voting for AIDA Canada.

Remember that both organizations are direct connected to AIDA no matter what! The only thing that is a major change is that AIDA Canada will have the responsibility/duty to make the fair selection for Team Canada Athletes plus will be the one to have the “voice” of Canada in the AIDA Assembly.

Regards
Bill Stromberg
AIDA President

 

[gbo200]

Dear Bill,

Thanks very much for your response.

I still just can not understand how any rational thinking person, could choose a new organisation with no membership or track record of success like CAFA has, over CAFA. It just does not add up so there MUST be something else going on. It would be like the chairman of the company I work for choosing a former disgruntled employee with no record of company managment to run my local office when my office is well run and profitable.

Surely if the AIDA executive had a problem with CAFA, CAFA should have been notified and given a chance to sort it out before a wholesale change was made?

I would point out that the current organisation representing Canada (AIDA Canada) with AIDA, and picked by AIDA, has no information for prospective members available, or infrastructure to deal with members. GREAT CHOICE AIDA! Not. Surely a start up plan was part of their application. Are they going to execute it if they have one? We will see.

I would love the opportunity to see AIDA Canada's and CAFA's applications. You can send to me privately if necessary.

To AIDA Canada, I don't have anything personal against you fellow freedivers (if I knew for certain who you are). I am sad to see this happen to CAFA as a founding member and former team Canada member.

Sincerely,

George Bryan-Orr

 

[Kars]

Hi,

What a strange story I read here.
What is strange? Well not the idea of a new Canadian AIDA organisation, but rather the lack of information surrounding it.

Maybe someone from Canada can post the motivation why there is a need for a new AIDA Canada?


I like to see the things happen in the open. Transparency - Glasnost - please.

Love, Courage and Water,

Kars

 

[laminar]

Hi Everyone,

Deeperblue has not returned emails from AIDA Canada so I've taken the liberty of posting the general press release on a new thread:

http://forums.deeperblue.com/general-freediving/81076-aida-canada-press-release.html#post744771

AIDA Canada will achieve national delegate status on January 1, 2009. A website with full details on the organization's mission, values, programs, competitions, and membership sign-up will be available then.

If you have any questions, please email info@aidacanada.org.

Cheers,

Peter

 

[BennyB]

Will all current CAFA members still be able to compete in AIDA ranking competitions?

 

[laminar]

Will all current CAFA members still be able to compete in AIDA ranking competitions?

Yes. They are still an AIDA National.

 

[Kars]

Thanks Pete for the information.

Your link doesn't work on my computer, but this one does:
http://forums.deeperblue.com/general-freediving/81076-aida-canada-press-release.html

The afformentioned Press release in pdf format:
http://forums.deeperblue.com/attach...nada-press-release-announcing-aida-canada.pdf

Can someone explain to me why the new AIDA Canada is needed?
CAFA seems to have done some excellent big things.


Love, Courage and Water,

Kars

 

[gbo200]

Just remember AIDA affiliates of the world, you never know when a few freedivers may go behind you back, form a club comprised of their friends and family, and take away your right to pick your national team, and represent your country to AIDA.

I stand by my premise that AIDA should not have the power to make this change without giving the existing AIDA affiliate a period to sort out whatever problems have come to light. There should also be a compliants procedure in place for people to voice thier concerns to AIDA about thier national body. This is just real world common sense.

gbo

 

[Amphibious]

Heya Pete!
just figured you could use another Canadian in this thread (looks like you're the only one?)

 

[laminar]

I, for one, will not participate in a thread that starts with posts like George's.

I invite any and all of you to give me/us a call or pm if you have any questions about AIDA Canada and why it was formed. I am happy to engage in open and transparent discussion about it. However, I can predict that this thread will go nowhere and be disservice to both CAFA and AIDA Canada.

Or simply wait a few weeks until we are the AIDA designated national and our website is available. You'll find full information there.

Cheers,

Pete

 

[CEngelbrecht]

I'm not Canadian or on the AIDA Board, but from what I've picked up through the grapevine, it's a question that contemporary CAFA officials have alienated a certain number of Canadian freediving individuals, leaving these to believe that CAFA did not serve Canadian freediving the best anymore. At least to the point, where they were willing to go all the way and create a new fraction to replace the old.

What I imagine the AIDA Board had to do, and at great length, was to estimate which fraction would be able to serve freediving's needs the best within Canada. I believe AIDA should be able to do that, depending on who's right or wrong.

And actually, there is presedence in AIDA history. It's only a few years ago that USAA replaced the original AIDA USA, I believe for similar reasons as the present Canadian situation.

But what do I know...?

 

[Tom Lightfoot]

CAFA seems to have done some excellent big things.
Kars

Thanks for your support, Kars.

Here is some background information on CAFA that I gave to the board in support of its application to AIDA International:

55 CAFA sanctioned competitions and record events from July 2000 to November 2008
16 Record events
20 Western Regionals
7 Eastern Regionals
8 Nationals
4 International competitions

We also hosted the 2004 World Team Championships in Vancouver which was sanctioned directly by AIDA.

We have over 1200 judged performances in the CAFA database, covering over 119 athletes.

For those who like multimedia, there are 77 individual performance videos (and more coming) linked directly into the competition database. To see the videos, just follow any of the following results links and click on the performance that you want to see.

Freedive Canada - CAFA National Freediving Championships, May 30 - June 1, 2008
Freedive Canada - CAFA Western Regional Competition, May 25-27, 2007
Freedive Canada - CAFA Western Regional Competition, September 2-4, 2006

Tom Lightfoot
Webmaster
Canadian Association of Freediving and Apnea

 

[gbo200]

Dear Peter,

Gee I thought my opening post was pretty level headed considering how pissed off I was.

Kind regards,

g.

 

[gbo200]

Dear Amphibious,

I am Canadian too. I just live in Europe. I am not an uninterested party, I was a founding member of CAFA, and have competed for CAFA as well.

Kind regards,

g.

 

[Erik]

I don't know what's going on and haven't been competing for a few years.
I do know that my short time involved in competition through CAFA brought me some of my most memorable life experiences and I met some wonderful people who went out of their way to help me train, accomodate me, and be excellent company whenever I flew out to the West Coast. Tom, Mandy, Eric, Peter, Brent, and Kirk come to mind quickly.

In a world that is evolving, some of us are being driven to separation/otherness and some of us are being attracted to a sense of wholeness. I am sorry to see that there is derision and division in the tiny Canadian community of freedivers. I am not blaming (I have no clue what the politics are or what the egos are experiencing), just expressing my dissapointment.

I hope that in the long run it's for the best of everyone involved.
Peace,
Erik

 

[cebaztian]

No doubt CAFA is an excellent and ambitious organization. But that is not the issue. In the Aida statutes there are criterias for what Aida international expect of an organization affiliated to Aida.

I believe it is mainly about: open membership, open annual meetings where the members can take what ever decisions they chose.

This has been an issue in many countries: Brazil, Netherlands, Usa. What is fact behind accusations I do not know.

But as Kars says. The real disgrace is the lack of transparent discussion.
And as seen in Bills statement (which I find reassuring) Aida is re-active. That statement could have been released publicly along with the decision.

If Aida never displays their work, they will forever be accused of doing very little - which they are not.

Sebastian

 

[Tom Lightfoot]

Hi Sebastian,

CAFA has certainly had all of those things.

Our membership is certainly open. All one has to do is fill out an online form:
Freedive Canada - New Member Registration

We have had open annual general meetings since the beginning. In order to accommodate members across the country, we post all of the reports to our email list and all nominations to the board are done on the same email list for the week leasing up to the AGM. All votes for board are done via email to two independent vote counters.

This year we held our AGM via a net meeting.

The minutes of all of our annual meetings (and most of our board meetings) are posted on our web site for anyone to see.
Freedive Canada - Meeting Minutes

If there is a more open and transparent organization within the AIDA world then please let me know.

Tom Lightfoot

No doubt CAFA is an excellent and ambitious organization. But that is not the issue. In the Aida statutes there are criterias for what Aida international expect of an organization affiliated to Aida.

I believe it is mainly about: open membership, open annual meetings where the members can take what ever decisions they chose.

Sebastian

 

[cebaztian]

hmmm, sounds good.

I wonder on what arguments the A-board took a way your "status".
What about the issue of not accepting Aida ranking as a selection for national team, forcing athletes to compete in one competition a year in Canada to make it to the team.
Or the fact that you dont base our NR on the ranking list but have additional criteria - could that have been an issue for the board?

Surely you must have a right to know their arguments since you are a part of the conflict.

Sebastian

 

[Tom Lightfoot]

Yes, CAFA's policies on performance recognition and team selection have been controversial in the past. However, we haven't had the 'no LMC' rule for the past year. CAFA also moved to using the AIDA Ranking List for team selection a few months ago. It is no longer necessary to compete at Nationals to be on Team Canada.

AIDA International has not been forthcoming about the reasons for their decision, citing a secret vote amongst the board.

Tom