PART 1
When two XJETSKI.com sponsored riders got banned from competing in United States with no apparent explanation other than that they are both non-Americans, we asked who is IJSBA, the governing body for jetski competitions in USA and other countries? We set out to find more about the organization who banned Volia Dzikovich, a mother of two from racing.
UPDATE: Since this article was originally published Volia went on to become Balkan Ladies Ski Open champion and has decided to compete in UIM (not IJSBA) next year. UIM countries are France, Italy, etc.
ORGANIZATION
It turns out IJSBA (International Jet Sports and Boating Association) is nothing more than:
- A corporation with only 1 part-time employee, Scott Frazier, who, as per ijsba.com, is the “Acting Secretary and Vice Chairman”.
- He works Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
- In his own words "IJSBA has a workload it cannot possibly meet with the staffing levels and resources that we have."
- This corporation has no ties to any international or federal athletic or sports agencies. It is simply a corporation.
- Scott Frazier is not the owner of IJSBA.
RIGHTS (OR LACK THEREOF)
- Scott Frazier explains:
“IJSBA is a private sportsman’s association incorporated in the State of California. We do not have duties or obligations to the general public and have the absolute right to determine who is fit for membership in our organization”.
- Scott Frazier's answer to banning competitors is:
“I, individually, make a management decision, as part of my business judgment on the day-to-day affairs of the company.”
What Scott Frazier is saying is that he can decide who can and can not compete, but not based on their sports results, but based on any criteria he finds suitable – including where you were born, color of your skin, who your friends are, or anything else, with no need to even explain to you why.
Moreover, he can do this whenever he wants to. You could fly yourself, your family and your jetski from another part of the world to compete at an IJSBA event (including World Finals) and Scott Frazier can stop you from racing based on anything he doesn't like about you. That explains how he could ban XJETSKI.com sponsored racer, a mother of two, from ever racing in USA.
Furthermore, as per Scott Frazier: “In the USA, there is no IJSBA Affiliate. The IJSBA presence is made up of an informal association of independent promoters.”
OVERSIGHT
If Scott Frazier, on behalf of IJSBA has the right to do whatever he sees fit with its members, how is the organization set up to protect itself from mistakes (intentional or accidental)? IJSBA is supposed to have a functioning board of directors. If a rider has a problem, he/she should be able to contact the board for help. Also, at least once a year the board is supposed to meet and help steer the corporation. It turns out IJSBA has not had a board meeting in at least 5 years.
We went on to contact board members one by one, to see who is actively involved in IJSBA. It turns out not a single board member ever gets contacted if a rider has a problem. And of all of them, only two consider themselves as part of IJSBA board of directors. Some of the others were even stunned to learn that their name was being used as members of the board!
Additionally, for every board member position, there were supposed to be elections held every year. In reality, however, Scott Frazier appoints members. This is against IJSBA laws. Furthermore, when a board member leaves their position an election has to be held to choose the replacement. According to our sources this hasn't been happening either, because Scott Frazier claims not a single rider in the whole world is interested in being on the board of IJSBA. The one time elections were held, it was a secret vote, and the only person who received the votes and had access to count them was Scott Frazier. A properly-functioning organization would have votes counted by an independent group.
END OF PART 1