Team USA Athletes' Commission
The Team USA AC, formerly the USOPC Athletes’ Advisory Council (“AAC”), serves as the representative group and voice of Team USA athletes. The Team USA AC is responsible for broadening communication between the USOPC and active athletes and serves as a source of input and advice to the USOPC board of directors. The Team USA AC consists of at least one athlete from each National Governing Body ("NGB") in which the United States is represented at the Olympic and Pan American Games, one athlete from Sports on the program at Delegation events that are governed and managed by the USOPC, six athletes representing the Paralympic Sport Organizations or NGBs designated to govern a Paralympic sport, and six athletes elected by the Team USA AC to serve at-large, including a chair and two vice chairs.
Represent the athlete voice and empower Team USA to inspire and drive positive change.
Team USA Athletes' Commission Vision Statement
About Us
Team USA AC Leadership Group
The Team USA AC is lead by a group of six individuals in the following positions:
- One Chair
- Two Vice Chairs
- Three At-Large AAC Representatives
Team USA AC General Body
The Team USA AC General Body consists of the following individuals:
- At least one athlete and one alternate from each NGB
- One athlete from Sports on the program at Delegation events that are governed and managed by the USOPC
- Six Paralympic athletes
- Ex-Officio Members: IOC Athletes’ Commission Member, IPC Athletes’ Commission Member
Contact the Team USA AC Support Staff
Elizabeth Ramsey, Executive Director
Meryl Fishler, Manager
Briana Oyler, Coordinator
To ensure communication between the USOPC and athletes who are actively engaged in amateur athletic competition or who have represented the United States in international competition within the preceding ten (10) years.
Team USA Athletes' Commission Mission Statement
History of the Commission
Prior to the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, U.S. Athletes began questioning governance decisions such as how the team flag bearer was elected. Responding to the inquiries, then U. S. Olympic Committee Executive Director, F. Don Miller, arranged for a meeting in Munich for the team captains to hold the first election of a USA flag bearer for an Olympic Games. At the Sullivan Awards that followed, a number of Athletes who have been in Munich, were again together and expressed the need to have a real voice in governance of sport in the USA. Don Miller provided the resources for athletes to meet.
The first AAC (1973) pre-dated the passage of the Amateur Sports Act. They were a start-up with no formal structure within the USOPC, no internal structure within their own organization and voice but no vote at the Board of Directors meeting.
In 1975, President Ford organized the President’s Commission on Olympic Sport, which led to Congress passing legislation in 1978 called the Amateur Sports Act giving athletes both voice and vote in the governance process of Olympic Sport.
In 1998, the United States Congress amended the Amateur Sports Act, renaming it the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act (TSOASA), after the Senator who sponsored the bill. The amended Act strengthened the role of athletes in the Olympic family it now includes, by name, the athlete commission and its voting strength.
The Act states: “In its constitution and bylaws, the Corporation shall establish and maintain provisions with respect to its governance and the conduct of its affairs for reasonable representation of amateur athletes who are actively engaged in amateur athletic competition or who have represented the United States in international amateur athletic competition with the preceding 10 years, including through provisions which-establish and maintain an Athletes’ Advisory Council composed of, and elected by, such amateur athletes to ensure communication between the corporation and such amateur athletes; and ensure that the membership and voting power held by such amateur athletes is not less than 20 percent of the membership and voting power held in the board of directors and in the committees and entities of the corporation. The revisions to the Amateur Sports Act also created the Athlete Ombudsman position.