Katelyn Doyle: 2017 Cynthia Aspden Youth and Young Adult Development Fund Grant Recipient
What a true honor to have been selected as one of the recipient for the Cynthia Aspden Youth Development Fund Grants. I used this money to help pay for my trip to the USDF Annual Convention in Lexington, KY at the end of November. I spent two days at the Convention attending a Region 7 meeting, the BOG meeting, several Youth Forum meetings and the Athlete Forum meeting.
At the Region 7 meeting I saw some familiar faces from my time at competitions in Northern California. It was interesting to listen to the different opinions about changes to the rules in our sport and other ideas that were being considered.
I also sat in and observed the process of the BOG meeting. It was more of a formal and serious setting. It was intriguing to listen to USDF leadership making a recommendation, people giving their opinion and then everyone voting on it. I had no idea how much goes into the decisions and changes that are made to better our sport.
The Youth Forum sessions gave me a lot of great tips on how to become a better rider, tips on finding and attending clinics, watching other riders to improve my rides, getting more youth involved and the financial support opportunities for youth riders. I really enjoyed meeting other youth riders who are dedicated and as passionate as I am about the sport.
The Athlete Forum was probably my favorite meeting of the Convention. Not only did I get to meet my idol, Laura Graves, but I learned a lot about FEI rule changes, future plans for our US Olympic team and recommendations from US Olympic team trainers on how to advance my training towards becoming a US Olympic team member myself one day.
Although I was not sure what to expect before attending this Convention, I will have to say that I learned so much, met some amazing people and I’m very thankful for having the opportunity to attend. The whole experience opened my eyes to how much work goes into our sport, the career opportunities I can now consider and how I can help grow our sport by getting more youths involved. Thank you so much to Jenny Johnson at The Dressage Foundation and The Cynthia Aspden Youth Development Fund for the opportunity to deepen my level of inspiration and love for the sport.
