Over the past decade, youth hammer throwing in America has grown tremendously. What was once a solid core of top throwers in Rhode Island has grown to a community of elite throwers from coast to coast. Participation numbers have more than doubled, distances have increased, records have been broken, and America has once again begun to win medals at the international level.

While many individuals and many organizations have worked to help the hammer throw grow, much of the resurgence can be credited to the USATF's decision to add the hammer throw as an event for both the 15-16 and 17-18 year old age groups. This weekend, the USATF will vote on whether or not to add the hammer throw as an event for the 13-14 year old age group. We need your support in helping this rule change pass.

The benefits of the rule change are numerous and have been discussed elsewhere. Please take time to read it if you are unsure about whether the hammer throw is the best thing for the younger age group. But, as visitors on this site, I assume you're already convinced on the merits of the rule change.

What can you do to help? We have already worked hard (and unsuccessfully) to convince the chair of the Youth Committee. Now we need help in reaching out to other USATF voting delegates nationwide. We need you to reach out to your local association and gain the support of their delegates to the conviction. Contact committee members of other committees, such as the association committee or the officials committee. Contact anyone attending the convention. If you need help in finding out who would be best to contact, feel free to contact me and I can help you out.

HSHammer.com and CollegeHammer.com are a published by the non-profit Evergreen Athletic Fund and edited by Martin Bingisser. Please consider donating to help support the site.