Putting the just-announced IFSA-USS agreement in context, IFSA President Christian Fennell told IronMind® "IFSA is really reaching out."

IFSA and USS announced that they have signed a "cooperation and athlete alliance agreement" that will allow reciprocal participation in 2006 competitions.

Explaining that IFSA had been impressed with what USS had done in 2005, Fennell said "We've had talks with them for some time . . . this is a mutually beneficial agreement." IFSA will provide a minimum of one referee, and probably two, for USS events, said Fennell, and if the signature Jamie Reeves equipment is not used in a particular USS event, the equipment will still be inspected by IFSA to ensure conformity to its standards.

Asked about athlete contracts for this year, Fennell said "We will have 2006 athlete agreements," but he explained that they were still in process. Also, Fennell said that IFSA would be releasing its 2006 non-title competition calendar tomorrow.