If you are not capable of at least 3 top 30 WC placings a year by say age 26 (given 3 seasons of starts), you will never make it and should finish college or win the lottery (or both).

P.S. Tim Kelley is a good example of why you should NOT ski race and go to college (and Ivy at that) …the guy clearly has frozen too many brain cells skiing where nobody else would dare to.

Real issue if getting more kids to ski race … NOT just the ststus quo of moslty affluent white people. Let USSA do what it is getting money for … grow our sport at the grass roots as a non-profit should, and let ski racing community and the free market take care of the USST and running professional ski racing at the highest level.

To be more succinct regarding my previous post – my point is that quite often it seems that US skiers that aren’t scoring WC points don’t know when to pull the plug on full-time ski racing and get a life. And they often pay for it if they drift in that mode into their late 20’s and 30’s … and then have to start from ground zero without much education or work experience. You and I know plenty of folks like this. It’s a dumb thing to do to your life, especially in the new-world economy we have today. And you would think it would happen a lot less. Who’s fault is it? The athlete’s? Ski programs and teams that support and enable mediocrity to perpetuate? It’s probably a combination of both.

1) There are approximately 30 active NCAA ski programs in the EISA, CCSA and RMISA. A lot more schools check off the Skiing box on the NCAA sports sponsorship form, some race in the USCSA, but in terms of what it seems that we’re talking about in this discussion, consider 30 the number.

2) As for athletic scholarships, the limit is 7.0 for women and 6.3 for men for DI schools and 6.3 for both genders for DII schools. This is Nordic and Alpine combined. For the CCSA schools, obviously all available scholarships that a school chooses to offer will go to Nordic skiers but in the EISA and RMISA I am not aware of any schools who give athletic scholarships for skiing who don’t split between Alpine and Nordic. There may be some, I’m just not aware of any. Also, keep in mind that certain schools may be able to give scholarships under NCAA regs, but their conference affiliation may not allow athletic scholarships (Ivy League comes to mind). In the EISA I believe only UVM and UNH award athletic scholarships in Skiing. That doesn’t mean skiers at other colleges don’t get scholarships, just that they’re not considered athletic scholarships. Big picture, nationwide the ratio of academic + civic scholarships money to athletic scholarships money is 16 to 1.

I’d like to see some statistics (maybe our intrepid author could find them):
1) how many NCAA ski programs are there?
2) how many programs offer athletic scholarships for skiing?
3) how many of those scholarships are held by American skiers?

I do believe that college skiing is a great place to develop as an athlete, and that some athletes can flourish in the college environment. To be a great ski racer, one has to have in unbelievable amount of intrinsic motivation. I am frequently reminded of something I heard at a USST presentation at Dartmouth College some years back, I think it was Matt Whitcomb. He said (I paraphrase somewhat, but was intrigued by this statement enough to write it down):

Not every college program is world class, but any program has the chance to be world class, it depends on the athlete.

This is a great discussion, but we all have to remember that every athlete is different and each must do what is best for himself/herself. For some this will be college right after high school, for others a few years of full-time training then college, and for a few others full-time training then international success.

The students can delay full-time college education without any adverse consequences or marketability for athletic scholarship. As long as the athlete doesn’t enroll full-time, does not represent an NCAA institution, and does not receive money beyond actual and necessary expenses, the athlete’s 5-Year clock for Division I does not start until after his or her 21st birthday. The athlete may even profit financially for two years after high school graduation and still have 10 semesters left of competition for Division II.

Obviously, the athlete couldn’t earn a scholarship in their 30′s. However, the 2-3 years of delaying full-time enrollment will be invaluable to the athlete. After this period, the athlete should be much more prepared for a world class ski career. Or, if they prefer to turn towards the NCAA, will be offered more scholarship from more colleges because they are simply that much better. As Pete said weeks ago, an athlete delaying full-time enrollment for a couple of years is a win-win.

But a factor young skiers and their families should consider, again in my opinion, is whether they can afford to delay education. For some people it is a killer deal to get a full-ride skiing scholarship at a university. For some families that is the only way their kids can afford to go to college. Yes, it is not a perfect environment for developing skiers or for learning. But nothing is perfect in this world.

Too often it seems that young skiers can’t avoid the trap of drifting through a long career of being good, but not really good, and get to their 30’s and have to start from, or close to, ground zero. Their chances of getting a scholarship in their 30’s is much less or nil. And if a skier, that passed on a scholarship in his or her teens, doesn’t have enough means to pay for an education in their 30’s … their options get much more limited.

Another thing that doesn’t seem to be discussed here is that often an undergraduate degree is only part of the education one needs if they want to have a good life. After college there is often the need for post-graduate, professional or specialist training for many lines of work. This all costs money, lots of money. If you have to add this cost on top of the college education you could have gotten free – the costs can be too much.

Bottom line: There can be a huge opportunity cost for skiers saying “No” to school if a scholarship is offered. A $100,000 dollar 4 year scholarship for an 18 year old might work its way up to a $200,000 cost should the retired skier want to pay for the same education when they are in their 30s. Saying “No” to college, to ski race instead, has a $200,000 cost in this example. Young skiers and their families need to think long-term, and think about life after elite ski racing. What’s best for the USST and elite clubs today (total commitment w/o full-time school), may not always be the best choice for the quality of skiers’ lives later on.

At age 19, finishing my freshman year in college, Miles Minson informed me that I had met the criteria to be on the National Development Group. By that time I had 3-4 years of what Patrickkidd called “serious play”. I was very focused, I believed that I trained more and harder than at least my regional peers, and I wanted to be wherever I could develop the best.

As a requirement to be on the NTG, I would have to pack my bags and move to Park City. I declined the offer for two reasons. First, living in Alaska had never been a detriment to my development before, and second, I was sold on the idea that the NCAA system would not compromise, and perhaps even enhance, further development.

It took many years, but my second assumption proved wrong in my case. Not only could I not train nearly as much as a full-time trainer, but the quality of my education was compromised as well. After college I was not skiing much faster than when I had entered and I came out with regrets that I couldn’t take full advantage of the academics.

I have to think that the ideal order of things after high school, for the aspiring world class skier, is to train full-time while taking a light course load near the best training facilities. If the skiing doesn’t pan out or once the athlete finishes an illustrious career, the student can commit 100% to getting the best education possible wherever they want (not just the schools with ski teams). This is exactly what very successful foreign NCAA skiers do. After developing several years further than American 18 year olds, they can stay in shape with 500 hrs per year, win NCAA titles, and are able to study very hard.

I understand the “glory of the amateur”. It is very personally rewarding and I strove for it for years. But until FIS accepts this concept, it will never compare to the results of full-time specialists and shouldn’t hold water with USST policy (which is the topic of this article).

All professions are competitive. If one wants to be the best in theirs, they will have to work harder than anyone else IN THAT PROFESSION. If the debate is how committed older juniors and young seniors need to be to the sport to be internationally competitive, then there is no debate – simply more committed than those internationally. How much room is there for college courses, jobs, video games, and others before it takes away from all that is required to develop at world class rates? Not much. Alex Harvey takes one class per semester. Kikkan Randall takes about the same.

It has been said at least twice by others that the college system is the best model we currently have. This is not true. Someday, it could be, if some NCAA rules were changed. At the very least, NCAA coaches should be allowed to coach more than half the year and athletes should have a reduced “full-time” course load. Nevertheless, we now have very strong clubs that can support world class development. APUNSC, SVSEF, CXC have all that is necessary to guide uncompromised development. One of these clubs supported a World Championship Silver medalist.

Moreover, for the high school graduate looking to be the best skier they can be, there is no reason not to defer FULL-TIME college enrollment and make a academic or athletic decision a couple of years later. This document sheds some light on what is possible while keeping college skiing in your back pocket:

https://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/12e9f1004e0b8aa19c09fc1ad6fc8b25/FAQClubs.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=12e9f1004e0b8aa19c09fc1ad6fc8b25

Finally, the simple answer that we are all searching for will involve getting our young skiers training better than others’. That is what we try to do everyday in our “workaholic cliquy black box social enigma”.