Projects a success, checks arriving!
This spring the U.S. ski community rallied to step up its efforts to develop athletes toward international success. This began with a dialog that took place within the ski community from people all over the U.S.
At the same time the U.S. Ski Team was re-defining itself under a budget that has not kept up with the rising demands of running an elite athletic program. While the U.S. Ski Team decided to focus most of its efforts and budget on success in 2006 it also began a commitment to creating a national development system.
Four months later the first project of the National Development System is underway. This project draws from the discussion in-depth dialog between active members of the ski community.
The first project seeks to initiate a development system, which impacts our top-tier development-level athletes. In conjunction with this we will use the system to create partnerships with development clubs that will enhance and expand their programs. This will simultaneously provide opportunities for athletes from other programs to plug into the development-level projects they are managing in conjunction with our current U.S. Ski Team program.
This project works by selecting clubs who are training top athletes and inviting those athletes and their coaches to attend U.S. Ski Team projects. The coaches are financially supported at these projects by the U.S. Ski Team. This alleviates that club’s budget while involving their athletes and coaches in top training and racing opportunities.
So far there are five programs participating in this National Development System project. Among them are the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, Northern Michigan University, Burke Mountain Academy, Maine Winter Sports Center and the Central Cross-Country Division. These programs are attending one or more of the following events: