National Cross Country Ski Education Foundation Announces $100,000 Stanley Grant Challenge to Fund U.S. U25 Skiers

FasterSkier · December 19, 2007

The National Cross Country Ski Education Foundation (NCCSEF) has received a generous donation of $50,000 over a three-year period to help fund athletes under the age of 25 IF we can match that amount with donations from the ski community. This exciting challenge will help us better support the athletes who will have the greatest impact on U.S. performance in the 2010 Olympics: those skiers between the ages of 20-25 (a.k.a., U25). If you, the members of our close-knit ski community, can help us reach our matching goal of $50,000, the NCCSEF will start granting $2000 to a U25 male and female athlete in each region next spring.

This is the biggest grant in NCCSEF’s twelve years of supporting U.S. skiing. In that period the NCCSEF has granted over $175,000 in NCCSEF Future Funds. In fact, NCCSEF has funded every World Junior Championship team since 1997 and every J1 Scando Cup team since it was initiated in 1999. Many of the athletes funded by NCCSEF grants have done extremely well in international competitions. Among them are, World Cup Winner Kikkan Randall, as well as World Cup red group athletes Andy Newell, Torin Koos and Kris Freeman.

â€œNCCSEF is a backbone for the development of world-class skiers in the United States. Since the creation of NCCSEF, young American skiers have recorded historic finishes, and are continuing to break down the barriers toward winning Olympic medals in cross-country skiing. Going to World Juniors for the first time opened my eyes to the opportunity of skiing amongst the best in the world. NCCSEF was crucial in helping me attend such an event that would be so influential in shaping my career.â€

– Kikkan Randall (1st Place World Cup Sprint, Rybinsk, RUS 12/16/2007)

U25 Grant Facts

– Grants will be awarded to one male and one female from each Region (East,
Central, Mountain, Pacific and Alaska). Athletes can only apply for a grant
from the region where they live.

– Grants will be at least $1500 per athlete in 2008.

– Grant application deadline is March 1st. Grant awards will be announced
March 21st.

– The primary selection criteria will be race results at national and international
level events and USSA and FIS ranking lists.

– Grant selection committee will also take into account subjective things like
injury or sickness, need, coaches opinion of future potential, work ethic and
dedication.

– Grant selection committee will include coaches from each region.

– In order to be eligible athletes need to be licensed USSA and FIS members
with a birth year of 1983 or younger.

– Athletes who are supported by the U.S. Ski Team are not eligible for the
grants.

– Accepting a NCCSEF U25 grant may be against NCAA rules, please check
with your school before applying.

To find out more about the grant and how you can help, go to www.nccsef.org You can also learn more about the major donor, Hal Stanley of Bozeman, MT.

For more information contact:
Reid Lutter, NCCSEF President at Reid@NCCSEF.org