PARK CITY, UT (Aug. 6, 2015) – The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) has named longtime nordic business leader and enthusiast Robert Lazzaroni as its new nordic domestic program director. Lazzaroni will be responsible for administering domestic programs in partnership with USSA nordic clubs, including membership, club development, competition management, rankings, judges/officials education and other overall program tasks in cross country, ski jumping and nordic combined.
Lazzaroni brings over 20 years of nordic knowledge, on both the athletic and sport business side, to the USSA’s team. He spent 17 years as the nordic division manager for Rossignol, helping to grow sales and market share to position Rossignol as one of the top nordic suppliers in the U.S. Lazzaroni most recently managed the nordic programs at the Utah Olympic Park where he doubled the number of participants and increased revenue by 40 percent in the first year.
“A key focus of this new position is to further grow and develop the USSA’s nordic programs,” said USSA Executive Vice President, Athletics Luke Bodensteiner. “Robert’s experience in this area, complemented by his business and management background, will be of great value as we look to better serve our current members and provide more opportunities for kids to get involved, particularly with cross country.”
This past season, the USSA empowered special task forces in each sport to look at the best ways to grow membership. A product of these task forces is the new membership structure present in cross country. Lazzaroni will continue to work with the cross country task force and sport committee to further expand membership.
As a club leader, master skier and parent of a junior skier, Lazzaroni has interacted with a variety of the USSA’s programs in different capacities. He actively engaged in the USSA’s Club Development process this past season, earning the Park City Nordic Ski Club a gold certification as well as USSA’s Club of the Year award. His experience as a club leader, and one that has been through the USSA Club Certification process, will serve him, nordic clubs and the USSA well in continuing to expand this program in the nordic sports.
“I see a great way to improve our sport by spreading best practices across the nation,” said Lazzaroni. “My ultimate goal is to help develop better programs across the country with well-educated coaches, a good understanding of long-term athlete development, better competition resources and an increased number of participants. The USSA is the legitimate organization in the country to lead these efforts and I’m proud the lead the charge.”
