USSA

USSA Blogs

Best in the World - Not Only for the Elite

Saturday, Jul. 27, 2013

For the past 17 years, the Vision of USSA has been to "make the United States of America the best in the World in Olympic skiing and snowboarding."  That Vision has driven every decision the association has made, and every direction it has established since then.  It has been a game-changer in focusing the association on organizational performance, and on excellence.  Prior to that Vision, the association lacked direction and inspiration, and had little to measure itself against to determine progress and success.

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Sport-by-Sport Funding - How it Works

Tuesday, Jul. 23, 2013

The USSA invests over $20 million annually in its elite teams, and over $4 million annually in local youth, coach, club and development and competition programs.  These resources are used to support the USSA's Vision of being Best in the World in Olympic skiing and snowboarding, and its Mission of providing strong leadership that establishes and supports athletic excellence.  Winning more medals than any other nation at the Olympic Games is the ultimate manifestation of a Best in the World system, and is the benchmark that drives the allocation of USSA's resources in support of its athletic

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Club News – U.S. Women’s Ski Jumping Team

Friday, Jul. 19, 2013

It was a real honor to attend the Annual Benefit for Women’s Ski Jumping USA (WSJ-USA) last night. Excellent food, good company from around the globe and an ice sculpture of a ski jump that poured drinks all contributed to a great, festive atmosphere. The program featured WSJ-USA Board President (and former mayor of Salt Lake City) Deedee Corradini thanking all of the supporters of WSJ-USA’s long journey.

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Funding for Athlete Performance

Monday, Jul. 15, 2013

USSA invests over $20 million per year to support the performance of the athletes in its elite teams.  This investment comes in the form of world-class coaching, extensive medical services, equipment support, high performance services (conditioning, nutrition, psychology, technology, physiology, and data tracking and analysis), elite training facilities, home-field international competitions, and academic and career development programs.  These services are provided year-round both at the Center of Excellence, and in the field for each of USSA's 195 elite team athletes.  And in some cases t

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Another Look at Values

Friday, Jun. 14, 2013

One of the Core Values of the USSA is Team, and one if its organizational goals is "strong partnerships".  Both ideas are essential to the realization of the USSA's Vision of being Best in the World.

The scope of the USSA's responsibility is wide, covering the management and governance of 12 distinct Olympic sports. And it's mandate runs equally deep, ranging from international elite athlete programs to youth recruitment and competition at the most local level.

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Randall Talks About Role with FIS

Thursday, Jun. 6, 2013

World Champion Kikkan Randall has played a vital role in representing athletes wtihin the International Ski Federation as a member of the FIS Athlete Commission. Following a successful on-snow camp at Mt. Bachelor and a brief stop for testing at the USSA Center of Excellence, Kikkan is on hand in Cavtat-Dubrovnik, Croatia this week for the annual spring meetings of the Federation.

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Why This Team Works

Monday, Jun. 3, 2013

It takes TEAM to be Best in the World. Just ask World Champion Jessie Diggins. Or any USSA national team athlete, for that matter. Jessie is a cross country skier. But she could just as well be an alpine racer, snowboarder, freeskier, aerialist or jumper. Her SkiTrax.com blog post Why This Team Works So Well capsulizes one of the "secrets" to being Best in the World.

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USSA TEAM Academy

Sunday, Jun. 2, 2013

Two years ago when we announced that we would be establishing an elite ski and snowboard academy at the Center of Excellence, that announcement was met with enthusiasm by some and with consternation by others.  Some were concerned that running a school would be a financial drain on other programs.  Some cautioned that the demands of running a school in addition to our elite athlete and high performance programs would be distracting and take focus away from our core mission.  Some believed that we had underestimated how demanding it would be to run a school, and how difficult it is to delive

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Big Strides in Coach Development

Friday, May. 24, 2013

The USSA's culture is built across many factors, including four "cornerstones" of athletic success - elite athlete programs, sport science and medicine, national development systems, and education.  As a Best in the World organization, oftentimes elite athlete programs take center stage, leading to the impression that USSA is strictly focused on the elite end of the sport.  However,the USSA embraces the idea that Best in the World is a manifestation of excellence at all levels of the sport.  The USSA is educationally based and athletically focused, and for good reason!

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USSA Congress Summary Videos

Wednesday, May. 22, 2013

The 2013 USSA Congress was a successful event bringing hundreds of USSA club leaders, athletes, coaches, officials and experts together for education sessions, informational presentations and policy decisions at both the sport and the board level, as well as social activities and informal sharing of best-practices across programs. The six days of meetings were highlighted by extremely constructive work, with a clear goal of Best the World. Best in the World is a manifestation of focused, specific, performance-oriented work at every level of the pipeline.

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Club Excellence Excitement

Wednesday, May. 22, 2013

 

Mike Brown, the executive director of the Sisu Foundation, a successful nordic program north of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, sent a note over after the USSA Club Excellence conference. 

"I wanted to say thank you for the USSA’s commitment and recognition that strategic, financial and operational are not done well enough by clubs and that shared best practices are needed." - Mike Brown, Executive Director, Sisu Foundation, Willernie, MN

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Bill Marolt's USSA Congress Keynote

Monday, May. 20, 2013

On Friday, May 17, USSA President and CEO Bill Marolt delivered his keynote address to club leaders, staff, coaches, officials and more gathered in Park City, UT. In his address, he discussed the coming 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, the importance of club development and the future of the USSA. Watch his keynote below.

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Club Excellence Athletics Speech

Friday, May. 17, 2013

Executive Vice President, Athletics, Luke Bodensteiner spoke to a full room at the USSA Club Excellence conference. In his opening remarks, he shared the importance of culture in an organization at every level. He also spoke on the significance of USSA clubs and the role they play in the future of skiing and snowboarding in the United States. Watch his remarks below.

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Club Excellence Wrap Up

Thursday, May. 16, 2013

Brian Krill is the USSA's newly hired Club Development Manager in its Sport Education Department. Krill has worked in education, competitive mountain athletics and the nonprofit sector throughout his career, having served as Dean of Athletic Education at the Crested Butte Academy, Interim Director of the Crested Butte Snowsports Foundation and pioneer of Peak Nonprofit Consulting, LLC. 

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Club Excellence Keynote Speech

Wednesday, May. 15, 2013

This year's USSA Club Excellence conference kicked off yesterday with a speech from USSA President and CEO Bill Marolt. In his speech, Marolt emphasizes the importance of clubs to the USSA, saying that clubs are the heart of everything the USSA does.

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Strengthening Relationships

Monday, May. 13, 2013

The USSA's recent self study, facilitated by an independent third-party consultancy well-versed in organizational effectiveness, revealed significant opportunity for improvement in the USSA's national governance structure. At the local level, the USSA's membership and programming is managed and controlled by a network of loosely affiliated associations, each with their own boards, their own decision making processes and their own missions and goals. In one sport alone, there are 17 different such organizations!

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Welcome

Sunday, May. 12, 2013
Over the past years, the USSA has used a variety of mediums to communicate updates with fans, members and everyone else who has taken an interest in skiing and snowboarding in the U.S. Today, we've launched an athletics blog to add a new element to our already existing coverage. The athletics blog presents us with the opportunity to provide thorough information on things as they are happening, straight from the people responsible here at USSA.
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