Travis Ganong Scholarship Winner at SVA....a Czech.

[HardDaysNight]

Really, those of us crying foul are not overly upset about this one specific deal. It’s more that we are seeing ski racing becoming a sport that is unattainable to any family without upwards of $100k/yr of disposable income, and the fact that no one seems to care. This is just one more move that says that ski racing is a sport only available to the world’s elite, and it’s hard to watch the sport erode from a once great sport into a side show to snowboard slope style.

I’m not sure that this is, in fact, a worldwide phenomenon. I sincerely doubt that the parents of the huge majority of young ski racers in other countries are in a position to cough up $100K+ / year on their development any more than most Americans are. Almost certainly less so; the Czech Republic for example has less than one-third the per capita income of the US.

How do these countries do it and much more effectively than we do? Perhaps the USSA should concentrate on figuring that out instead of spending money on studies to establish that it’s important that ski racing be fun (duh!).

 

[fatbob]

I’m not sure that this is, in fact, a worldwide phenomenon. I sincerely doubt that the parents of the huge majority of young ski racers in other countries are in a position to cough up $100K+ / year on their development any more than most Americans are. Almost certainly less so; the Czech Republic for example has less than one-third the per capita income of the US.

How do these countries do it and much more effectively than we do? Perhaps the USSA should concentrate on figuring that out instead of spending money on studies to establish that it’s important that ski racing be fun (duh!).

I suspect that in some way your ski system is probably tied into a wider cultural norm the idea that money entitles you to (try to) buy success. Hence private ski academies and probably running through (although maybe slightly flipped around) to the USST. There clearly there has been a culture of I'm successful/bring in plenty of sponsorship $$$ so I'm entitled to go my own way.

Not saying i'm criticising the parents who have gone the academy route or the individuals that have achieved success on their own programme, everyone makes their own decisions on what is best for their situation. And there is no doubt that kids do work extremely hard when they are high level athletes and a one size fits all approach isn't the optimum for personal coaching and development.

But when you have an economically rigged game it's hard to start getting all socialist meritocracy about it.

 

[scott43]

Muleski, you have a lot of inside info on the ski biz in the States, much respect. To me though, it's a private school. They can do what they want? If USST wants to dictate, put some money up. We had the same argument 30 years ago with foreign players in our junior hockey system. But they're private businesses and they run the league. IMHO gov't is overstepping their bounds if they want to legislate private teams.

 

[HardDaysNight]

But when you have an economically rigged game it's hard to start getting all socialist meritocracy about it.

Given where I was born and the extreme difficulties I endured in escaping it, supporting “socialist meritocracy” would be the last thing on my mind. It’s still reasonable to ponder why and how other major ski racing countries are able effectively to develop athletes without bankrupting their parents.

 

[fatbob]

Given where I was born and the extreme difficulties I endured in escaping it, supporting “socialist meritocracy” would be the last thing on my mind. It’s still reasonable to ponder why and how other major ski racing countries are able effectively to develop athletes without bankrupting their parents.

Sorry I didn't mean to use it as a trigger word and I definitely meant socialist with a very small s. Perhaps substitute "community meritocracy" as in the community of ski enthusiasts recognises that having a competitive ski team is a good thing or the local ski town believes in having and nurturing young talent.

I have no direct experience of how Euro countries do it (& I know that the UK isn't a paragon of an alternate model with ski academies in the Alps having featured prominently in the past) but I suspect a lot more is grounded in local ski clubs and multi generational locals being the fabric of the club. For instance I don't think it is a co-incidence or simply trading on fame that the Matt family name is all over Pettneu (next to St Anton) from sports shop to bar to pensions. Of course in Austria or Slovenia or Switzerland it helps that skiers are genuinely national stars and therefore there is kudos for the communities that have developed them.