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U.S. Ski & Snowboard "The Athlete Project"

James

Out There
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Dec 2, 2015
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24,449
I just read it, no subscription.

Basically they don’t give a crap unless you’re winning or on the podium. So that means Mikaela as the only one left. People have been saying that for years. Maybe having a 3rd party tell them that makes a difference? Who knows. The myopic Olympic obsession doesn’t seem to have been addressed.
 

Zen McArcs

In the parking lot (formerly "At the base lodge")
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May 16, 2017
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3
I just read it, no subscription.

Basically they don’t give a crap unless you’re winning or on the podium. So that means Mikaela as the only one left. People have been saying that for years. Maybe having a 3rd party tell them that makes a difference? Who knows. The myopic Olympic obsession doesn’t seem to have been addressed.

Nor is the very real circumstance addressed that even though at the "D" team level the time commitment is professional athlete grade, they are still paid on a scale akin to the NCAA's disproportionate system. Correction. . . they aren't paid at all. How many other jobs do you risk your health on a daily basis without any reasonable or proportionate compensation.
 

fatbob

Not responding
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Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,288
Hmm. That doesn't make good reading. Basically the feedback is that the entire experience on the team when you're not actially training on the hill is crap.

Make bets. Stick with them for a fair shot, then restack. But while they are with you treat them like the team means something
 

HardDaysNight

Making fresh tracks
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Nov 7, 2017
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1,342
Location
Park City, UT
Is this consultants report separate from the one that was released a couple of years ago making essentially the same points? Or merely a rehash? I know I’m a curmudgeon but when I read jargon like “points of pain” and “on boarding”, I know that no real thought has gone into this or into the solutions.
 

fatbob

Not responding
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Nov 12, 2015
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6,288
I don't see the problem with using buzzword bingo phrases. The problem is a toxic culture where your "talent" doesn't feel valued among the corporate machinery and egos. It wouldn't happen in properly pro sports these days or those that did would be failing organisations. There would be a regime of course and rules but backed up by guidance and support tailored to get the absolute best out of any individual from personal psychology to social media support.

Businesses can't generally do this (although the fast track talent sometimes gets the full package) but when your product is so simple there aren't that many variables.
 

Moose32

Attacking the Fall Line
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Joined
Dec 17, 2018
Posts
780
Location
Niwot & Whitefish (via WNY)
Is this consultants report separate from the one that was released a couple of years ago making essentially the same points? Or merely a rehash? I know I’m a curmudgeon but when I read jargon like “points of pain” and “on boarding”, I know that no real thought has gone into this or into the solutions.
Yea, those types of terms are tough to understand and indicative of time spent on the (new) report
 

Rudi Riet

AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
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Nov 12, 2015
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I'll have more to say on this later (gotta get outside and ride my bicycle), but the infusion of corporate culture into the USST system is toxic. It's as if the higher ups at USST watched Office Space and said "that Lumbergh was on to something!"

There's no support net. Athletes that are late bloomers need not apply. Athletes in a slump had better have a plan B, and plans C and D at the ready as well. And if you aren't born of money? Fuggetaboutit.

If this system had existed in the 1970s or 1980s, so many folks we associate with USST success would never have made the team.

Just my hurried $0.02.
 

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