Disappearing Development

Julia Ford won the Nor-Am DH title.

UPDATE: The original caption for the lead photo stated that Julia Ford had made the US Ski Team in addition to winning the Nor-Am DH title.  In fact, she just missed making criteria, so we won't know for sure until the nominations come out in May.  It's also worth mentioning that a couple skiers are very close to criteria, and depending on what happens with adders and expiring scores with other athletes across the world, they may sneak in and make the criteria based on the May list, which is the list the nominations are made from.

 Lots of great stuff has happened since the last post (almost a month ago... oops).  There was that time that Ford Swette scored a 13 and a 12.  There was that time that Mikaela Shiffrin repeated as US National Slalom champion.  There was that one guy who tore his ACL on the new 35m skis, reported by Ski Racing.  Then there was the ensuing commentary below on that story that pointed in that a few others skiers have already fallen victim to the new skis as well.  3 or 4 skiers doesn't exactly constitute a major crisis, but the nature of the rules and of these injuries does ensure that we'll all be watching carefully over the Summer.  Of course, this all happened AFTER Ted figured out that he's maybe actually faster on the 35m skis than on his old stuff.  Man, this is getting pretty complicated.

And now, it seems, there's no more women's D-Team.  You read that right.  The US Women's Development Team is no longer a thing.  Instead, word is that they've opted to move a few of the best skiers from the D-Team up to the C-Team (most of whom were already on the C-Team, for all intents and purposes), along with the D-Team coaches, and it appears that USSA is leaving it to ski clubs across the country to figure out the rest.

So, women in ski racing, good luck realizing your dreams of making the US Ski Team and trying to ski World Cup.  It's been difficult to get your foot in the door in the last year or two, what with the political roulette and abundant use of Discretion.  Now the door has closed even tighter.  You now have to have under 20 points in SL or GS, PLUS either a Nor-Am title or sub-12 points in the other event (or 22 DH points or 15 SG points) to make the US Ski Team at the lowest level.

The US Ski Team's "Best in the World" slogan has now become a delightfully self-fulfilled prophecy.  To make the Ski Team, you have to already be one of the best in the world.  Nice how that works out, isn't it?  Essentially, if you take a PG year and aren't skiing around 12 points by the end of the year, you're not going to make the US Ski Team.  More athletes will probably take PG years because of the age change (college coaches only have 1 year of FIS skiing to look at to evaluate recruits), but to meet this sort of criteria they'll have to take multiple PG years (like probably 3 or 4).  This is impossible for most people, and since USSA has never looked favorably on college skiing as a means of development, what does the future hold for the US Women's Ski Team?

Right now, the following skiers qualify for the US Ski Team based on published criteria:

Lindsey Vonn
Julia Mancuso
Mikaela Shiffrin
Leanne Smith
Laurenne Ross
Stacey Cook
Alice McKennis
Resi Stiegler

And I believe that's it.  Will there be more than 8 skiers on the Team?  Probably.  How will they qualify for the Team?  It's really anyone's guess.  The blanket of Discretion is big, soundproof, and doesn't let very much light through.  In any case, there has been no information about any sort of women's tryout camp disseminated to coaches or athletes outside the Ski Team, so that integral part of the the equation, important enough to be used for men's C- and D-Team selections this year, appears to have gone by the wayside.

This is disappointing on a number of levels.  First of all, it's disappointing that this is the caliber of development system that USSA feels it owes female skiers in this country.  The youngest person to qualify for the Women's Team was born in 1989, aside from Mikaela Shiffrin, who is a '95.  If you take Mikaela out of the equation (because she's a special case.  Stop denying it), the youngest skier to make criteria is 23-years old.  Given the huge percentage of athlete turnover at the D-Team level in the last two years, this does not speak well of the development system we've been given by USSA.  The response of the US Ski Team?  Cut ties with your development program altogether.  Don't believe it?  Check the status of the NDS in a couple of months.  Word is that it's already all but gone, with regions already wondering, "Who's going to pay for this?"

It's also disappointing that the nomination system has regressed from a clear set of objective standards to a game of politics and discretionary picks.  On first glance, a read through USSA's nomination criteria seems straightforward.  Different standards for different ages.  Seems to make sense.  Except that, starting at the B-Team level and moving down, there's that little bullet that says "Coaches' Discretion."  Get down to the D-Team list and you'll notice that, in addition to Discretion, your nomination only counts towards a selection camp, at which point you are sized up on ability (a subjective measure) and not points/rankings (an objective measure).  It's a fine line.  After all, without Discretion, we might not have a D-Team for either gender.

So, issues with ageism aside, the objective criteria set forth by USSA are rendered almost meaningless as politics and favor take over.  The Criteria guidelines explain that part of Coaches' Discretion is an assessment of "Attitude and Commitment."  This says it all.  If they don't like your attitude, or they judge your "commitment" (in quotes because, really, what does that even mean?) to be sub-par, then they don't have to take you.  This kind of interpersonal assessment and judgement is unacceptable, especially for young skiers who are developing not only as athletes, but as human beings too.  Want to develop an athlete's attitude?  Want to help them learn to be more committed?  Coach them well.  Don't kick them out.

Didn't we go to objective criteria specifically to get away from stuff like this?

If this were pro sports, this would all be fine.  If the New York Yankees don't like your attitude, then you're fired.  Should've had a better attitude.  They're a private business, so they can do that.  But it's not pro sports.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  This is a system that we all pay into at length, and though some skiers are paid with endorsement deals from individual companies, USSA itself is an amateur sporting organization, and as such should be obligated to us, the paying members, to provide equal opportunity for advancement based on a set of objective criteria.  They are not free to hire and fire athletes as they see fit, but it sure seems like that's what's going on.

Incidentally, cutting out the women's D-Team may put USSA in violation of the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act.  Specifically, Section 220524, Subsection 6, which states that one of the duties of a national governing body is to:

(6) provide equitable support and encouragement for participation by women where
separate programs for male and female athletes are conducted on a national basis;

Seems pretty straightforward.  Binding arbitration, anyone?


--Lead photo of Julia Ford borrowed from Zimbio.com


-