U.S. Ski Team atheltes to pay ~$10k each to remain on team

[dipstik]

wtf? Is is just me, or does this seem a little bit odd?

http://web.wcsn.com/article/news.jsp...id=34032&dpre=

PARK CITY, UTAH -- In the next few hours, five members of the men's U.S. Ski Team are going to get something unpleasant under their Christmas tree: an invoice from the United States Ski Team for somewhere between $7,000 and $10,000. They'll pay it, assuming they want to race for the remainder of the 2007-08 season. Five women received a similar invoice this past spring, paying as much as $4,500 per quarter for the right to continue racing for their team.

This development, which will be announced to the male athletes in question three days before Christmas, could be seen as ironic: Each of the athletes currently on the team actually made the team. That is to say, their membership was earned based on what head alpine director Jesse Hunt called "the criteria" for U.S. Team selection.

It is a tough development for people who have dedicated their days and nights to training and competing at the highest international level in their sport.

"[The money] is coming straight out of my pocket," said B-Team member Caitlin Ciccone, of Bethlehem, N.H. "I don't make much of a salary being a ski racer. I have no parental support. I am a 22-year-old that lives on my own and has normal living expenses. It will be tough, but I love skiing so much I will find a way to do it." Ciccone will be obligated to reimburse her team for as much as $18,000 this year to cover her flights, hotel and meal expenses.

Rumors of a budget shortfall and funding concerns began to trickle out as early as May, 2007, and in subsequent team meetings, ski team officials confirmed that despite being officially named to the 2007-08 Alpine Team (typically a fully funded arrangement that costs about $75,000 per athlete), five men and five women would have to come up with $20,000 each to pay for their expenses for the upcoming season. In other words the men's and women's teams were about $100,000 short, respectively, on projected expenses for the year.

The team's solution was to have the athletes cover the difference.

"We had more things that we wanted to do than we had money for," said Hunt, although he was careful to emphasize that "it's not a budget shortfall. We have a certain number that we work with and it's up to us to put together a program how we see fit. We put together a program based on the priorities of the program and we're landing where we're landing."

Hunt went on to say that the monies were not missing, but rather the team had simply chosen to reallocate them to support development programs that have shown signs of decline. "In '04 we were first [in the junior ranks]," Hunt said. "In '05 we were second, in '06 we were third and in '07, we were fifth. So over time it's clear that we were not supporting that level in the ways we needed to."

Moving money to the development program is great news for the 15-and-under crowd in this country still working toward their dreams of one day making the U.S. Alpine Team, but for the athletes already on the team those dreams are now more expensive than they may be able to afford.

Perhaps the biggest paradox of the new policy is illustrated by first-year C-Team member Hailey Duke of Boise, Idaho. Duke's reward for leaping from the development team to the U.S. Team this past spring is a bill for as much as $20,000. Had Duke not made the team and continued racing in the development ranks, it actually might have cost her less to race. Duke's first year on the ski team has been spent in different ways than she had imagined.

"I've been going to businesses, sending out portfolios and just trying to find anyone locally who can help," said Duke, 22. "I'll go out and try to make some money. It's a little more stressful but it's not really bothering me."

The men's team and the women's team members have gone about trying to solve their respective challenges in different ways. According to Olympian Steven Nyman, the men were informed in May that five of them would have to pay for expenses; they would be told which five in December. That decision would be based on early season performance and results, including considerations for injury recovery time and other unique situations. The five individual athletes on the women's team were told of their predicament in May and began efforts to fund their training and racing immediately.

The men's team rallied together and held a golf tournament to raise funds to support whichever teammates would be billed in December.

"It brought us together as a team," Nyman said. "We all did our part and it worked for the team. We gained a lot of trust in each other and showed our support. It was a good experience."

That money, pooled after the tournament, awaits the five men who will need it to pay for airfare, food and hotels in the coming months.

The women's team athletes -- those that needed funding -- went off on their own quests for financial support. By the December World Cup races in Aspen, Colo., none of them had raised the money they would need to cover their costs for the winter in Europe. Ciccone, Duke and B-Team member Katie Hitchcock organized a fundraiser, held two nights before the races started, that included auction items donated by equipment sponsors as well as other racing paraphernalia.

"I think our timing wasn't the greatest," Duke said. "Not a lot of people showed up but a lot of people donated stuff, we have plenty of stuff left over and we're still going to be selling it, on Ebay. We're setting up some other ways for people to contact us, too. We definitely did not raise enough to fund us all."

In response to his athletes' financial scramble, Hunt explained that financial pressures like the weak dollar, rising fuel costs and other issues have combined to make the move necessary. Rather than cut athletes who had qualified for the team, USSA came up with new criteria for making the team: next year's qualification standards.

"Going forward we just modified our criteria," Hunt said. "We funded [each athlete] off of next year's criteria. It was a very objective decision making process. We're providing resources if you've made this year's criteria, to the extent that we can. It really comes down to prioritization of resources. Right now the priority is to move the effort to the junior program. It's very clear that we need to pay attention to that level and that requires a shift of resources."

That shift has necessitated some very tough choices on the part of 10 athletes.

"We have stayed with teammates, or anywhere we can stay just trying to save money here or there," Ciccone said, "but it puts too much stress on us. We just want to go out and race and do what we loved when we were two."

[Danno]

that's fucked up

[iceman]

They could probably join Bode's team for a decent six-pack.

[Tippster]

What a fucking JOKE. Who's in charge of raising sponsorship $$? Why not hit up some Silicon Valley types, etc.?

The truly sad part is that we're pretty good.

[leroy jenkins]

Maybe they should try and take up some boring ass sport where you toss a ball around. In a year they'll make enough money to ski the rest of their lives.

EDIT: This just reminded me of how when I was growing up (in Aspen no less) the high school ski team won states several times. One of the racers got first in SL at the WORLD Junior Olympics. More than a couple of those skiers have gone on to become sponsored now.

However, the entire focus of the school was on the fucking basketball team, which made it to states one year and placed last, and will never ever produce a single professional athlete. When they did place last at states (actually the same year the ski team won states and the kid won Worlds), they got a HUGE school funded party, at which the ski team got a nice little honorable mention.

In a ski town no less.

[Microcosm]

I'm too lazy to read the entire article but that's fucked.

[mwthomsen]

I would be interested to hear if any of the coaching, training or support staff have suffered due to the reallocation of funds. I might be wrong, but wouldn't be suprised at all if some of those people got raises.

[KillingCokes]

What a fucking joke. I'd say something un-american but I think it's already understood

[nick > jesus]

god damn thats gay

these are people who are already going to be broke with no retirement plan when they stop competing

only the very top people get any money out of racing, and most of the people mentioned in the article were on the B team

[backcountry1pr]

thats weak...

[Lonnie]

What a fucking JOKE. Who's in charge of raising sponsorship $$? Why not hit up some Silicon Valley types, etc.?

The truly sad part is that we're pretty good.

Somebody needs to call Larry H. Miller. He's got more money than god and his name is already on 1/2 of utah anyway....

[BFD]

Ski racing is a sport for the privileged. Welcome to the real world. Sorry at 22
Caitlin's parents don't support her anymore.

[2nd mate]

Maybe they should try and take up some boring ass sport where you toss a ball around. In a year they'll make enough money to ski the rest of their lives.

EDIT: This just reminded me of how when I was growing up (in Aspen no less) the high school ski team won states several times. One of the racers got first in SL at the WORLD Junior Olympics. More than a couple of those skiers have gone on to become sponsored now.

However, the entire focus of the school was on the fucking basketball team, which made it to states one year and placed last, and will never ever produce a single professional athlete. When they did place last at states (actually the same year the ski team won states and the kid won Worlds), they got a HUGE school funded party, at which the ski team got a nice little honorable mention.

In a ski town no less.

1. ASSpen.(too easy)
2. sounds like some guy on the basketball team stole your girl??
2b Yes this is fucked up, having to pay from thier own pockets. They are prof. athletes who dedicate thier lives to thier sport and then get a bill for it????

[Hugh Conway]

so the back of the grid has to bring $ to the team. F1's been doing that for quite a few years now.

[Laxsnowskisquatch]

Weaksauce they need to figure out how to spends what they have more wisely

[montanagirl]

And that's why you'll always hear ski coaches say "The prettiest coat will always win". The guy in the sweatshirt never stood a chance. When you figure in the cost of the academy and ski club fees to get you to that level and then be billed on top of it, it is a sport of the wealthy and athletes who have to be marketing geniuses.

[Smails]

Ski racing is a sport for the privileged. Welcome to the real world. Sorry at 22
Caitlin's parents don't support her anymore.

What the fuck.

Bullshit move by the US ski team. The people running the show for the team need to go ahead and move their office down to storage room B and let someone else do their jobs, because they fucking aren't.

[laseranimal]

Sucks when you piss off Bode

regardless of what you think about Bode he had national recognition which makes it much easier to attract sponsorship $$$$$

[My Pet Powder Goat]

USSA doesnt seem 2 broke 2 put in a their brand new multi-million dollar offices up in Park city. what a bunch of classless ass-hats

edit: they should quit and come ski powder with us (exp, the hot girls)...fucking ski racing goes no where, unless u like multiple knee surgeries

[trainnvain]

I can't see why anyone would be surprised at this.
B teamers have been shelling out money and expenses for a while.

[Long duc dong]

That's bullshit. Whoever is responsible deserves to be whacked across the knuckles with a ruler a few times.

[Ted Shred]

Lame....

[Cliff Huckable]

Maybe it's time for a mass exodus to Bode's team - or maybe get Cuba to start up a team and all these guys could compete for them.

Bet there'd be a miraculous bump in funding all of a sudden.

Racing suits could be printed with palm trees and immaculate 1950's Caddies. Like fast pajamas.

[powstash]

USSA doesnt seem 2 broke 2 put in a their brand new multi-million dollar offices up in Park city. what a bunch of classless ass-hats

No doubt. The land alone was likely in the $2-3M. Then they have this huge 3 story steel structure building going in. What, the offices in town aren't nice enough?

[weibo]

This sort of thing has been happening in Canada for the last couple of years. Basically here the bottom seeds have to pay expenses and depending on their placing they receive some back or they don't. Kelly Vanderbeek (look up this years stats) had to front $25000 last year. Like it or not it seems to be the wave of the future.