Burke Mountain Academy Announces New “E-Team” Post-Graduate Program

Burke Mountain Academy (BMA) has announced a new program initiative called the BMA “E-Team” aimed at athletes on an Emerging National Team Track. The initiative provides program fee-free training for a select group of top post-secondary school or college age racers. Specifically, the program is designed for athletes who are tracking close to National Team criteria who are seeking an opportunity to continue their training on world class facilities in a highly competitive and focused training environment.

Conceptually, the program is designed to bring together some of the emerging alpine racing talent in the U.S. and cultivate a ‘Top Gun’ like atmosphere that will accelerate the development curve.

“Our hope is to support some of the athletes who are trying to bridge the gap between racing in high school and competing at the international level, an achievement which has never been harder than it is today,” said Willy Booker, BMA Head of School. “The entire U.S. ski racing community is striving to find solutions to the complex alpine development issues that we are facing today, namely the high cost and the many years of top-level training needed for long term athletic development. We believe this program can help athletes break through both barriers. We have raised money to offset 100% of the program fees for those that meet the highest level of criteria and 60% of the fees for those who are just outside of that band.”

BMA will be accepting applications for nomination to the E-Team effective immediately. The program outlines three primary qualifications that applicants must meet in order to be considered for acceptance. Applicants are required to meet World Rank criteria based on FIS points, pass BMA’s physical test standards and finally, submit character references.

“These athletes will be a source of inspiration to the Burke students,” noted Bradley Wall, BMA Athletic Director. “We hope they will be a guiding light for our school and help us raise the bar for our athletic program.”

The program is structured to offer mentorship opportunities so that the E-Team participants have formalized ways in which they can give back to the undergraduate community at Burke.

BMA will accept up to a maximum of six qualified applicants per gender onto the E-Team annually. For athletes who are accepted and meet minimum World Rank criteria, BMA will be subsidizing the cost of the program fee which includes use of BMA’s facilities, coaching, training fees, in region transportation and room and board to achieve a rate of $20,000 which is far less than the actual total associated cost. For athletes who are accepted and who meet the highest level of World Rank criteria, the program fee will be waived entirely.

“Our aim is to foster an environment where athletes are encouraged to continue to dream big about racing on a National Team and the World Cup,” added Wall. “By leveraging our existing infrastructure and 50-year history as an innovator and pioneer in ski racing, we know that we can effectively deliver a truly world class training opportunity at very reasonable cost.”

For more information on BMA’a E-Team, please click here.

Release courtesy of Burke Mountain Academy.