USSA seeking alpine development director

By Published On: March 18th, 2015Comments Off on USSA seeking alpine development director

PARK CITY, UT – The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association has announced plans to hire an alpine development director who will be responsible for all aspects of domestic alpine development including all elite programs below the U.S. Ski Team’s A, B and C Teams, reporting directly to USSA Alpine Director Patrick Riml.

The new position stems from the USSA’s recognition of the importance of alpine development in the USA, and its commitment to further evolving and refining its programs.

“Best in the World at every level is our goal,” said Riml. “With that in mind, it is imperative to look at our future and how we optimize the development of our talent and create young, strong alpine teams going forward. Athlete development is the cornerstone for future success at the junior, World Cup and Olympic levels.

“More than a decade ago we invested in a development director to lead our system. As a result, and the achievements at the junior level, World Cup and Olympics from athletes coming through that system helped us to attain incredible success over the ensuing decade at the international level,” added Riml.

“While we have recently made great strides with our domestic programs, we know we still have many improvements to make. We have engaged our constituent feeder programs in months of collaboration and now we need new development leadership to ensure we continue to achieve our ever-increasing athletic goals by executing on this input.”

The alpine development director will be responsible for developing and leading the USSA’s alpine athlete development system. Responsibilities will include the leadership and management of the alpine development team, national training groups, regional programs, youth development programs such as SkillsQuest, as well as contribution to the USSA alpine coach education program, club development program, competition calendar development and member development.

The new development director must have extensive experience within both international alpine ski racing and athlete development, including a proven track record in leading successful international teams or domestic club programs. The director will be responsible for planning and executing against a long-term vision.

Since taking the position of USSA alpine director in 2011, Riml has placed a greater emphasis on development, expanding national development projects while ensuring a strong emphasis on a consistent development philosophy nationwide. The USSA has also expanded its operational support for development, both at the regional and national levels.

Increased investment in development has been a key part of USSA President and CEO Tiger Shaw’s initiatives to both broaden the ways the USSA serves the sport and to provide more support for talent development.

A complete job description is available here.

The ideal candidate will be identified in March or early April then be hired and in place before the USSA Club Excellence workshop and USSA Congress May 12-17. This position is based at the USSA Center of Excellence in Park City.

Release courtesy of USSA

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