USSA Congress: Marolt unveils Quest to be the Best Kellogg, Ligety honored

USSA Congress: Marolt unveils “Quest to be the Best”; Kellogg, Ligety honored{mosimage}PARK CITY, Utah – “Best in the World” is no longer the rallying cry for the United States Ski and Snowboard Federation. But as USSA President and CEO Bill Marolt made clear in his keynote address at last week’s USSA Congress 2006, the push to be the best will still drive the organization.

“I like where we’re going and what we’re trying to accomplish,” Marolt told an audience of several hundred at the annual convention at the Yarrow conference center. “… What we have now is a really solid platform to launch into the next four [years]. We’ll go into Vancouver [2010 Olympics] with the whole idea of being the best.”

Marolt, in year 10 in his latest tenure with the national ski team, unveiled a new slogan for USSA – Quest to be the Best – and a new set of core values: team, loyalty, integrity, respect, accountability and perseverance.

“I think what we’ve done is we’ve really built and established a solid, strong foundation,” Marolt said. “We set our vision, mission and goals 10 years ago and we haven’t wavered. We’ve stayed the course and I think that’s been one of our real strengths, particularly the concept of ‘Best in the World!’

“That’s focused us, that’s been our banner, that’s been our cheer, and it’s kept everybody in the organization focused on where we were going.”

In his decade as president and CEO, he said, the Park City-based organization has nearly tripled its athletics spending and seen its budget grow by two and a half times. For the 11th straight year, USSA will have a surplus.

Although there were some disappointments at the Torino Olympics in February, Marolt noted the achievement of 10 individual U.S. athletes who collected 10 Olympic medals in Torino, including five gold. Seven of the 10 medals were earned by American snowboarders.

Marolt alluded to concerns over the behavior of some USSA athletes at Torino, but said adhering to the new USSA mission statement can bolster the organization.

“It goes back to leadership,” Marolt said. “Strong, powerful, positive leadership.”

The initiatives outlined by Marolt at the congress were not a direct reaction to the events of Torino. Rather, they were drawn up in 2005 with the intent to implement them for this summer and through the Vancouver Games.

USSA’s new mission statement, Marolt relayed, is “to provide strong leadership that establishes and supports athletic excellence.”

Friday night, Marolt, USSA’s Tom Kelly and USSA Chairman Chuck Ferries handed out dozens of awards to athletes, coaches and volunteers. Peter Kellogg received the Julius Blegen Award, given to the USSA’s top volunteer. Snowboard coach Bud Keene and athletes Ted Ligety and Stephani Victor took home major hardware.

Here’s a complete list of award winners:

2005 USSA awards
Presented at 2005 Chairman’s Awards Dinner, Yarrow Resort and Conference Center, Park City, Utah

Diamond award
2006 Julius Blegan Award – Peter Kellogg

Gold awards
2006 USSA Club of the Year Award – Waterville Valley
2006 USSA Coach of the Year Award – Bud Keene
2006 USSA Development Coach of the Year Award – Glenn Eddy
2006 Beck International Award – Ted Ligety
2006 Westhaven Award – Bob Dart

Silver awards
2006 Paul Bacon Award – Jeff Pickering and the Big Mountain race organizing committee
2006 John J. Clair Jr. Award – Harry Stoneham
2006 Bud and Mary Little Award – Tom Winters
2006 Buddy Werner Award – Lindsey Kildow
2006 West Family Award (silver cup) – Tim LaMarche
2006 Russell Wilder Award – Nick Preston
2006 Alpine Domestic Coach of the Year Award – Darrell Gray
2006 Alpine International Coach of the Year Award – Mike Morin
2006 Disabled Coach of the Year Award – Kevin Jardine
2006 Cross-Country Domestic Coach of the Year Award – Chris Grover
2006 Cross-Country International Coach of the Year Award – Vidar Loefshus
2006 Freestyle Domestic Coach of the Year Ward – Glenn Eddy
2006 Freestyle International Coach of the Year Ward – Brian Lake
2006 Snowboard Domestic Coach of the Year Ward – Phil Fell
2006 Snowboard International Coach of the Year Ward – Bud Keene
2006 Alpine Club of the Year Award – Squaw Valley Ski Team
2006 Cross-Country Club of the Year Award – Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation
2006 Freestyle Club of the Year Award – Wasatch Freestyle Foundation
2006 Snowboard Club of the Year Award – Waterville Valley

Other awards
2006 Al Merrill Nordic Awards – Lee Todd
2006 Mike Jacoby Cup Award – Seth Wescott
2006 Anna McIntyre Citation Award – Tim Windell
2006 Burckett-Dodge Award – Ted Sutton

USSA Chairman’s Special Recognition Awards
Shaun White – 2006 Olympic gold medal, men’s halfpipe
Hannah Teter – 2006 Olympic gold medal, women’s halfpipe
Ted Ligety – 2006 Olympic gold medal, men’s combined
Seth Wescott – 2006 Olympic gold medal, men’s snowboardcross
Julia Mancuso – 2006 Olympic gold medal, women’s giant slalom
Kevin Bramble – 2006 Paralympic gold medal, men’s downhill (sitting)
Laurie Stephens – 2006 Paralympic gold medals, women’s downhill, women’s super G (sitting)
Steven Cook – 2006 Paralympic gold medals, men’s 5 km, men’s 10 km (standing)
Allison Jones – 2006 Paralympic gold medal, women’s slalom (standing)
Stephani Victor – 2006 Paralympic gold medal, women’s slalom (sitting)
U.S. Snowboarding – 2006 Olympics, seven medals