In a sport where World Cup success and Olympic dreams are highly dependent on access to cash, two foundations have become critical components in providing a leg-up to emerging athletes, helping them pursue racing at the highest levels.

World Cup Dreams Foundation (WCDF) and T2 Foundation have worked in parallel for more than a decade supporting elite ski racers who require additional funding not fully provided by the national federation. The organizations have operated separately and independently, often receiving requests and providing support to the same athletes who applied to both organizations. Now the two organizations will merge together as one, serving the race community as World Cup Dreams Foundation under the leadership of new executive director Tommy Biesemeyer.

Biesemeyer’s mission is to support athletes in keeping their dreams alive by bridging the financial gap that ski racers face. Shortly after being appointed to his new role, he met with the T2 Board of Directors and executive director Marina Knight to discuss the best outcome for the two foundations. 

Their agreement: Make the greatest impact for athletes pursuing their dreams. 

The outcome: Merge T2 Foundation with World Cup Dreams Foundation under Biesemeyer’s lead. 

In 2008, as the U.S. Ski Team was forced to impose hefty fees to an increasing number of their athletes, T2 Foundation was established with a dual mission of supporting the best skiers while giving back to the youth in the ski community. Since its inception, T2 has supported dozens of notable athletes who have pursued their athletic dreams, including Biesemeyer himself, alongside Ted Ligety, Laurenne Ross, Megan McJames and up-and-comers Paula Moltzan and Nina O’Brien. T2 has granted athletes more than $2M in direct support through its grant programs while impacting the lives of thousands of kids in the sport through various programs. 

Meanwhile, American downhiller Bryon Friedman and giant slalom specialist Erik Scholpy combined to start the World Cup Dreams Foundation in 2005, which similarly was formed to help the nation’s best athletes realize their athletic goals through career management, mentorship, and financial support. The foundation has granted over $1M to Olympic athletes, such as Wiley Maple and Tommy Ford, in addition to some of those same T2 athletes.

As of April 2021, World Cup Dreams Foundation will add T2 Foundation to their organization as the two have decided that joining forces would better serve the athletes and open up new opportunities to positively impact the ski and youth communities. 

“This is a merger that simply makes sense,” said director of T2 Foundation Marina Knight. “Both World Cup Dreams and T2 have been working hard for years, essentially trying to do the same thing: support athletes and help them achieve their dreams. Merging together will allow us to streamline the process of the avenues athletes can turn to for financial support and it will allow us to grow together and pursue more creative ways to have a positive impact with the community.” 

The T2 team will remain as an affiliate of the World Cup Dreams Foundation. Athletes who are affiliated with T2, and have commitments with T2 for the next year, will remain represented by the T2 name. 

“I think we can make more of an impact as one rather than two, that’s the idea behind it,” said Biesemeyer, who will act as the executive director of the expanded organization. “Now we are branded and exposed as one. I think it helps diversify our ability to raise money because it’s more unified, it’s not one versus the other.”

Biesemeyer views the ski industry as its own small, unique market. He plans to have a structured framework dictating grant eligibility; however, he does not rule out a secondary, “boots-on-the-ground” model to identify athletes who need support but won’t necessarily ask for it. He knows that in order to make the organization’s mission a reality, it will need to go to where the athletes are.

Athletes giving back

So, how exactly will the World Cup Dreams Foundation support the various athletes at different levels, in different geographic locations, and with different needs? First, fundraising. Biesemeyer knows he needs access to cash. His first and primary focus is to fulfill that need. Second is through giving back. 

T2 Foundation’s mission to give back to youth is going to be absorbed and amplified in WCDF. Next season, WCDF will provide headgear sponsors to U.S. team athletes who will, in turn, provide a personalized give-back to youth in the sport. Those athletes will not just represent the foundation but emphasize the development of the sport by getting in touch with athletes at different levels. Biesemeyer hopes this individualized give-back method will function as a form of his ideal “boots-on-the-ground” method of finding athletes who need the foundation’s support but don’t necessarily apply for it. And alpine skiing may just be the start. 

“World Cup Dreams Foundation could now fill so many World Cup dreams,” said Biesemeyer. “It could be bobsled, it could be just snow sports in general, it could be just sports. In terms of possibility and potential, specifically in all winter sports that compete as an Olympic athlete, are all areas that World Cup Dreams could support.”

The merger of the two organizations as the World Cup Dreams Foundation takes place among the start of a new grant cycle for athletes. For more information on the application period, grant decision process, and disbursement, visit worldcupdreams.org.