Message from USST head coach, Trond Nystad

Hello all,
Below is a message to the American Ski Community from USST Head Coach
Trond Nystad. He asked me to get it out to as many people as
possible.
We are in Italy – two days from the Marchelonga (which is a World Cup
this year). We'll be racing 4 to 5 men and Wendy Wagner. The course
is fairly tough with a long sun exposed hill up to the finish.
From here we are off to World Jr. Champs in Norway, Under-23 Worlds at
Soldier Hollow and World Cups in France, Germany…and on, and on.
We have high hopes.

Good skiing,
Pete



Where we're at and Where we're going

Trond Nystad
Head Coach
US Ski Team

It has been a very long time since the US have had skiers that can win
a world cup, Olympics or a world championships. Today we have several
skiers who have proven they can be competitive and contend for the win
every weekend. We have not won a race yet, but it is close and it can
happen any weekend. Not long ago, we were excited when an athlete
scored world cup points. That has changed. We are of course happy
when we score points, but the goal is to be on the podium.
Per Elofson, Kristen Skjeldal, Anders Aukland, Renee Sommerfelt,
Tobias Angerer, Matias Fredrikson, Jorgen Brink, Andrus Verpaluu,
Martin Koukal and every other "famous" racer has one thing in common,
they have all been beaten this season by Americans. The most important
thing is that our athletes know that they can be on the podium and
that is what they are fighting for in every race. Not only do we
think this is possible, but so does the rest of the ski world. We
have gotten recognition from the other coaches and athletes around the
world. When the Norwegians, Swedes, Italians and Germans are giving
splits, they are comparing themselves to our American athletes. When
the races are over the same athletes and coaches come to our cabin to
congratulate us with our results. The media and the ski world is
taking it for granted that some time very soon we are going to have
several people contend for the win in every race. People in the
streets of Europe know our athletes by name and by results. We have
very quickly become household names on the lips of all ski-interested
people all over Europe.

We have achieved these results by being patient, and by developing an
American system that works for us. We still have a long way to go
before we are perfect, but we have gotten a very fine start. Today's
athletes are the product of numerous people's dedication and hard
work. We thank all of you and challenge all of you to keep up the
hard work and keep producing great athletes who can be competitive on
the world arena.

There are several areas that we as Americans need to address in the
near future to stay competitive. Cross country skiing on the
international level is very competitive. Every second lost is a place
lost. In order to be competitive on this level we therefore need to do
everything right. Not only do we need to do things right with the
older athletes, but from the start of a young skier's career. We need
to move away from having cross country skiing being a recreational
sport for all the athletes that could not make it on any other sport.
High school and club coaches must create competitive and professional
programs that facilitate the recruitment and development of athletes.
We can however not forget the masses. A solid volume of good skiers
is essential for growth. We have done well on the volume side of
things, but need to step it up on the number of quality skiers we
produce every year.

It is also important that every athlete takes responsibility for their
own training and development. It is not acceptable to leave this up
to a coach. The coach is there to educate and guide, but not to fully
control the athlete's life and training. You have to want it.
Without that burning desire to explore your potential you are never
going to become good, no matter what coach or what equipment you have.
Athletes: give yourself a chance to succeed! This means that you
have to do everything within your control to become a better person
and athlete. We are not going to give you a detailed list of what
that is as it is very different from person to person. It is however
clear that in order to become good you have to prepare right in a
plethora of aspects.

1. You have to train well. This does however not mean that you are
going to kill yourself, rather train what is right for you, your
situation and your body. Any fool can over-train, but only a
conscious and confident athlete can train just enough. Work with a
coach to find out what is right for you. Keep in mind that you have
to be dedicated to training to perform well, but a little too much
training is a lot worse than a little too little. When in doubt take
a day off. Do not be a slave to your program; let your program be the
guide, and your body the boss.
2. It is imperative to live a lifestyle that allows you to train and
perform right. In order to train well year round you have to give
your body a chance. This means that you have to take care of
yourself. Your body needs good food, lots of fluid, and plenty of
sleep and rest. Your life must reflect your training and vice versa.
If you are having exams at school your training must be reduced, and
if you are training hard you cannot stay up late. Not a complicated
idea, but if you want to become a great athlete you must be great at
balancing your life.
3. Admit to yourself and others around you that you are giving it your
all. Being serious and dedicated is not a disease, rather a sign of
strength and character. The US Ski Team athletes have developed an
athlete contract. It says: "We create our legacy and ourselves
through our actions today, tomorrow and everyday. We accept and
embrace this opportunity to succeed and admit to the fact that we are
giving this everything we have both as individuals and as a team,
without excuse." (Team Today) Are you up for the challenge?
4. Have fun! Skiing is a fun sport with lots of great people involved
in it. To become good at anything you have to enjoy what you are
doing. Train with your friends, live a normal lifestyle, go to the
movies, have a boy/girl friend. Skiing is not for abnormal people, it
is for normal people who love to ski and see how far they can develop
their potential.

Coaches and administrators around the US also have some challenges to
overcome. Sometimes it seems like we have several island of "special
interests" around the American ski country. One thing is for sure if
we are going to succeed we all have to pull in the same direction.
This means that we have to be committed to the development of athletes
and the sport. Sometimes we are going to disagree on what this means,
but open and timely communication can solve most issues before they
become issues. This means discussing and dealing with the issue not
the person. We are all in this because we want to give our athletes
the experience of a lifetime, let's make sure our grown up egos do not
get in the way of that.

There are several challenges that US Skiing and American skiers have
to overcome that several European athletes do not. Most of these
issues we cannot change, but some we have control over. As of right
now the US Ski team does not have a lot of resources to spend on cross
country skiing. Norway has about 10 times more, Sweden 4 times more,
Switzerland 3 times more and the list goes on. This means that we are
going to be understaffed and not be able to do all the things that we
should do. The money we have today is barely enough to allow the team
to compete in world cups. Everyone always says that we do not have
money because the alpine team runs away with it all. This is a
convenient solution, but far from the truth. We have been living on
alpine money for a long time now. There are no sponsors to the US Ski
Team that have a cross country interest, there is only one person who
has given more than $1000 in donation to the team.

The US is one of 2 countries in the world that does not offer
governmental support to their athletes (the team is not governmentally
supported either); we are therefore in need of private donors and
sponsors.

We are also at loss because we do not have a media channel that covers
cross country skiing well. As cross country enthusiast we can change
this. We need to sell this sport to ourselves first and then to the
rest of the US. Every world cup race can be found on the internet.
Download the races, find a big screen TV and organize local club or
high school "race nights". Do it every weekend after every race.
Organize a local and national fan club for the US Ski Team Athletes.
We need your support at the races. Get friends together, buy some big
American flags and come to our races.

We have our task cut out for ourselves. There are going to be some
ups and some downs, but our goals are shared and so is our success.
We have finally gotten back to where we should be on the international
level. The road has been windy and hard, but we have made it because
that was the only option. Lets all pull together to ensure that we
stay competitive internationally for years to come. We all want to
see American women and men succeed, so take a moment to appreciate
what you have done and then we hope that you will get right back at it
again. Thanks for all the help and thanks for giving it all to ensure
American success.

Trond

Pete Vordenberg wrote:
[snipped most of a great letter from the US coach]

The US is one of 2 countries in the world that does not offer
governmental support to their athletes (the team is not governmentally
supported either); we are therefore in need of private donors and
sponsors.

If you want to be pedantic, Norway doesn't offer any government support
either: What happened was that originally when a football (soccer) pool
was started, it was only allowed on the conditions that a given
percentage of the profits should go to culture and sports.

This setup has been kept up over the years, and is responsible for
pretty much all we've invested in sports over the years, along with
volunteer contributions.

I.e. when my club (Tyrving) makes a new orienteering map, we can get up
to 33% of the cost from the pool money, and cover the rest by volunteer
efforts (i.e. surveying, drafting etc).

We're currently in a big argument here between the Culture Department
and the Elite Sports Council (Olympiatoppen), because the department
have determined that a larger proportion of the sports pool money have
to be used for youth development, and a little less for Elite/Olympic
competitors in preparation for Athens this summer.

Terje

--
-
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"

Terje Mathisen wrote in message ...

If you want to be pedantic, Norway doesn't offer any government support
either: What happened was that originally when a football (soccer) pool
was started, it was only allowed on the conditions that a given
percentage of the profits should go to culture and sports.

This is how it works in Finland (and Sweden, I believe),
too: the national betting company has a monopoly (which
is being contested, though) and the Ministry responsible
for education, culture and sports gets a nice percentage.

However, since we aren´t as sports-crazy as the Norwegians,
the share of the sports is only slightly above 20% of that
sum (and sinking, despite loud protests from the field).


OTOH there is roughly a similar annual sum of support by
the municipalities which goes to building and maintenance
of sports facilities, which are then available at somewhat
subsidized prices.


The huge difference between Finland and Norway is in the
sum total of commercial sponsors, I think.


We're currently in a big argument here between the Culture Department
and the Elite Sports Council (Olympiatoppen), because the department
have determined that a larger proportion of the sports pool money have
to be used for youth development, and a little less for Elite/Olympic
competitors in preparation for Athens this summer.

Yes, our E/O bosses have been complaining for years that
the Norwegians have a much more favorable ratio!

OTOH there´s also an argument that more of the betting
money should be going to "non-elite oriented youth
programs", because "the emphasis on building a few
future medal winners has been on the cost of the large
majority who quit at 14-18 and turn their back on
sports and grow up to be fat sedentary adults":-)



Lustig

[ ]
There are no sponsors to the US Ski
Team that have a cross country interest, there is only one person who
has given more than $1000 in donation to the team.
[ ]
Trond

Thanks for the inspirational challenge, Trond. Man, if I was a fatcat I would
go over $1K myself! Just to get the record! ...Or 2nd place anyway. I've met
quite a few docs and lawyers and (significant) biz owners that this current
low level is surprising.

I posted recently that I thought that XC needed a Mengoni or Wiesel to make it
over the hump and that Minneapolis probably had a benefactor like that lurking
somewhere. How to find them? ...Maybe they could get a worldclass venue built
close to downtown with great viewing stands named after them.

Well, best wishes for turning this ship around, you guys! Your efforts seem to
be working in several regards already.

--

Jeff Potter
****
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