Due to technical difficulties on the editors part, Mike Tingum's Barker in Review failed to post on February 1st. Here is his copy for your reading enjoyment:
BARKER - In Review
By: Mike Tingum
Meeting Date: 1/27/2022
With the 2022 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony only about a week away, there could have been no better speaker than U.S. Ski & Snowboard Board Member and Chair of the National Alpine Sport Committee, Darryl Landstrom. After dispelling any rumors that some of the esteemed members of our club attempted to start regarding Darryl’s preferred skiing attire (or lack thereof), Darryl dove into a captivating presentation on the US Ski and Snowboard organization. Click READ MORE below.
By: Mike Tingum
Meeting Date: 1/27/2022
With the 2022 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony only about a week away, there could have been no better speaker than U.S. Ski & Snowboard Board Member and Chair of the National Alpine Sport Committee, Darryl Landstrom. After dispelling any rumors that some of the esteemed members of our club attempted to start regarding Darryl’s preferred skiing attire (or lack thereof), Darryl dove into a captivating presentation on the US Ski and Snowboard organization. Click READ MORE below.
U.S. Ski and Snowboard (f/k/a U.S. Ski Association is a non-profit, headquartered in Park City Utah, and has approximately 150 employees and 180 athletes between their seven national and world cup teams, but perhaps more impressively, has approximately 30,000 active athletes at all levels, and works with approximately 100,000 volunteers. Darrly discussed the visions, mission and core values of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, then led the group through the three organizational pillars of the organization: Athlete Experience and Performance, Organizational Excellence and Financial Performance. Beyond the more obvious areas of Athlete Experience and Performance, Darryl discussed the mental element of the sport and the importance of memorization and confidence, and the athletes’ use of sports psychologists to improve in those areas. His discussions on Organizational Excellence focused on the growth and change in the organization over the past decade or so, including setting organizational objectives and pursuing growth in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion for the organization and sport. The Financial Performance of the entity looked at the goal of fully funding their athletes, by raising money through donations, memberships and merchandizing, so that their athletes do not need to pay their own way, in a sport that involves significant expenses.
Darryl then shared with us his involvement with the Olympic Selection Committee for alpine events, discussing some of the criteria they look at when making such selections, the hurdles that covid has created surrounding the Olympics, and giving us an inside look into some of the process of selecting alternates and the replacement for one of the top speed athletes, Breezy Johnson, when she reinjured her knee a few weeks ago.
Darryl then shared with us his involvement with the Olympic Selection Committee for alpine events, discussing some of the criteria they look at when making such selections, the hurdles that covid has created surrounding the Olympics, and giving us an inside look into some of the process of selecting alternates and the replacement for one of the top speed athletes, Breezy Johnson, when she reinjured her knee a few weeks ago.
Darryl wrapped up his presentation by answering questions about the pipeline of Olympic athletes and other top competitors, including those coming from Buck Hill Ski Area in Burnsville, and giving us a preview of what to expect out of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard athletes in this upcoming Olympics. If you missed this presentation, but plan to watch any of the winter Olympics, you should make it a point to first watch the video (which will be posted online) of the recording of Darryl’s presentation to our club, as it will give you a better understanding and appreciation of the organization supporting these US athletes, and the work that goes on behind the scenes, to keeping the US and world leader in skiing and snowboarding.
In addition to Darrly’s presentation, this week’s meeting covered past and future social events and fundraising. On the social side of things, members of our club participated in a progressive dinner this past week and will be having a bowling outing this week. On the fundraising side, Dan and Stacy Mott were recognized as major donors, and we heard from Catherine Gump on an upcoming fundraising competition. Be sure to invite any perspective new members to next week’s meeting for Perspective Member Day.