2020-21 Alpine Nomination Criteria Changes Featured on Ski Racing Media
U.S. Ski & Snowboard Alpine Director Jesse Hunt and Alpine Development Director Chip Knight shared the 2020-21 alpine nomination criteria - as well as World Cup, Europa Cup and World Junior criteria for the 2019-20 season - in a series of conference calls with athletes and coaches on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.
- 2020-21 U.S. Ski Team nomination criteria
- 2019-20 World Cup start guidelines
- 2019-20 Europa Cup start guidelines
- 2020 World Junior Championship selection criteria
Ski Racing Media's Sean Higgins covered the changes on Friday, speaking with both Jesse as well as A Team athlete Bryce Bennett.
Highlighting this year’s criteria is a change to a two-year team nomination which U.S. Ski & Snowboard believes will allow for improved athlete management strategies. Objective criteria for a team nomination remains unchanged except for the addition of a physical fitness requirement for C and D Team athletes.
Athletes that receive a team nomination at the end of the 2020 season based on objective criteria will be members of the national team for the following two seasons, as opposed to just one as has been the case in the past. Current U.S. Ski Team athletes on the 2019-20 roster have also been grandfathered in to this change and will all be extended a nomination to next season’s roster as well.
“This allows us to have a little bit more of a long-term strategy with our athlete management and we feel that it’s a good direction to go in athletically,” said U.S. Ski Team Alpine Director Jesse Hunt. “That’s a big shift for us.”