It was a real honor to attend the Annual Benefit for Women’s Ski Jumping USA (WSJ-USA) last night. Excellent food, good company from around the globe and an ice sculpture of a ski jump that poured drinks all contributed to a great, festive atmosphere. The program featured WSJ-USA Board President (and former mayor of Salt Lake City) Deedee Corradini thanking all of the supporters of WSJ-USA’s long journey. We were also treated to a video that told the story of the individual athletes’ rise to the world stage, complete with archive pictures of them as little girls (which brought chills to this father of three girls). What an exciting journey!
It is about time that women ski jumpers around the world are represented at the Olympic level. WSJ-USA did a RallyMe campaign leading up to the event with a goal of $25,000 and, as of last night, they have exceeded that goal and reached over $32,000 on that online campaign. All clubs should check out RallyMe for fundraising opportunities! The total goal for the event was $100,000 including a silent and live auction. From the look and feel of the event, I’m sure they made their goal. I would like to extend a special thanks to Whitney Childers (WSJ-USA Media Relations) and Robbie Beck (WSJ-USA Executive Director) for including me in this event. And a big “Go get ‘em and good luck” to our US Women’s Ski Jumping team in their inaugural Olympic season. I can’t wait to see Sarah Hendrickson, Jessica Jerome, Lindsey Van, Abby Hughes, Alissa Johnson and Nina Lussi fly high (and long) in Sochi!
P.S. Thanks for the autographs.
Brian Krill
USSA Club Development Manager
bkrill@ussa.org
