USSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING RECAP
Following is a recap of key reports and decisions of the Tuesday, March 8, 2016 meeting of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Board of Directors. Formal minutes from the meeting will be published in early April. This is only a summary of key points and not to be viewed as minutes.
SUMMARY OF KEY DECISIONS
FREESKIING SPORT COMMITTEE
Since the advent of freeskiing as an Olympic sport in 2011, the interests of the sport have been managed within a combined freeskiing and freestyle USSA sport committee structure and within the FIS. On March 8, the USSA Board voted to create a new freeskiing specific sport committee. The action will grow the voting members of the USSA Board to 23 by adding a sport committee representative and freeskiing athlete to the Board. An interim sport committee, to be initially chaired by Tom Yaps, will be populated by members of the existing sub-committee, and will have members from all of the regions to better represent freeskiing across the country. The interim sport committee will be reviewed for approval by the Board at its May meeting. The move has the full support of the USSA Freestyle Committee and has been engineered with the support of its chair Chris Seemann.
TRANSGENDER PROTOCOL
In response to evolving IOC standards relative to transgender athletes, the USSA has been engaging in discussions with both FIS and USOC over the past year. The board held an initial discussion on a USSA-specific policy that would allow athletes to self select their gender identity without inspection or hormonal checks. A core of the discussion was the goal of respecting the identity of transgender athletes while protecting competitiveness within sport. A proposal will be made in May at the USSA Congress.
USSA GOVERNANCE TASK FORCE
Olympian Lisa Kosglow reported on the recent work of the USSA Governance Task Force. The task force, chaired by Kosglow and Eric Resnick was asked by the USSA Board of Directors to review the overall governance structure of the USSA with a goal of being among the best among national governing bodies and other highly-respected non-profit organizations. Some of the key points included:
- Empowering a task force representing a broad group of voices.
- Strengthening the staff connection with each of the USSA’s sport committees, providing important context for the committees.
- Ensuring consistency between committees, as well as the USOC, in terms of protocols and bylaws.
- Reviewing the onboarding of new board members as a key to ongoing success, with active engagement with board members in each sport.
USSA JULIUS BLEGEN AWARD
The USSA’s Julius Blegen Award is the highest level of recognition for service to the organization. Presently, past recipients plus the USSA Board of Directors are permitted to both nominate and vote. In an effort to bring more diversity and engagement to the process, the board voted to add the USSA Awards Working Group to the list of those permitted to nominate and vote. The Awards Working Group consists of representatives from each sport committee plus at-large members. The new protocol will go into effect in 2017.
FIS REPRESENTATION
The USSA Board approved a list of candidates for appointment to FIS committees for the period 2016-18. Those candidates will be presented at the FIS Congress this June.
NEXT BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Park City, UT
May 9-11 – USSA Club Excellence
May 11-15 – USSA Congress
May 15 – USSA Board of Directors Meeting
NOTE: Among the highlights of the USSA Congress will be a rollout of the Board-approved updates to the USSA’s vision, mission, values and goals.
