Aussie stars to mentor ski and snowboard Futures

Some of Australia’s best athletes will take time out of their busy schedules this winter to mentor the next generation of ski and snowboard stars, bolstering the future of their sports.

This year marks the sixth year that Ski & Snowboard Australia has been running SSA Futures, programs designed for athlete development and talent identification.

The vision of the programs is to enhance the opportunities and resources for athletes. They aim to establish a consistent and unified approach to athlete development and provide athletes with superior technical coaching and performance opportunities.

“SSA Futures provides benefit for both the athletes and the sporting pathway allowing for athletes from pathway programs as well as athletes outside pathway programs to come together for training,” SSA Sports Program Coordinator Annie McCormack explained.

“It also provides the opportunity to educate athletes about the next steps in the progression through the pathway.”

The programs aim to introduce developing athletes to elite sporting opportunities and elite sports people and this year across all Futures Programs, National Team athletes will be present to mentor and guide athletes.  

“The interaction between athletes and national team athletes is an important link for them as they grow and progress in the sport, these athletes having after all progressed through the same pathway themselves,” McCormack said.  

The National Team athletes are a great resource for understanding how they reached their current level as well as giving athletes an insight of what it takes to reach that level.  This year athletes such as Chumpy Pullin, Torah Bright, Belle Brockhoff, Cam Bolton and Scotty James will be there to share the day with young athletes.

Winter Olympian Brockhoff herself came through SSA’s talent identification programs and now relishes the opportunity to give back to the younger athletes, whilst learning from them at the same time.

“I have been coaching at Futures for a few years now and I learn a lot from the kids that I incorporate into my riding,” Brockhoff said. 

“It’s really cool going back to the basics of the sport and learning different ways to tackle a feature or figuring out better ways to get down a run. It’s a unique opportunity for the kids as they get to race with and against us, giving them a lot of valuable experience especially if they want to go all the way to competing on the World Tour. 

“It’s also a unique opportunity for myself to see who is coming through the sport, how much everyone has progressed and being around a bunch of kids who are so excited to be there is really cool to see.”

SSA Futures aims to increase knowledge of the athlete pathway, selection criteria and the various opportunities, resources and programs available to Australian snow sport athletes. It encourages involvement in SSA domestic ski/snowboard events and aims to bridge the gap between Interschools competition participation and involvement in seasonal SSA Pathway Programs.

After SSA took over the management of Paralympic Wintersport programs from the Australian Paralympic Committee last year, SSA saw an opportunity to expand its Futures and talent identification activity for the Para-wintersport pathway. 

SSA are seeking not only participants who are able to ski, but also looking at athletes who can transfer their athletic talent from other Paralympic sports. We are hoping to see the area of para-wintersport and the para-wintersport pathway grow over the coming years.