Get to know SSA's new Alpine Director

Australia’s alpine skiing community is turning a new chapter as SSA’s newly appointed Alpine Director Mick Branch commences his new role next month. Bringing a wealth of alpine coaching and leadership experience from his 20 years work in the field, Mick returns to SSA after working as a world cup coach with the US Ski Team and then working as a high performance coach.

Not only does Mick return with extensive high performance experience, he also brings a little team of his own.  With two young children age seven and four years old in tow, Mick is looking forward to permanently settling back in Australia with his family, where he will reintroduce himself to the alpine community to gain a clear picture of the current Australian alpine landscape and develop a view on the best way forward.

In getting to know Mick, we asked what some of his career highlights have been so far, and as we imagined, he’d had lots of great moments.

His two stand outs would have to be the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games where he was part of the most successful US Alpine team in US Olympic history that collected gold, silver and bronze medals, and coaching his brother, Craig Branch, on the World Cup circuit.
 
“Watching Craig score World Cup points on some of the classic downhills like the Kandahar Chamonix Mont-Blanc and the Val Gardena Groden Saslong classic was pretty rewarding for me.” He said.  
 
And on the topic of performances, we asked Mick what he thought was the most important ingredient for athlete success from his experience working with elite level athletes. 
 
“There are many variables and it differs for each individual. Some common ingredients that enable athletes to achieve and sustain high levels of performance are consistency and decisiveness.  It can be as simple as consistently practicing the fundamentals” he said.
 
“Raising consistency enables an athlete to perform at their highest level during the most critical moments, and achieving and sustaining consistency is critical in high-level performance. Being decisive and therefore having the ability to make firm, unwavering decisions quickly and effectively is critical in ski racing, on and off the mountain.”
 
With a leadership and coaching style that focuses on communication, critical thinking and an understanding of what the end goal looks like, Mick comes equipped to direct and inspire people to achieve their goals.

“I believe being a successful leader requires communicating at the highest level and instilling a mindset and work ethic into others that will enable them to maximize their potential.” He said.
 
Mick’s role will work closely with athletes, clubs and coaches, and seek to instill a new culture of high performance consistent with the National Alpine Committee vision and strategic plan for the sport.
 
“Long-term athlete development requires investment in grass roots skill development.” He said, and talked about his vision for research and innovation in southern hemisphere training facilities to give athletes and coaches access to venues to develop key fundamental skills to achieve high level performances on the world stage. 
 
“Engagement and communication with the alpine community will be the first step” he said. And then we turned the conversation back to skiing.  
 
Do you get much skiing in yourself? We asked. “When I get the chance I will, especially if it’s a powder day, I never like to miss one of those” he said with a smile.
 
See the announcement of Mick Branch’s appointment 

Alexandra Rouse
Ski & Snowboard Australia

Image: Mick (third from left) joined Brad Wall (left), Craig Branch (second left) and Shawn Fleming (right) for the National Alpine Skills Assessments in Perisher over the weekend.