National Discipline Committee Meetings - Major Outcomes

Each of the National Discipline Committees (NDC) recently held their Spring meetings to review the past southern winter and plan ahead for the northern winter and beyond. The major outcomes from these meetings have been provided below for your information.

National Alpine Committee (NAC)

• The National Skills Assessment was discussed at length and supported moving forward. The NAC is looking at ways to improve the delivery and diversify the reach of the program for 2017
• Selection criteria proposals were reviewed and will be adopted shortly. Across the board at FIS level, the criteria will move away from world rankings, and look at performance standards in circuits of credit including World Cup, European Cup, NorAm Cup and Australia New Zealand Cup. This performance criteria is in line with Australia’s Winning Edge
• The format for FIS Children’s quota spot allocation has been changed, allowing all interested athletes the opportunity to compete for spots in a time trial leading up to the events. This will apply to major events such as Topolino, where there are a significant number of athletes with various programs, in the same area. As Whistler Cup is a destination event for all athletes, the format will be unchanged, athletes will be selected ahead of time, seeding will be decided through time trials.
• The NAC is looking at the viability of operating a U14 group alongside the U16 group at the 2017 Whistler Cup
• It was reconfirmed that it is critically important for each of the 5 major clubs to host the SSA National Children’s Series on rotation
• Following on from discussions at the Alpine Leaders Forum, the NAC is looking at restructuring the SSA Alpine Membership to be all inclusive and facilitate physical testing and the National Skills Assessment. Current models indicate that the updated pricing should be less than the current cumulative costs of membership and the additional add-ons.

Alpine Leaders Forum

• Unanimous support from the clubs in the value of the National Skills Assessment and the importance of the data over time
• The clubs had valuable input in to how the delivery of the National Skills Assessment can be improved, and how it can reach further into the skiing community
• A simplified all-inclusive SSA membership was discussed and supported by all clubs. It is projected that the new membership will include physical testing and National Skills Assessment fees, which SSA will deliver. More work is needed on the pricing structure, however it is expected to be rolled out for the 2017 Membership year
• Coaching was identified as a high priority area for clubs, finding and retaining high quality coaches in the face of increasing visa restrictions. Continued development of SSA Coaching Courses is strongly supported, particularly for Australian coaches
• Clubs are also interested in ways to keep Australian athletes engaged in skiing through ski instructing and/or coaching after they have finished racing. Coaching courses can play a big part in this
• Interest in resource sharing with SSA, looking at web hosting, administration support
• With the increased number of Australian athletes travelling to New Zealand to train and compete, clubs are looking for ways to work together, and looking to SSA to help cater to these athletes
• A robust discussion centred around the integration of the SSA National Children’s Series and the National Interschool’s Championship. This would help make the interschool’s series truly aspirational, better align with the prescribed race to train ratio and help ensure that all talented athlete are being identified in the alpine pathway. All clubs agreed this is an important goal to work toward
• Some clubs are seeking greater representation and visibility with the National Alpine Committee (NAC). The NAC has taken this feedback on board and the current structure is under review. In the short term, Club representatives will be invited to participate on an number of working groups in the key areas discussed above.

SSA Cross Country Committee (SSAXC)

• SSA XC Committee Business
  • It was agreed to review SSA XC Committee membership before the next SSA XC meeting in November, including Sub-Committee chairs and members.
• Strategic Planning & Staffing
  • The high performance budget and staffing plan through to 2018 was confirmed, including an extension of the Falls Creek partnership through to 2019. From May 1, 2017 the program will have a full time Program Director and new full time Head Coach. An additional $20K is needed from external sources to also bring on a part-time Development Coach.
• Selection
  • The National Teams were selected for 2016-2017 and invitations have been sent out to the athletes. Selection policies were confirmed for major international events in 2017, with preliminary team selections to be confirmed at the next SSA XC meeting. It was noted that Barbara Jezersek’s citizenship has been granted and that she will be eligible to compete on World Cup and at the 2017 World Championship.
• Full Meeting Outcomes available here

National Freestyle Committee (NFC)

• Australian NSWIS/SSA Mogul ski team will attend the Asian games in February 2017, with opportunities given to 2022 identified NSWIS athletes and national development coaches. Team will be supported by the AOC.
• SSA Mogul Skiing Emerging Talent Program has been formalised with six emerging athletes with years of birth from 1999 to 2002 to be selected into the program by National coaching group based on appropriate Generic Selection Factors
• Australian Judging Coordinator Zoe Dent has been selected to the Olympic Mogul and Aerial Judging Panel for 2018
• FIS Judges and TD clinics were successfully held in Melbourne from the 21-23 of October
• Live scoring programs will be implemented at Australian Mogul events in 2017

National Snowboard Committee (NSC)

• The SBC will develop a Judging Pathway to improve the number and quality of Australian snowboard event judges.  Following on this year’s judging clinic another clinic has been scheduled for 13-14 August in Jindabyne.
• The SBC will conduct a review of the current Snowboard Handbook and Pathway.
• The SBC will prepare a proposal for SSA to fund a Slopestyle Series of events in Australia for the next 3 years.
• The SBC will work to develop a strategic fund-raising plan to support the development of competitive snowboarding in Australia.
• Dylan Campbell and Adam Begg were confirmed as members of the Snowboard Committee.