Skills Assessment

Program Aims

SSA and the five major clubs have all agreed to work cooperatively towards the following aims.

1. Provide valuable data to athletes, coaches, families on the technical ability and progress of athletes
2. Provide data to club Directors and coaches to influence annual programming and skill emphasis
3. Provide a metric for Club administration to assess the performances of their coaching staff
4. Place greater emphasis on athletic skill development
5. Create greater ease of access for all athletes to be assessed. Athletes will be assessed at their home mountain and do not need to spend additional funds to take part away from their home mountain as in years’ past
6. Identify talented athletes that take part in every level of ALP/SX (FIS to Interschools)

Athlete Advantages

While alpine skiing has a long established system to rank athletes through SSA or FIS points, these do not tell the complete story and are not always the strongest predictor of future success. By delivering the National Skills Assessment throughout Australia, a larger number of athletes will access the Assessment and the valuable feedback it provides. For the first time in Australia, athletes will be nationally ranked based on their skiing skills. This information in conjunction with physical testing data and SSA/ FIS points will give a more complete picture of an athlete’s current abilities and future prospects.

The data provided will help athletes better understand their strengths and opportunities for improvement. In conjunction with their club coaching staff and the National Development Coaches a plan can be put in place to help athletes make improvements during the season.

By conducting the Assessment at each resort, a larger number of athletes will have access at a considerable saving to years past where the assessment has been held in a centralised location.

High achieving athletes will be exclusively invited to train with the National Development coaches at an end of season SG/GS/SX camp, and given priority access to SSA Northern Hemisphere programs based out of Leogang; Austria.

Club Advantages

Following the completion of the National Skills Assessment at the 5 major resorts, the Clubs will receive all of the relevant data for their athletes. This will include individual results showing comparisons to National averages, as well as the athletes national ranking. The data will also rank the clubs in each of the categories being assessed (U12/14/16/FIS).

The National Development coaches will spend time analysing the data with Club coaches and Directors and assist in developing programming to address club and individual athlete needs. The data will provide an objective measure for Club administration to use in evaluating and setting performance goals for their coaching staff.

National Development Coaches

We are pleased to announce the appointment of two National Development Coaches for the Australian Season.

Chris McKnight will be the National Development Coach allocated to the Victorian Clubs and will work in a joint role with the SSA Para Alpine Program. Chris is certified through the Canadian Ski Coaches Federation (CSCF) and has recently been on the Australian Men’s National Team coaching staff working with athletes at multiple World Championship campaigns as well as World Cup, Europa Cup and NorAm circuits. In 2014 Chris coached female members of the Australian National Team leading them the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. Chris also spent 4 years in various roles at the Mt. Buller Race Club. Chris’ extensive international experience will be a great asset to the Victorian Clubs and athletes.

Shawn Fleming will be the National Development Coach located in NSW and will work closely with TSRC and PWSC. Shawn is currently the Head Coach of the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA); Ski Cross Program, and has a long background in Alpine. Over the past two years Shawn has worked closely within the Alpine framework, most recently playing an integral role in the coaching staff of the Australian U16 Team competing at the 2016 Whistler Cup. Shawn is certified through CSCF and coached at the Perisher Winter Sports Club from 2004 to 2012. Shawn gained valuable experience at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, and has led the OWIA SX Program at the most recent World Championships and the World Cup campaign since 2014. Shawn’s link to OWIA gives him valuable insight in to the Australian Sporting System and his knowledge of Australia’s Winning edge is extensive. Shawn will be an asset to the NSW Clubs and identified athletes.

Assessment Dates and Registration

The National Skills Assessment will be coming to your home resort on the following dates, see below for details and registration:

• Perisher; July 2 – 3 Register Here
• Falls Creek; July 5 – 6 *please contact Falls Creek Race Club
• Mount Hotham; July 7 – 8 *please contact teamHotham
• Mount Buller; July 9 – 11 Register Here
• Thredbo; July 23 – 24 Register Here

Additional Information

For more information please see the National Skills Assessment Brochure here and the Participation Manual here.

Two things the world’s best alpine and ski cross competitors have in common is that they are incredible free skiers, and simply love to ski. In order to achieve long term success and enjoyment in competition, athletes first and foremost need to be technically great skiers. The National Skills Assessment will help identify athlete’s strengths and opportunities for improvement by challenging them to complete a series of tasks. By working hard and focusing on skill acquisition; athletes will be rewarded by seeing their Skills Assessment scores improve in the short term and their opportunities for athletic success increase in the long run.