Minnesota College Ski Teams Working Group
Recap of April 3, 2014 Meeting
A group of concerned citizens convened a meeting about the state of college skiing in Minnesota. The immediate reason for the meeting was the situation with Gustavus College - which recently informed the Gustavus Ski Team that it was going to be cut as a varsity program at the school. However, the focus of the meeting was on the broader state of college skiing in Minnesota.
The meeting covered roughly four areas: the broader context, defining a vision for college skiing, strategies for achieving that vision, and it finished with a discussion of the situation at Gustavus.
Broader Context. The meeting started with a recap of the broader context of skiing in the country and in Minnesota. Jill Sonnesyn and Bruce Adelsman gathered data indicating that:
The group then reviewed the recent history of college skiing in the state, which has mostly been contracting for a number of years. In recent years the state has lost programs at St. John’s/St. Ben’s and Carleton College, and over the past 20 years has lost programs at Bemidji State, St. Mary’s, and Macalester. Per Ari Ofsevit In 2002, the MIAC teams were Macalester, Carleton, St Marys, Olaf, Gustavus and CSB/SJU. The only program added in recent memory was at Saint Scholastica. From discussions about St. John’s/St. Bens, as well as Gustavus, it appears the recent program cuts may have been due to resource reallocation and focus on other sports, more so than budgeting (i.e. money was being redirected to other activities/sports deemed more important within their conference).
Apparently Saint Scholastica analyzes the ski team by looking at the number of students the ski team attracts to the school. Because there are 37 students on the ski team - who presumably would not be there without the ski team - the school looks upon the ski team as cash positive even though the school obviously has a budget for the team.
Vision. There was significant discussion of NCAA/Varsity teams and clubs. The consensus was that both clubs and NCAA/varsity programs are important. Ideally each school would have both a varsity team and a club. The group felt that NCAA/varsity programs are critical so that athletes who want to excel have an opportunity to do so. There was also concern that without NCAA/varsity programs in place the ski community does not generate future leaders.
Accordingly, the group concluded that there should be at least six to ten robust NCAA/varsity programs in Minnesota. These programs should support both high level athletes and athletes who may not be as fast but who are just as committed.
Strategies. There are two strategies for achieving this vision. First, we need to hold onto the programs that we have. Second, we need to add programs to the roster.
Holding onto programs. To hold onto programs we need to employ multiple strategies. We as a community need to demand excellence from the programs that exist. If the programs are allowed to languish with disinterested or subpar coaches they will become easier to eliminate - because team numbers/performance will go down and the athletic director will not see the program as valuable. The consensus was to establish active alumni groups for each existing program. The alumni would pool their resources, meet with athletic directors, demand excellence, and help the teams achieve that excellence.
We also need to work to develop a steady stream of qualified coaches. Many times in the past coaching positions have not had a robust pool of applicants. To have robust programs we need high-level coaches. Developing a strategy for developing high-level coaches and keeping them in the Midwest will be important to developing robust programs.
Adding programs. To add programs we need to develop relationships with the decision-makers at target schools. Finding a committee of skier alumni from each target school will be important in this endeavor. Bethel University was looking seriously into adding a Nordic program as recently as last summer. We will be trying to find the relevant decision-makers and/or anyone affiliated with Bethel over the next few weeks.
To add credibility generally, these committees can/should operate under a state-wide organization. We are looking into working with the Minnesota Nordic Ski Association for this purpose. We talked about generating some analysis/stories of the successes that good programs can create. We may look into the Saint Scholastica model on this point . . . We should also examine the number of Minnesota seniors who go on to ski in college each year.
We talked about forming a long-term workgroup, which will help lead the development of the alumni groups and provide direction, resources and materials to make the alumni groups successful. Many people at the meeting indicated that they wanted to be part of this group. But a key for success will be finding more people in the community who are interested and want to be part of this committee.
Gustavus. A recent Gustavus alumni reported on the situation at Gustavus and the efforts in place to keep the program going. Alumni and parents are trying to understand the reason for the decision to cut the program. They are hoping to meet with the president, the athletic director and relevant trustees. The group is hoping to support the Gustavus alumni group in any way possible.
Next Meeting. The broader group decided to meet again on April 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Finn Sisu. To find out more about that group email John Munger at munger@loppet.org. To find out more about the Gustavus situation in particular, email Jill Sonnesyn at jill.sonnesyn@gmail.com.