Readers agree that there are "Things that Need Saying:"
Some people may wonder why I'm still posting on this blog, since my speedskating career is over, but others believe there is more that needs to be said. I've mentioned at one point that my experiences in speedskating remind me of my work as a graduate student in science: I ask questions, seek the answers, carry out experiments, record my results and draw conclusions. Even though I won't be competing in the 2006 Olympics, there are still some important questions left to be answered. I'm not going to stop until the most important results from the culture medium I'm studying have come in.
Recently, I heard from a reader who has knowledge of inequalities in the ranks of the junior skaters. He shared the story of a junior girl who always had to pay her own way to the Can-Am competition in Calgary, while the rest of the junior team got to go for free. The reason why this skater had to pay for her own trip is that she only wanted to go to the main event, rather than losing a week or more of school in order to travel around doing some "worthless time trials" with the rest of the team. Instead of helping this young lady, who has been one of the top American junior skaters for several years, US Speedskating would pay for a much slower skater to go with the team in her place.
What would inspire an athlete who has been treated in this way (and her family, for that matter) to be loyal to the organization? I mentioned before that the way USS treated me throughout the years made me unwilling to participate in the team pursuit. I'm sure other skaters on the outside have their own ways of doing what they need to do, while keeping the federation "at an arm's distance."
The reader who shared his thoughts on this topic said he doesn't think there is a conspiracy against certain skaters, as much as a general lack of a centralized, unified vision of where the sport needs to go, and a plan of how to get there. I tend to agree, and this is something I have been thinking a lot about, lately.
It seemed that after the 1998 Olympics, in preparation for the 2002 Olympics, a lot of thought and effort was put into the building of a strong speedskating team. People within the organization knew what they were supposed to be doing, and why.
After the strategy worked and US Speedskating turned around from having a very poor showing in Nagano to having several different skaters winning medals in Salt Lake City, it seems they grew complacent and failed to build upon their success. Teams splintered as coaches like Bart Schouten moved on to working with other organizations. Some skaters who had had success at the 2002 Olympics found that they could only capitalize on their winnings by moving out of the country to train with professional teams. It just wasn't worth their while to stick around. The first season after the 2002 Games, the USS Allround team was down to three skaters!
You have to wonder what USS was thinking at this point. Were they worried because people were going with other training programs, or were they feeling complacent about the medal-winning potential for the 2006 Games because so many of the 2002 medalists were back for another 4 years?
Did they ever think about their talent pool of skaters as a whole: Who they had to work with, what their abilities were, and how they might work best together and help each other? The only USS team that really came together was Ryan Shimabukuro's sprint team. I want to know if US Speedskating had a vision and a plan for its women's sprint team, between the years of 2002-2006. This is a question that is worth asking.
From the standpoint of information-gathering, I don't dread the approach of the 2006 Olympics. According to US Speedskating's own mission statement, Olympic medals are the main goal of the organization. Therefore, the Games will be the "moment of truth" in which US Speedskating will be held accountable for their performance.
All along, I never believed that the way to build a strong team is by subjective application of the rules, through favoritism and discrimination, but even this hypothesis must be tested. For some of the perennial "favorites," the pressure is on to prove that they've deserved all of the special treatment. Now there are no more World Cups (or World Championships!) to consider as "write-offs." Now it's time for the big show, and we'll all be watching.
Some people may wonder why I'm still posting on this blog, since my speedskating career is over, but others believe there is more that needs to be said. I've mentioned at one point that my experiences in speedskating remind me of my work as a graduate student in science: I ask questions, seek the answers, carry out experiments, record my results and draw conclusions. Even though I won't be competing in the 2006 Olympics, there are still some important questions left to be answered. I'm not going to stop until the most important results from the culture medium I'm studying have come in.
Recently, I heard from a reader who has knowledge of inequalities in the ranks of the junior skaters. He shared the story of a junior girl who always had to pay her own way to the Can-Am competition in Calgary, while the rest of the junior team got to go for free. The reason why this skater had to pay for her own trip is that she only wanted to go to the main event, rather than losing a week or more of school in order to travel around doing some "worthless time trials" with the rest of the team. Instead of helping this young lady, who has been one of the top American junior skaters for several years, US Speedskating would pay for a much slower skater to go with the team in her place.
What would inspire an athlete who has been treated in this way (and her family, for that matter) to be loyal to the organization? I mentioned before that the way USS treated me throughout the years made me unwilling to participate in the team pursuit. I'm sure other skaters on the outside have their own ways of doing what they need to do, while keeping the federation "at an arm's distance."
The reader who shared his thoughts on this topic said he doesn't think there is a conspiracy against certain skaters, as much as a general lack of a centralized, unified vision of where the sport needs to go, and a plan of how to get there. I tend to agree, and this is something I have been thinking a lot about, lately.
It seemed that after the 1998 Olympics, in preparation for the 2002 Olympics, a lot of thought and effort was put into the building of a strong speedskating team. People within the organization knew what they were supposed to be doing, and why.
After the strategy worked and US Speedskating turned around from having a very poor showing in Nagano to having several different skaters winning medals in Salt Lake City, it seems they grew complacent and failed to build upon their success. Teams splintered as coaches like Bart Schouten moved on to working with other organizations. Some skaters who had had success at the 2002 Olympics found that they could only capitalize on their winnings by moving out of the country to train with professional teams. It just wasn't worth their while to stick around. The first season after the 2002 Games, the USS Allround team was down to three skaters!
You have to wonder what USS was thinking at this point. Were they worried because people were going with other training programs, or were they feeling complacent about the medal-winning potential for the 2006 Games because so many of the 2002 medalists were back for another 4 years?
Did they ever think about their talent pool of skaters as a whole: Who they had to work with, what their abilities were, and how they might work best together and help each other? The only USS team that really came together was Ryan Shimabukuro's sprint team. I want to know if US Speedskating had a vision and a plan for its women's sprint team, between the years of 2002-2006. This is a question that is worth asking.
From the standpoint of information-gathering, I don't dread the approach of the 2006 Olympics. According to US Speedskating's own mission statement, Olympic medals are the main goal of the organization. Therefore, the Games will be the "moment of truth" in which US Speedskating will be held accountable for their performance.
All along, I never believed that the way to build a strong team is by subjective application of the rules, through favoritism and discrimination, but even this hypothesis must be tested. For some of the perennial "favorites," the pressure is on to prove that they've deserved all of the special treatment. Now there are no more World Cups (or World Championships!) to consider as "write-offs." Now it's time for the big show, and we'll all be watching.
posted by Eva at 2:14 PM
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