"WHIP" It!!!
Get your American speedskating news here first. Today, I'll be sharing the latest news on something I'll call the "What Happens In Private" program. To the members and fans of USSPEEDSKATING, these are some of the decisions that have been happening behind your backs:
Dear Skaters and Parents,
I am sure that all of you are anxious for the Holidays and time is scarce lately so I will be as concise as I can with this letter. Also included is an article that will come out in the next addition of Ice Chips, and USS publication.
On December 11th and 12th representatives from USARS, US Speedskating and the USOC sat down to discus in detail the eligibility and guidelines for the Wheels on Ice Program. (WhIP) It was decided that the program and a majority of it's budget in this first year would focus on the elite skaters that are of age and willing to relocate to Salt Lake City,Utah for a centralized training program. Their support would include coaching and ice time(inline floor time also included), Periodic performance testing, apparel, equipment, nutritional information,required competition support and a monthly stipend. The top candidates have been contacted and I am awaiting their response. I am looking for skaters who commit to the program to come out to Salt Lake some time in early 2007. I am making arrangements for their arrival.
You are probably thinking, "where does that leave me?" Allow me to answer that. Due to certain circumstances,mostly age for a majority of you, you were not chosen to be in the inaugural group. But please do not let this discourage you in any way. All of you are still in the pipeline coming this way. You are still on the radar screen so to speak. I want to continue to stay in contact with you as you continue to grow and mature as a skater and a person. The program is an eighteen month program. Some of you may be in the next wave of athletes. As it stands now, this will be a residency program. In the future, you must be willing to relocate here to be in the program unless there are special circumstances that surround you. Until you reach that age and or point in your skating career, I want to remain in touch and assist in any way that I can. I have reserved funds for training clinics in the future as a way to stay in contact with you and monitor your progress. Some of the clinics will be open clinics here in Utah and others I may come to you or your part of the country. I want to be a source of information for those of you that wish to continue to explore the ice transition. Even as I write this to you I am working on hosting a clinic here in Salt Lake City around the first week of February. I am thinking about having skaters fly in on the 1st with some type of information meeting that night and have the clinic begin on the 2nd and run through the weekend. You may leave on Monday the 5th if you wish, but I would like to have the clinic and my services available through the 6th with skaters leaving on the 7th. This is all tentative at the moment, but I do not want any of you to fall through the cracks of this program. I hope that you can find the time to participate.
Those of you who are already on the ice, I congratulate you and please continue to make those steps. Those of you who have not made the attempt, I encourage you to do so. Now is the time to get familiar with the ice. You are all young and the earlier you get started the more dangerous you will become to the rest of the world. I wish I was your age when I started on the ice. I will assist in any way I can. If you have any questions please contact me by phone or e mail. I want to remain in communication with you in the future.
Happy Holidays.
Sincerely,
Derek Parra
US Speedskating
Inline Transition Manager
Office 801-417-5376
Cell 321-695-8464
DDPARRA@AOL.COM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHIP PROGRAM GETS IT’S WHEELS ROLLING
Update from Derek Parra – Inline Transition Manager
It is an exciting time for our sport. We have had incredible success over the past two Winter Olympic Games from multiple athletes. The sport of Speedskating is not quite a household name yet, but with names of the past like Heiden, Blair and Jansen still popping up around the water cooler and stories of Joey Cheek, Apolo Onho, Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick still floating around in the wake of the Torino games, it shows this sport and it’s representatives have had an incredible impact on our country and the world.
Now, I will be the first to admit that I was not extremely optimistic about the immediate future of sport when the retirement of so many of our top athletes was confirmed this summer. The athletes of our sport have always had a history of rising to the occasion every four years. Believe me, I know, I have seen it and I have also been a part of that movement. But for a short time I believed that there was a huge gap between our skaters at the top and the ones coming up. This Fall I was excited to see as the post Olympic season began some of our younger skaters have already started climbing the national and international ranks of the skating world and fortunately we still have a few top athletes sticking around for more shots at Olympic glory. The future looks bright.
On November 1, 2006, I believe the future of our sport got a lot brighter. I was hired as the Inline Transition Manager heading up the WHIP Program (Wheels on Ice Program) for US Speedskating. An innovative new program conceived by the USOC that partners US Speedskating with USA Roller Sports in an effort to identify talented athletes on wheels and assist in their interest to cross over to the ice as well as encourage current ice skaters to explore the possibilities of inline cross training and racing.
With a budget approved, I sat down together with members of all three organizations in Salt Lake City and developed a plan of action. It was determined that the program would consist of a maximum of 10 athletes. These athletes must be of elite caliber and in good standing with their NGB. If willing to commit to the 18 month transition program, the athletes would be required to participate in a minimum number of USS competitions (both short and long track) as well as continue to participate and excel in USARS events. In return, those skaters would receive support that consists of a monthly stipend, coaching, ice time, periodic performance testing, ice equipment (blades, etc.), team apparel, nutritional education and travel support to required competitions. By the end of the meetings, athletes were identified, contacted and given a verbal invitation to the program.
At this moment I am waiting for responses from those selected athletes and making plans for their arrival. As I said previously, I am optimistic and excited about the future of speed skating and I am extremely pleased to see USS and USARS working together for the betterment of both sports and more importantly, the betterment of the skaters.
Derek Parra
---
Now allow me to cut away the bullshit and translate this incomprehensible babble. What they are saying is this: "Those of you faithful club volunteers, Category One development skaters who have already shown proven results, and those of you skaters and parents who have already moved across the country to train specifically for ice speedskating have already proven your dedication to the sport and your willingness to make unreasonable sacrifices and will continue to do whatever it takes to win, until you've collapsed like our good old American folk hero John Henry, who died in his attempt to race a steam shovel with the power of his own muscles. THEREFORE, let us focus our resources instead on those athletes who need to be bribed in order to even try our sport which we "realize" is stuffy and boring and somehow manages to be weird at the same time, and is run by a bunch of incompetent thugs."
Get your American speedskating news here first. Today, I'll be sharing the latest news on something I'll call the "What Happens In Private" program. To the members and fans of USSPEEDSKATING, these are some of the decisions that have been happening behind your backs:
Dear Skaters and Parents,
I am sure that all of you are anxious for the Holidays and time is scarce lately so I will be as concise as I can with this letter. Also included is an article that will come out in the next addition of Ice Chips, and USS publication.
On December 11th and 12th representatives from USARS, US Speedskating and the USOC sat down to discus in detail the eligibility and guidelines for the Wheels on Ice Program. (WhIP) It was decided that the program and a majority of it's budget in this first year would focus on the elite skaters that are of age and willing to relocate to Salt Lake City,Utah for a centralized training program. Their support would include coaching and ice time(inline floor time also included), Periodic performance testing, apparel, equipment, nutritional information,required competition support and a monthly stipend. The top candidates have been contacted and I am awaiting their response. I am looking for skaters who commit to the program to come out to Salt Lake some time in early 2007. I am making arrangements for their arrival.
You are probably thinking, "where does that leave me?" Allow me to answer that. Due to certain circumstances,mostly age for a majority of you, you were not chosen to be in the inaugural group. But please do not let this discourage you in any way. All of you are still in the pipeline coming this way. You are still on the radar screen so to speak. I want to continue to stay in contact with you as you continue to grow and mature as a skater and a person. The program is an eighteen month program. Some of you may be in the next wave of athletes. As it stands now, this will be a residency program. In the future, you must be willing to relocate here to be in the program unless there are special circumstances that surround you. Until you reach that age and or point in your skating career, I want to remain in touch and assist in any way that I can. I have reserved funds for training clinics in the future as a way to stay in contact with you and monitor your progress. Some of the clinics will be open clinics here in Utah and others I may come to you or your part of the country. I want to be a source of information for those of you that wish to continue to explore the ice transition. Even as I write this to you I am working on hosting a clinic here in Salt Lake City around the first week of February. I am thinking about having skaters fly in on the 1st with some type of information meeting that night and have the clinic begin on the 2nd and run through the weekend. You may leave on Monday the 5th if you wish, but I would like to have the clinic and my services available through the 6th with skaters leaving on the 7th. This is all tentative at the moment, but I do not want any of you to fall through the cracks of this program. I hope that you can find the time to participate.
Those of you who are already on the ice, I congratulate you and please continue to make those steps. Those of you who have not made the attempt, I encourage you to do so. Now is the time to get familiar with the ice. You are all young and the earlier you get started the more dangerous you will become to the rest of the world. I wish I was your age when I started on the ice. I will assist in any way I can. If you have any questions please contact me by phone or e mail. I want to remain in communication with you in the future.
Happy Holidays.
Sincerely,
Derek Parra
US Speedskating
Inline Transition Manager
Office 801-417-5376
Cell 321-695-8464
DDPARRA@AOL.COM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHIP PROGRAM GETS IT’S WHEELS ROLLING
Update from Derek Parra – Inline Transition Manager
It is an exciting time for our sport. We have had incredible success over the past two Winter Olympic Games from multiple athletes. The sport of Speedskating is not quite a household name yet, but with names of the past like Heiden, Blair and Jansen still popping up around the water cooler and stories of Joey Cheek, Apolo Onho, Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick still floating around in the wake of the Torino games, it shows this sport and it’s representatives have had an incredible impact on our country and the world.
Now, I will be the first to admit that I was not extremely optimistic about the immediate future of sport when the retirement of so many of our top athletes was confirmed this summer. The athletes of our sport have always had a history of rising to the occasion every four years. Believe me, I know, I have seen it and I have also been a part of that movement. But for a short time I believed that there was a huge gap between our skaters at the top and the ones coming up. This Fall I was excited to see as the post Olympic season began some of our younger skaters have already started climbing the national and international ranks of the skating world and fortunately we still have a few top athletes sticking around for more shots at Olympic glory. The future looks bright.
On November 1, 2006, I believe the future of our sport got a lot brighter. I was hired as the Inline Transition Manager heading up the WHIP Program (Wheels on Ice Program) for US Speedskating. An innovative new program conceived by the USOC that partners US Speedskating with USA Roller Sports in an effort to identify talented athletes on wheels and assist in their interest to cross over to the ice as well as encourage current ice skaters to explore the possibilities of inline cross training and racing.
With a budget approved, I sat down together with members of all three organizations in Salt Lake City and developed a plan of action. It was determined that the program would consist of a maximum of 10 athletes. These athletes must be of elite caliber and in good standing with their NGB. If willing to commit to the 18 month transition program, the athletes would be required to participate in a minimum number of USS competitions (both short and long track) as well as continue to participate and excel in USARS events. In return, those skaters would receive support that consists of a monthly stipend, coaching, ice time, periodic performance testing, ice equipment (blades, etc.), team apparel, nutritional education and travel support to required competitions. By the end of the meetings, athletes were identified, contacted and given a verbal invitation to the program.
At this moment I am waiting for responses from those selected athletes and making plans for their arrival. As I said previously, I am optimistic and excited about the future of speed skating and I am extremely pleased to see USS and USARS working together for the betterment of both sports and more importantly, the betterment of the skaters.
Derek Parra
---
Now allow me to cut away the bullshit and translate this incomprehensible babble. What they are saying is this: "Those of you faithful club volunteers, Category One development skaters who have already shown proven results, and those of you skaters and parents who have already moved across the country to train specifically for ice speedskating have already proven your dedication to the sport and your willingness to make unreasonable sacrifices and will continue to do whatever it takes to win, until you've collapsed like our good old American folk hero John Henry, who died in his attempt to race a steam shovel with the power of his own muscles. THEREFORE, let us focus our resources instead on those athletes who need to be bribed in order to even try our sport which we "realize" is stuffy and boring and somehow manages to be weird at the same time, and is run by a bunch of incompetent thugs."
posted by Eva at 9:09 AM
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