The Sports Education department continues to develop it’s offerings for coaches’ education and recently hired Amanda Kelley as their new instructional designer.  With an extensive background in web design, graphic design, and coding, she will be an asset for improving the coach certification process. 

 Instructional designers are a crucial part of improving educational needs as they have a good understanding of how to create an engaging curriculum that aligns with the needs of the organization. The Sport Education department identified the need for better coach training, and Kelley will bring solutions to fulfill that need. 

“Do you need better tools? What is going to solve your problem?” she explains. Through her work so far with Sports Education, the department decided to develop virtual learning. “So now we have to gather our learning objectives and create an outline curriculum. This will include all of the written content, graphic design, animations, video development, and more.” 

Kelley will create the learning content used in coaches’ certifications levels 100, 200 and 300 by updating existing content and revamping the online certification course. “I am taking the existing content from an old platform and putting it into a newer, nicer, easy-to-use platform and finding ways to better it,” says Kelley. “Having a great learning and certification program can help branch out more accurate information to everybody so it becomes both secondhand and cohesive.” In order to provide accurate content, Kelley will rely heavily on collaboration between the Sports Education staff, coaches and athletes to make sure procedures are translated correctly. 

Kelley’s goals with her new position directly align the Sport Education department’s goals of increasing the number of coach certifications through a new and updated system. “I hope to make it really immersive and interactive. Right now, the courses are very text-heavy, and so I want to make it more user-friendly and more exciting for the user,” she explains. 

A blended learning model is the best practice for delivering a training curriculum to a large group of people. The Sport Education department moved to a blended learning curriculum to drive coach education within U.S. Ski & Snowboard three years ago and all certification courses are being shifted to this model. All courses will contain a series of eLearning modules that provide the overall content, a portfolio that provides an opportunity to develop skills, a face-to-face evaluation where clinic leaders evaluate coaches on their ability to coach, perform movement analysis, and demonstrate skills to the desired competency level, and a final exam that coordinates all of these components into one assessment. 

Knowledgeable, fun and engaging coaches are U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s greatest resource. Being able to effectively train those who work directly with athletes, both through the development process and at the national team level, and to provide consistent content to clubs across the country is what the Sport Education department hopes to achieve through this massive content undertaking. 

“Professional development is important for developing coaches that are equipped to make a lasting positive impact on their athletes,” said Sport Education Director Gareth Trayner. “Creating engaging content, like incorporating the Coaches in the Field series, for instance, makes the content more relevant for coaches participating. The software that we use to create our courses allows us to provide a level of interactivity that makes learning engaging, relevant, and more enjoyable than simply reading through pages of text. Creating this type of blended learning experience where coaches have plenty of time to review and learn the content, participate in activities that develop skills, and collaborate with one another on the hill should increase the number of coaches entering and staying within the coach development pathway.”

On Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, the stars, fans and some of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s greatest supporters, will descend on New York City to celebrate the organization’s marquee event, the New York Gold Medal Gala. 

The Gala is a critical element of funding for the United States’ Olympic national governing body of ski and snowboard sports, and the single biggest fundraising event for the organization - it is expected to raise nearly $2 million this year. Support from fans and donors allows elite ski and snowboard athletes the opportunity to train and compete at the highest levels. Since its inception, American ski and snowboard athletes have earned an impressive 101 Olympic medals - 39 of which are gold. 

In its fifty-third iteration, this year’s theme, “Inspired by the Stars,” reminds fans and athletes alike the reason behind the grueling work it takes to be an elite team member. It takes drive, passion and grit to sweat it out every day in the gym, chase snow year-round across the globe and get in the start gates every week during competition season. Skiing and snowboarding’s rich history of sport innovators serves as inspiration for athletes such as Maddie Mastro (Wrightwood Calif.), who landed the first-ever double cork, “the crippler,” in women’s snowboard halfpipe competition last season. And hearing those cheers and cowbells at the finish coral make it all worth it.

The New York Gold Medal Gala can trace its roots back to 1967 from its humble beginnings as the New York Ski Ball held at Tavern on the Green. Quickly becoming more than just a fundraiser, the Gala established itself as a pivotal cultural event in Olympic sport. Over the years, Olympic skiers and snowboarders have graced the stage of some of New York’s most notable venues from the Plaza, Pierre and Waldorf Hotels, to the Hammerstein Ballroom, and even the deck of the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier docked on the Hudson River.

The Ski Ball concept was created at a time when the U.S. Ski Team was starting to take center stage in a sport that was just creating a global World Cup tour. A group of prominent New York businessmen, led by J. Negley Cooke, the head of Sterling Drug, were seeking a way to energize support for the athletes of the U.S. Ski Team. After the success in 1967, the group ramped it up in year two at the Waldorf-Astoria, gaining support from major American corporations like Eastman Kodak and Pontiac Motors, with more than 1,300 attending, raising $75,000 for the athletes – an unprecedented sum for the time.

Through the years, the ball became a fixture in a crowded New York City fundraiser landscape. It has long been a popular event for celebrities, business leaders and politicians. It has showcased great entertainers, from the orchestras of Michael Carney and Peter Duchin, to popular stars like Sheryl Crowe, the B52s, Counting Crows and more.

But the event’s real success has come from the deep integration of athletes, serving as a seasonal send-off and celebration. For over 50 years, America has celebrated its greatest ski and snowboard champions on stage in New York City, providing a sought-after evening of fun for athletes before the start of the competition season.

Be a part of the celebration from wherever you might find yourself on October 24. National ski and snowboard team athletes are privately funded and receive no government assistance. Technology connects us more than ever and fans can show their support remotely. Auction items will be available for bidding starting Monday, September 2, and online participation is encouraged during our silent auction, 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. EST on October 24. Follow along on social with #NYGoldMedalGala.