Published November 27, 2006
 |
Ligety Among Skiers Who
Participated In Holdout During Summer |
The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association’s (USSA)
new
team guidelines, which include a revised alcohol policy and a requirement
that athletes use official team housing during competitions, “misfired over the
summer” when some team members “resisted it,” according to Nathaniel Vinton of
the N.Y. TIMES. Although they eventually signed the revised team membership agreement,
members of the men’s Alpine skiing team “did so only after a summer-long holdout.”
U.S. Skier Scott Macartney said, “There was definitely a time when we were ready
to not sign the agreement. We realized that would be a huge mess, but we were
ready to do it.” Olympic Gold Medal winner Ted Ligety added, “We were just trying
to make it so we had a little say in how the team is run.” Vinton noted the racers
“lobbied for more input in team policies, including medical policies, and one
indication of their resolve, they obtained and circulated amongst themselves the
team’s tax records, which list some salaries and budget allocations.” While the
alcohol and housing guidelines “seem specifically designed for” Bode Miller, Miller’s
agent, Lowell Taub, said that he still “plans to use a motor home.” But USSA VP/Marketing
Communications Tom Kelly said, “The policies that we’ve implemented are pretty
parallel with other sports organizations we’ve looked at. They are designed with
performance enhancement in mind, not just to have a rule” (
N.Y.
TIMES, 11/24).
