Rex Bell
Portland, ME
rex@usanordic.org
A NEW DEAL for USANS – PARTNERING WITH NORWAY
One evening in January 2022 during the 4 Hills events in Innsbruck, Austria I met with Clas Brede Bråthen for a beer. Clas is the Sport Director for the Norwegian Ski Jumping Team, and one of the most highly respected and successful Sport Directors on the International ski jumping circuit. Over the years Clas has become a friend and a sort of mentor to me, (even though I’m older!). He’s always made himself available to me when I’ve had questions, been in need, or wanted a sounding board. I’ve always found him to be very gracious and open, so at every World Cup competition or FIS meeting I attended I always made a point to get together with him for a coffee or beer.
We sat down at the restaurant at his hotel and ordered a beer. After we were served Clas said. “I think our teams should partner and work together as one team. I’ve been watching you and your program for some years now. You keep getting knocked down over and over and over again. But you keep getting up and trying all over again. I see passion and commitment from your side, but your athletes don’t have the resources you need to be successful. Some of your athletes are just as talented as our athletes and I know that if they had the same opportunities that Norwegian athletes have, you would have athletes on the podium. But we have the resources that you need and we’re willing to share those resources with you”.
When Clas said the words, “I think our teams should partner together” I wondered, did I hear him right? Did he really say we should partner? Holy crap! Are you kidding me? How do I response in an intelligent and composed way and not sound too desperate to accept his offer? I think I said something to the effect, “….that would be great, but why would you do that? I don’t know what we have to offer you to make it a fair partnership”.
Clas responded that the mission of the Norwegian ski jumping team is to be the most important ski jumping team in the world. That means that Norway should have a positive influence on the international sport of ski jumping in a way that makes the sport, better, stronger and more relevant. He said, I’ve talked with my staff, and we believe that if we can help the US become more successful in World Cup competitions that the possibilities for the popularity for the sport in the US is better. And if the US becomes a stronger team in international ski jumping that will help the sport to be more global and stronger. And in that way, we will be addressing our mission of being important in the sport.
Clas made the points that the sport of ski jumping was brought to the USA in the late 1800´s by Norwegians. In the 1980’s there was good cooperation between the US and Norwegian teams when Erling Rimeslatten, a former Norwegian national team coach, worked with the US team; and Norwegian athletes were very active in the US collegiate athletics in the 1960’s and 70’s. And there is a big Norwegian population and heritage in the US. So there has been strong relations between the two countries in this sport for a long time.
He said, “the number of ski jumpers, the number of ski jumping programs, and the infrastructure (facilities for good training) is impressive. And the organization that you have created shows the dedication and enthusiasm among coaches and leaders in USA for ski jumping. You have been doing some things very well and we believe that there are things we can learn from you that will help us be stronger and smarter.”
“But despite your passion and commitment to the sport, and that you have some of the most clever and skilled ski jumping coaches in the world, you have had a lack of international results because you haven’t been able to give your coaches the support they need to be successful, and your athletes lack the necessary resources. But we recognize a huge potential in the US that we should focus on which can be developed through a cooperation. We see this as our responsibility to our mission and to the sport”.
Clas proposed that USANS hire a coach from the Norwegian system to act as the head coach of the US Men’s and Women’s ski jumping team. This coach would be based in Norway and work cooperatively with his current national team coaching and support staff. Clas would act as the Sport Director for both the Norwegian and US teams.
“But,” he said, “we don’t want to make you dependent on Norway. We want to teach you how to fish. That means you need to commit 2 US coaches to this partnership that will work along with our staff, and we will educate and mentor them. The amount of experience they have is not as important as the requirement that they must be curious, passionate, and hard working. If they have these qualities, then we can teach them what they need to know to be good coaches over time. This cannot just be a one-year deal. This should be for at least 4 years and maybe even 8, because it takes time to build the proper system and to educate”.
Clas explained the core values of the Norwegian team are respect, humbleness, and joy. (Joy meaning that if you’re going to work hard and make a serious commitment, it’s important to enjoy what you’re doing). And curiosity, passion, hard work and teamwork are personal qualities that they valued.
This was the beginning of numerous calls, emails and meetings that took place over the course of the winter and spring. With each conversation the details about who, what, when, where and why became clearer.
We decided the description of the partnership should be that the Norwegian and the USANS ski jumping teams would cooperate in the interest of advancing the ski jumping programs of both nations. The partnership would also include Norway and the US working together in sponsorship solicitation. (The thinking about cooperating in the area of sponsorship solicitation was that should be potential sponsors who wouldn’t be interested in Norway or the US but the combination of Norway and the US together could attractive).
Additionally, the partnership should be committed to make a positive change to the international sport of ski jumping. A main goal was that Norway and the USA are leading ski jumping nations by 2030. Short term goals are that the US will support Norway to continue to be a leading nation at important international events, and Norway will support the US to become more successful and relevant at all levels of FIS competition.
In mid-May, although we didn’t have a formal contract in place, we each decided we were in complete agreement with the intentions of the partnership and that the benefits to each nation were compelling enough that one way or another we would make the partnership a reality. So, in early June US athletes and coaches participated together with the Norwegian team at the first national team training camp of the season in Lillehammer.
We felt the training camp went better than we had expected and USANS committed to hire Tore Sneli, the Director of the Lillehammer Training Center, to be the Head Coach of the US Men’s and Women’s Ski Jumping Teams. Anders Johnson and Trevor Edlund would be named as US national team coaches to work together with Tore and the Norwegian national team coaches.
On August 24th, a press conference was held in Oslo at the Holmenkollen ski jumping complex to formally announce the partnership and to explain the background and benefits behind why the two nations decided to cooperation as one team. Throughout the summer and fall our teams and coaches worked together as one team. The plan for the competition season is that at all FIS World Cup and Continental Cup events, the US and Norway teams will stay at the same hotel together, share waxing cabins, US athletes will receive service support from the very dedicated and skilled Norwegian suit makers and equipment techs, and our coaches will work together with total collaboration and cooperation.
In my opinion, the partnership has come together more quickly and smoothly than even my highest hopes and dreams. And I think this is because the intentions and commitment from each side is so strong. To me it’s incredible how- right from the very first camp- the Norwegian coaches and athletes have welcomed and embraced our coaches and athletes just like we are family. But of course, it could be said that we are family. Both sides feel very good about the support and cooperation that they’re receiving from each other and there is consensus that there is a real benefit to coming together for both sides.
In closing I would like to acknowledge and applaud the progressive thinking and vision of Clas Brede and his staff. Their interest and commitment to making the sport better and stronger through cooperation, and not thinking only about “what’s best for me” is inspiring and not the normal way of thinking in today’s world. USA Nordic is very humbled, respectful, and appreciative of the opportunity that we have been provided by the Norwegian Hopplandslaget staff and athletes. USANS is firmly committed to support the Norwegian ski jumping team in every way possible. It’s our intention to take what we learn from Norway to grow and support the sport of ski jumping in the US so that the ski jumping can become more relevant and popular with the US public. And USANS will give forward to the international sport of ski jumping. We are hopeful that the partnership between the US and Norway can serve as a model to other nations about the benefits of partnerships. We believe if more nations can experience success at World Cup, World Championship and Olympic events, then the sport of ski jumping will become even more relevant in the world of international sport.
