2010 Season Underway: Annual SCCSC Fall Opening Meeting a Breeze
The Southern California Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Conference, a member of the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association, had its season opening meeting Saturday, September 19th in Long Beach, California. The meeting was attended by representatives of Universities in Southern California, including Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount, UCLA, University of Southern California, Cal State Long Beach, San Diego State University, UC San Diego, and UC Irvine. The meeting is an annual occurrence giving team officers the opportunity to interact with league officials and gather the information necessary for each team to function in the given year.
Highlights for the 2010 season include a schedule with enhanced Freestyle Competition opportunities as well as an overall reduction in fees for each athlete registered this season.
The schedule, posted online at www.sccsc.com, consists of six weekends of competition centered at Mammoth Mountain as it has in past seasons. The addition of a race over the opening weekend and the use of Mammoth’s neighbor June Mountain have made additional Slopestyle and Half-Pipe competitions possible this season. The goal is to complete four timed events, Giant Slalom and Slalom, as well as at least three each of the Freestyle events by the season’s end.
Fiscally, the SCCSC overhauled the operating budget, looking for ways to cut costs in a difficult economy. “…Know[ing] that most students pay the registration fees for ski and snowboard competition out of their own pockets makes cost reduction the appropriate course of action in an economy like this” stated SCCSC Acting President Patrick Wilcox while discussing the proposed budget. As a result of the efforts on the part of Wilcox and his staff, the total cost of participating in the league has been reduced by as much as $20 per athlete this season.
The SCCSC is again proud to offer professional discounts on racing and mountain gear to its members this year. While the economy will have an affect on the availability of opportunities for the SCCSC, the buying power of the league as a whole will prove desirable to many companies.
Changes have been made on the Executive Committee of the SCCSC as well. Patrick Wilcox is Acting President after the previous president was removed from office at the SCCSC Spring Meeting in May, 2009. Past president Collin Casper has returned to help advise the SCCSC financially while the Treasurer position remains vacant. Additional executives Kazusa Nishii and Mary Martin have been brought on to help with operations. The staff as a whole is very excited for the coming season.
News from the USCSA was offered at the Fall assembly as well, with updates from the USCSA Board of Directors Meeting which occurred in June in Albany, NY. The 2010 USCSA National Championships will take place March 2-6, 2010 at Sunday River, Maine. The competition will again include a Freestyle Skiing Championship, marking the second time a collegiate champion of this discipline will be announced. The reigning Freestyle Ski Champion is the SCCSC’s University of Southern California who will be competing again this year.
For information about the SCCSC, including how to start a team, or how to get involved with the day to day operation of the SCCSC, please email info@sccsc.com or contact Patrick Wilcox at Patrick@sccsc.com.
