Selection Committee: USA Olympic Team(skating)

Who is on this committee (names)? How are they selected and by what criteria?

Icey said:

Who is on this committee (names)? How are they selected and by what criteria?

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IIRC, their names are in the ol' USFS document of 70+ pages, a link for which is in this GS post:

FYI for those complaining in other threads that they had no prior knowledge of the USFS selection procedures:

That document only lists the International Committee Management Subcommittee members from 2012-2013. We need someone with access to a current 2013-2014 USFSA directory to get the current members' names. Can anyone help with this?

iaurmelloneug said:

That document only lists the International Committee Management Subcommittee members from 2012-2013. We need someone with access to a current 2013-2014 USFSA directory to get the current members' names. Can anyone help with this?

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"We" don't need anything -- but as I noted in another thread, your burning desire to track down the names makes me wonder why you feel that you "need" them.
What are you going to do with the committee's names?
And is your search for the names the only reason that you joined GoldenSkate? :think: (You have posted about nothing else but this question.)

Hi Golden411!

Gosh, I had a much more detailed reply typed out, and then when I went to post it, it got scattered into cyberspace. Maybe one of these days I'll get it written up again. But in short, yes, you're absolutely right, the main impetus for my joining these forums was to see if someone could help me find an answer to my question. I have enjoyed reading some of the other forum threads along the way, though. And I don't plan to do anything with the names beyond my own analysis. What I really want to decide for myself is whether all the behind-the-scenes politicking in figure skating, both domestically and internationally, makes the subjective element of the sport so huge that it's not worth it for my family and me to care much about it, even if it's only for a month or two every four years.

iaurmelloneug said:

Hi Golden411!

Gosh, I had a much more detailed reply typed out, and then when I went to post it, it got scattered into cyberspace. Maybe one of these days I'll get it written up again. But in short, yes, you're absolutely right, the main impetus for my joining these forums was to see if someone could help me find an answer to my question. I have enjoyed reading some of the other forum threads along the way, though. And I don't plan to do anything with the names beyond my own analysis. What I really want to decide for myself is whether all the behind-the-scenes politicking in figure skating, both domestically and internationally, makes the subjective element of the sport so huge that it's not worth it for my family and me to care much about it, even if it's only for a month or two every four years.

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You can determine whether you are going to care about something, on behalf of your family, based on performing a background check of the USFSA selection committee?

iaurmelloneug said:

Gosh, I had a much more detailed reply typed out, and then when I went to post it, it got scattered into cyberspace….

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If you lose a post you can usually recover it by our "post restore" feature. Just return to the reply to post dialogue page and a little sign will pop up in the lower left-hand corner that says, "restore previous post?"

I think there is a reason why the USFSA is all of a sudden making it difficult to find the list of members of this committee, whereas before this year it was easy. In the past, the committee's main job was just to rubber stamp the results of Nationals. Two years ago they started making noises that this procedure put US skaters at a disadvantage vis-a-vis competitors representing federations that played a more active role in giving out International assignments. Plus, there was criticism (ill founded in my opinion) that the "winner take all" Nationals put pressure on judges to cheat and make Nationals come out the way the powers that be desired in advance.

For two years the USFSA kept telling us and telling us that the times, they were a-changing. But no one believed them. I certainly didn't. That is why everyone was so surprised when this year they finally did what they said they were going to do -- and what, in fact, the current official selection rules call for -- and place more emphasis on previous international success rather than the traditional "one, two, three at nationals go to worlds, period."

Anyway, if all of a sudden the Management Subcommittee is charged with making some tough decisions that are sure to anger a bunch of folks whichever way it goes, I can see why their identities are not so publicly trumpeted as before. They do not want to be badgered and harassed by irate parents, coaches, and fans, either before or after they meet to make decisions that are certain to make somebody mad.

That's really helpful, Mathman! Thanks for the insight.