My passion these days is for the Hailey Ski Team, a small organization with a group of outstanding coaches and racers. The team has been training on Baldy since 1980. As many probably know, there is a movement afoot to deny the team a lease to continue that training. The reasons given appear to defy logic and fact. Incorporating the racers on the Hailey team into the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation will not lessen the number of racers on the mountain, it will simply increase the size of that team and decrease the individual attention given to each racer. The Hailey coaches videotape each one of their racers both in practice and during races and then provide solid feedback to each racer at the end of the day while viewing that tape. This practice is invaluable to the kids and because of the number of kids involved this practice is followed much less frequently by the Ski Education Foundation. I am sure that this is one reason that during the recent regional races held on Baldy the Hailey team, proportionally, put many more racers on the podium then did Ski Education Foundation.
The Ski Education Foundation has lofty plans for the future and if that day comes and those plans meet their stated expectations, I would be all for the two teams combining. Those plans, however, will not come to fruition next year or even in 2009. In the interim we would like to see the Hailey Ski Team continue to train on Baldy. After all, should we not just be concerned about the kids and what is best for them? If the kids choose to ski with Hailey and the coaches choose to coach with Hailey and the parents' race team of choice is Hailey, there must be a very good reason those choices are made. We think it's because a smaller organization can do a better job of coaching, mentoring, knowing and supporting each individual racer, while at the same time providing a close-knit, family like, positive atmosphere where the racers of all ages support and care about each other. Anytime there is choice fostering healthy competition, the participants come out ahead. Take away that choice and something is certainly lost.
We would like to see the ability to choose continue. Disbanding this longstanding organization with its long history of producing outstanding racers and outstanding people would constitute a significant loss to our young people and our community.
The children, coaches and parents of the Hailey Ski Team would greatly appreciate any support that would allow the team to continue using Bald Mountain as their training site.
Dennis Maxwell
Ketchum
