Myth #2 Debunked, Part 13

As I have pointed out throughout this entire series ski jumping has caused its own demise over the past several generations.  The sport has turned its sole focus on competition that it doesn't know have to fun anymore.  I listen to the junior jumpers all the time.  I jump with them practically on a daily basis during the winter months.  I hear what they have to say, things they would never say around their coaches.  Since I'm a fellow jumper they will say it around me.  What I hear is priceless and quite often very disturbing.  To put it simply, this sport is too competitive for its own good.

 

This sport has turned its complete attention to the kids.  It has forgotten the only way to build a sport is with an adult base.  If you want to get more money, have more help on the hills, get more acceptance so the kids can get the parental permission to jump, then the quickest way to go about it is to get the adults out here jumping.

 

So how do you go about get adults out here.  There are three ways to go about it, two of which are feasible and one that isn't:

 

1. Get the former competitors to put the skis back on.  Okay, I hear and see the flames coming my way.  This idea will never happen.  They only ever knew how to compete, they never really learnt how to jump.  They won't come back out.  I've talked with several former jumpers and they are so flat out against the idea of ever putting the skis on again its incredible.  They make it sound like putting the skis back on would be the most dastardly crime man could ever commit.

 

2. Pull out the old high school yearbooks.  Look through the pictures of the ski teams.  Find out who use to jump as kids in high school.  Look for the kids that never jumped the big hills, and never really found themselves do any competing other than for high school.  Put together a list of the former jumpers and find out which ones still live in the area.  Contact them and ask them if they would like to give ski jumping a try again.  Put the bug in their ear and invite them out to the hill.  Most of them probably feel that they don't belong out here ski jumping their too old for this sport.  They need to be told otherwise.

 

3. Cold call.  Whenever you see people around the jumps looking at the jumpers jumping, ask them if they want to give it a try.  Sure you do this all the time already, this time do it with the adults and not just with the kids.

 

Here in the east we have picked up two former high school jumper.  One hadn't jumped in around 30 years and he came back out for a winter before work and other health issues took him back out of the sport.  He was torn between loving to ski jump and loving his job, he is a self-employeed sculpurist.  He had only jumped one or two years in high school.  Never jumped anything much bigger than a 35 meter jump.  The smile on his face each time he was out jumping was priceless.  You could tell that he loved being back out jumping again.

 

Then their is Bill Ryan.  He jumped for one year in high school while jumping for one of the prep schools near Lebanon.  He had never jumped anything much bigger than a 35 meter jump.  He hadn't jumped in around 18 years when he came back out and took up ski jumping once again.  If it wasn't for hurting himself while jumping this past summer he would be out here jumping with the rest of the Lunatic Fringe group this winter on the 50.  He's had quite a few jumps already off the 50 last winter and is planning on heading out to St. Paul at the end of the month for US Masters, even though he won't be jumping.

 

Go after the former ski jumpers, instead of the Olympians go for the ones you never heard much of, if you ever even knew them.  Get them talking about ski jumping at the workplace and watch the numbers grow.  Encourage them to bring out their kids as well and then you can start seeing growth in the juniors class.

 

One final point to ponder on.  If you keep doing what your doing right now you WILL keep getting the same results.  If you want to get different results then you need to change what you are doing.  Ski jumping is broke, and it needs fixed.  By constantly doing the same old, same old, you will keep getting the same results.  It's time for a change, A BIG CHANGE!  It's time to stop blaming everyone else and it's time to start looking at yourself to see who really is killing ski jumping.  It's not the NCAA's fault, by any means.

 

Until next time

Keep the ski tips up,

Crash