U.S.
Olympians search for talent at The Beach
By Todd Leland
On-line Forty-Niner
Bobsled
and skeleton racers from Long Beach State?
The United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation
is coming to campus Saturday, April 26 to
search for competitors to join the team.
“This is fairly new. We have only been going
to campuses the past two years,” Tom LaDue,
media manager for federation said.
In the program’s initial year the federation
traveled to campuses on the East Coast.
On that trip the coaches scouted 130 people
in various aspects of athletic prowess.
“We are looking mainly for strength and
speed,” bobsled and skeleton team coach
Tom Allen said. “Track athletes and football
players are probably what we look for in
the bobsled.
Allen said that male athletes that are most
successful at bobsledding are usually between
the weight of 195 lbs. and 220 lbs., while
women bobsledders tend to weigh 150 lbs.
to 180 lbs.
“In the skeleton we are looking for more
of a middle distance runner type athlete,”
Allen said. “These athletes have to be smaller
due to the aerodynamic factor of the skeleton
competition.”
Of the 130 people who tried out for the
team last year, Allen said 15 of those participants
were invited to the team’s training facilities
in Lake Placid, NY. and 10 of those 15 athletes
made it onto the U.S. National team.
“It is a high percentage of those who try
out,” Allen said about the number of athletes
that make the final cut.
The try-outs are made possible due to sponsorships
the team has garnered over the last few
years, primarily Verizon.
“We have been involved with the U.S. Luge
team since 1985,” Verizon Media Relations
Director John Bonomo said. “The last few
years we have been involved with the bobsled
and skeleton team and help them build their
team.”
Bonomo said Verizon does what it can to
help the team locate and assess athletes
that will help the team in the future. In
return, Bonomo said, the sponsorship allows
the company to reach out to the community
and introduce literacy and other specific
programs with the help of athletes that
youth identify with.
Verizon is only one of the many corporate
sponsors that make the federation scouting
trips possible and the trip to Long Beach
State a reality.
“Long Beach was picked because of the ties
it has to some of the sponsors and to the
team,” Bill Pearse, a public relations director
for The Graubard Group, which represents
Verizon said.
Allen said Long Beach State was chosen because
of its environment.
“Long Beach has a great athletic environment,”
Allen said. “Plus, Long Beach State was
one of the more receptive colleges to the
idea of this search.”
When it comes down to it Allen said it is
about finding the best athletes to compete
for the United States.
“We are trying to increase the quality of
athlete that competes at the world and national
level for the United States,” Allen said
of the college campus search.
The search will find its way to Long Beach
State this Saturday. As stated in a release,
the tour is aimed at discovering potential
bobsled and skeleton athletes, male and
female, ages 15 and up.
Athletes will be asked to demonstrate their
athletic ability in a four-item test that
will consist of a vertical jump, five consecutive
hops, a 30-meter sprint and a 30-meter fly.
Participants are required to have an athletic
background.
“Football players and track athletes tend
to be the male athletes,” Allen said. “While
the women tend to be soccer players and
track athletes as well.”
Testing at Long Beach State will be held
Saturday, April 26 2 p.m.-4 p.m. on the
Jack Rose Track. Testing is free and all
participants will receive a free USBSF/Verizon
T-shirt.
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