What is your annual budget?
Turnover is approx £500k
How many staff do you employ? We have eight staff in total, and a board with eight volunteer directors. We are pulling together committees to work with each of the main areas of the business and we anticipate bringing together some 50 volunteers over the next few months to start working with our new strategy and our area-specific plans
What are the playing numbers in the sport, preferably broken down into senior and junior, male and female? Total membership of Snowsport Scotland is: 7495: 4325 male, 3170 female. 3402 adult: 1870 male, 1532 female. 4093 juniors: 2455 male, 1638 female.
How long have you been in post as chief executive? Seven months (started on July 1, 2013)
What have been the most significant changes in the sport during your tenure? It's hard to say given the short time I have been in post but the inclusion of alpine athletes in the sportscotland performance programme has been the most significant. There have been a number of internal changes which are helping to move Snowsport Scotland towards more effective delivery and building relationships with our members. We are also working towards trying to raise our profile within the snowsports community.
What have been the biggest successes/highlights/achievements, on and off the snow? Ben Kilner (snowboard half pipe), 14th at the Stoneham World Cup and 10th at Park City World Cup. Murray Buchan (freeski half pipe), 10th at Copper Mountain qualification and 13th at Calgary World Cup. Anna Vincenti (slopestyle), eighth at Cadrona, her very first World Cup event, 11th Gstaad World Cup, 10th and 10th in qualification at Breckenridge World Cup. Andrew Musgrave (Nordic), won Norwegian Championships; 27th in FIS Tour de Ski overall standings. Andrew Young (Nordic), 16th Norwegian Championships and 27th at Lenzerheide Sprint Qualification World Cup. Posy Musgrave (Nordic), fifth Swiss Championships and third in FIS race in Austria
What are your ambitions for your sport in Scotland in the next five years? For snowsports to be the winter activity of choice for the population of Scotland; for Snowsport Scotland to have a greater presence within Scotland and within GB; for our athletes to achieve podium potential and podium ranking across all disciplines; for nine athletes to be at the 2018 Winter Games, with at least one medal won. To continue the schools pilot project until it has been rolled out across Scotland, and develop our LASS programme for women so it is available at every facility in Scotland.
What are the biggest challenges you see as facing your sport in Scotland during the next five years? Developing and funding relevant programmes to help us achieve the goals already listed.
What involvement has your organisation in disability sport? Historically we have stepped back from engagement with the disabled snowsports groups and individuals but I have initiated conversations with Disability Snowsport UK, Scottish Disability Sports and a number of individuals about how we might best start to work with disability snowsports and where our efforts might be best placed. I anticipate that this work will start again once the Olympic Winter Games are over and the dust has settled a little.
Who are your sport's leading Scottish contenders and dark horses at the Winter Olympics? All of our Scottish snowsports athletes are dark horses. Ben Kilner, snowboard half pipe; Murray Buchan, freeski half pipe; Calum Smith, Posy Musgrave, Andrew Musgrave and Andrew Young, all Nordic.
What are your plans to capitalise on the attention attracted to your sport by the Games in Sochi? We are fortunate to have partners in the snowsports industry in Scotland who are working with us to capitalise as much as possible on Scottish snowsports successes. We will be utilising all of our available media to highlight the successes achieved and once the athletes are back in Scotland we will look to arrange an activity to celebrate them and their hard work.
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