Getting Started?

Hi,
So I have a question, I want to start ski racing, I've tried it before in NASTAR and some non-professional racing and have always done very well. Recently I've been starting to think about getting more involved in racing and I think that I want to become a registered racer with USSA. My question is that, since I don't live in the US, I've had very limited exposure to racing (I have skied a lot though, and in the little racing experience I've had, I've always felt good about my results, I've gotten lots of silver and gold NASTAR medals), and since I'm 17, I'm wondering if it's even possible for me to start from the bottom (as I think I'm relatively old for an amateur racer), or will I be faced with lots of humiliation from skiers that are years ahead of me. Don't get me wrong, I'm a good racer, but I just don't know if I should go for it. Another problem is that I have no clue where to start off. Who do I have to talk to? Where do I have to sign up? Can a more experienced racer than me help me out with all of these tough questions please?

Any and all help is appreciated dearly!
Thanks!

In order to enter a USSA sanctioned race, you must be a USSA membership. You don't need to be an American to join USSA. Your member number would start with an X. Many of the ski academies have non-Americans in their programs. If you have a local ski resort, talk to the race club program director about how to get involved. Ski racing is a lot of fun and it is never too late to get involved.

The post directly above has good information on how to go about getting into USSA racing: particularly the last part. If you want to do it, I think the first thing to do is to find out the local race team(s) and get the information about how to join.

Step 1: go to ussa.org, click on the "members" drop-down menu, pick "Membership tools" and then "Club Directory" in the sub-menu. This'll give you a list of local clubs, and what sports they're involved with. You're interested in those which offer "A" (as in "Alpine"), in case that's not utterly obvious.

Step 2: check out the websites of the club(s) that are located where you are. Most should be pretty informative. Some may not be kept as well up-to-date as others, so you may need to do a little e-mailing or phone-calling.

You can also easily find information on how to join the USSA at ussa.org also.

On your initial question: the likelihood of humiliation depends on a few things, including - most especially - your propensity for being humiliated. Since you're already a J1 (by age), it's very likely that the best racers will beat you badly. Then again, they'll probably be a fair number of other people that'll also be getting beat just about as badly. Generally, my observation is that there's usually good camaraderie among people on a team, without regard to their results. Indeed, I'd say the slower racers get more encouragement and pats on the back from teammates than the faster ones. Because it's not really a team sport, exactly, it's no skin off your teammates nose if you don't do that well.

As has been said above, it's never too late.  I had skied since I was very young, but never ran gates until I was 18 or 19.  Like you, after a while it started clicking & I had some pretty good results in the local fun races.  By the time is in my early 20's I tried my hand at a few Pro races (Pro racing was a now defunct dual elimination format).  A friend who was a former US ski teamer told me that I would never hang with the big boys, because I started so late.  He may have been right, but I managed to qualify for the round of 16 in one race & actually made my entrance fee back.  Whether I could compete at the top level or not didn't really make any difference.  I learned tons, made some great ski buddies, & had a great time.

Good luck,
JF

I'm a little confused, Jack. You said that you "don't live in the US."  To help us out, where are you from? Are you an American living outside the US, or a US citizen living abroad? Are you in boarding school here in the US? Plans to perhaps attend college in the US? In other words will you be doing your racing, ideally, in the US? And if you have a feel for what part of the US, than might be helpful, too. You're definitely not to old to start, and you can have a lot of fun with it. My sense is that there will be more specific suggestions with some more background info. Thanks!

Like others have said, it is never too late. I started two years ago competing independently. Did everything on my own, training, racing, representing, etc. I am now nearing the 120pt mark, which for my state would qualify me for the invitational series. Starting late has the disadvantage of not having the experience that others you will be competing with will have. At the same time, you have the advantage of dedication. Those who start late usually have a lot more drive to get top notch results than those who have been around longer, for a handful of reasons.

If I were you, I would start talking to the director of your local team. He/she should be able to help you a lot, not only with equipment, but with rules, regulation, etc.