January 20, 2008 – Both to commemorate the exciting results from our Nordic athletes so far this season, and in anticipation of the races next week and the pre-World Championships in Liberec in February, we’re offering a program called Friends of Cross Country, which is already giving a wide range of U.S. Ski Team alumni, supporters, fans and recreational skier a way to be involved with the team, and to help to capture the momentum the athletes have as they race toward Vancouver in 2010, Sochin in 2014, and beyond.

Enthusiasts nationwide are now able to show their support of the Team as a Friend of Cross Country by giving a gift as low as $50. The Norwegian Ski Federation as operated an identical program for a number of years, and they sell 8,000 hats annually. Skiers of all ages and abilities in Norway show their support for their team by wearing their “Langrennsportens Venner” hats from the current year, and from years gone by. We’ve started to challenge Norway on the ski trails – surpassing them in nationwide community support is a key area to sustaining that challenge.

Click here to donate or email donate@ussa.org or call 800-809-SNOW.

The results we’ve seen so far this season from athletes like Kikkan Randall, Andrew Newell, Kris Freeman, Bill Demong and Johnny Spillane are thanks to the efforts of the entire U.S. skiing community including race organizers, community coaches, divisional leaders and dedicated supporters. This support has enabled athletes at all levels of our development pipeline to perform their best. Because of this, our athletes are better prepared to compete with their peers internationally. USSA has made new, high-performance investments in Nordic skiing including:

– Coach, parent, club and officials education
– Greater support for elite-level development
– Investments in sport science, such as force measurement analysis tools
– State of the art roller skiing treadmill
– Nutritional, medical and performance psychology support
– 2010 Olympic venue training camps
– 2010 Whistler fast-skis project

We invite you to become an inaugural member by getting yourself a limited edition FoXC cap from Bjorn Daehlie, and by showing your support by wearing it when you are out skiing. The support our current and future athletes will feel by seeing people wearing a team hat at their local ski areas and community races will be powerful, will help them to achieve their goals, and will inspire generations of young kids to participate in this healthful, lifelong family sport.