It has been an uphill climb for UO Snow, the University of Oregon’s club freestyle ski and snowboard team. With the 2014 season approaching, membership is at an all-time high despite numerous challenges.
UO Snow disbanded following the 2007 season but was re-booted in 2010 by Jeff Fadness and Ty Huard. Since then, membership has steadily grown and now stands at 50, nearly doubling the total of 27 from last season. For presidents Briggs Chapman, Rick Lindfors and Melina Zamalloa, managing the large team will be uncharted territory, but all three are excited and have high hopes for what has so far been a snow-less winter on the Oregon slopes.
Lindfors said they plan to get to the mountain every weekend during winter term and into spring. He plans to enter the team in Mt. Bachelor’s inter collegiate regional competition the first weekend of spring break and to bring the Campus Rail Jam Tour to Eugene for the first time since 2008. @@rail jam date checked@@
Naturally, as one of the many club sports at Oregon, finding funding and a high level of interest are obstacles the team has to overcome. UO Snow has partnered with Berg’s Ski and Snowboard Shop and Tactics Board Shop to premiere movies and raise funds by mutually promoting one another. @@names checked@@
“They’ve been great. They’ve been fun to work with,” Lindfors said. “We’ve had some great fundraisers off of their films. It’s a partnership.”
In the past, attendance and commitment issues have caused UO Snow to waste funds on cancelled vans and other resources. A new policy will reward members who follow through on their commitments and discipline those who don’t. With the expanded membership, UO Snow won’t be able to fit the entire team into the vans rented through the university’s motor pool. However, they encourage members to car pool and will have help from Berg’s and Tactics, which charter buses to the Willamette Pass and Mt. Bachelor.
Another issue facing UO Snow is visibility. Fundraisers, special events and video productions can only do so much. Getting the word out can be difficult for a nontraditional club sport.
“People didn’t know about us,” Chapman said.
That visibility will be more difficult to achieve now that club sports won’t be allowed to furnish apparel with the signature Oregon “O” or any of the font used by Division I athletics.
“It’s a liability issue with athletics,” Zamalloa said. “We have students who travel around the world. If they get in trouble, athletics doesn’t want to receive phone calls blaming them.”
Lindfors said the font helps club sports associate themselves with the community of student athletes but added that is isn’t anything the team can’t overcome.
Selecting the team may be the biggest challenge of all for UO Snow. Without a mountain readily available at a moment’s notice, there aren’t opportunities to hold tryouts and let applicants showcase their skills. Because of that, the selection process heavily leans on how committed to the team an applicant is.
With over 70 applications turned in for this season, the captains — who also act as coaches — had tough decisions to make.
“There’s no way I can tell how skilled someone is,” Zamalloa said. “My personal focus is mainly on dedication.”
“Responsible students are what make any student organization better,” Lindfors added.
There is no snow yet, but the team is staying committed to building UO Snow and getting on the mountain one way or another.
“We might go bounce on trampolines,” Chapman said.
Follow Madison Guernsey on Twitter @guernseymd