According to Tom McIllfaterick, the CEO of the Canadian Snowboard Federation, 15 Canadian riders have so far qualified for 16 quota spots in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy. After this weekend’s World Cup in Whistler, and next weekend’s World Cup in Quebec, he expects that up to half a dozen more athletes will have qualified.
Getting to the point where the CSF names an Olympic team to the Canadian Olympic Committee is complex McIllfaterick says, but the system was created to base selection on results rather than the opinions of coaches.
"Officially nobody has qualified yet, although some athletes are going to be pretty comfortable with where they’re sitting right now," said McIllfaterick.
"This is going to be an important weekend for a lot of people. Whether you have a good weekend or a bad weekend can make a big difference.
"We have a maximum of 16 spots (in the Olympics) which we have to divide between the three disciplines and two genders. We can put a maximum of four athletes of any gender in any one event, but four in each event times six events and you get 24 athletes. Not everybody gets to go."
To meet the CSF’s basic qualification standards an athlete has to finish in the top half of the field in four World Cup events from Jan. 1, 2005 to this Dec. 20. Once a list of athletes that have met that standard has been compiled, the CSF will take each athlete’s top three results from the same time frame and add them up.
For example, an athlete with a first, second and third this past year would have a point total of six, while an athlete with a 10 th , 12 th , and 20 th would have a point total of 42. The athletes with the 16 lowest point totals will be picked for the team, to a maximum of four per gender per discipline.
The CSF will announce their list of qualified athletes within the next two weeks, but will not submit that list of names to the Canadian Olympic Committee until the Jan. 26 deadline. Once an athlete is named to the team, according to International Olympic Committee rules they cannot be replaced, even as a result of a injury.
Most Canadian teams will not be announcing their rosters until the end of January, but McIllfaterick believes there are benefits for choosing early.
"It is pretty early to be making those selections, there’s another month and more competitions before the Olympics, but we’re deliberately doing our selections early so that the athletes and coaches can focus on getting ready to compete in the Olympics," he said.
"Generally what happens is that (athletes) are chasing spots until the end of January, so the focus, the mental focus is on qualifying, and if you do qualify… you have to change gears pretty quickly.
"This will give our guys a much been opportunity to concentrate on training. Some athletes will be working on their runs, and working on tricks they won’t necessarily be doing in Whistler this weekend. Most riders will be pretty conservative to make sure they qualify for a spot, so they can’t go big, crash, and not finish in the top-half or jeopardize their spot in the standings.
"Once it’s over with the (selected) athletes will have six weeks to practice and train those new tricks or their form or whatever they need to be ready for the Games."
The Canadian Snowboard Federation is already benefiting from extra funding through the Own The Podium program, which was created and funded with the goal of making Canada the top medal-winning country at home during the 2010 Winter Games. According to McIllfaterick, the program has enabled the CSF to look ahead to 2010, while supporting the team through 2006.
"Obviously the program is primarily intended for 2010, but we’re putting part of it to use for Torino as well," he said. "First of all it allows us to properly fund the athletes for their training and competition. So that takes the burden off of them, and lets them focus on what they do on snow.
"Secondly, it allows us to have additional support services, like a wax technician and strength and conditioning people, which is all about enabling best performances and boosting confidence.
"It also lets us invest in a program called Project 2010. It’s not a development team, but a group of athletes in provincial or club programs that we’ve identified as having great potential for stepping up in 2010. We’re putting additional resources into them, which is something that Own The Podium allowed us to do."
Many of those athletes will be in Whistler this weekend. As the host country, Canada will get several additional quota spots in the World Cup qualifiers, and McIllfaterick wanted to ensure that all those spots were put to use.
In mid-November the CSF announced a team of 38 athletes, the largest group ever to be affiliated with the national team heading into a World Cup season. The roster includes several athletes who will be representing Canada at the World Junior Championships, as well as current members of the national team and development team.
"For the Project 2010 athletes this is a chance to see what a World Cup is like, and see if they can get some results to gauge themselves by. It would be difficult for any of them to qualify for the Olympics at this point, but that’s why we’re looking ahead to 2010," said McIllfaterick.
Whistler will be hosting four World Cup events, two halfpipes and two snowboardcrosses, this weekend, Dec. 8-11. The last two qualifying events, a pair of parallel giant slalom races, are at Le Relais, Quebec from Dec. 16-18.
