How the All-American assistant coaches keep the U.S. men on track all season long

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in order for American athletes to perform their best once they step into the starting gate?

A team that works well together on a World Cup race day is like a finely tuned machine. Everything is in sync as athletes, coaches, technicians, trainers, and press officers all work together toward a common goal.

Now, in this SkiRacing.com exclusive, we hook up with some of unsung heroes of the U.S. Ski Team to present what goes into a successful season.

We’ll start with a view from U.S. Ski Team Head Coach Sasha Rearick, who sings praises of synchronicity among the assistant coaches.

“The staff is working together right now in a great way, across all the groups,” says Rearick. “Supporting each other, helping each other, challenging each other. It’s a real good team effort among all the staff pulling each group in the right way, but also working together. Those guys do a lot of the work, and most of the credit should really go to them, and they don’t get much.”

The assistant coaching staff of the U.S. men’s team is unique for a couple of reasons. First, they are all Americans — a rarity among coaching staffs from any country at the national team level.

Second, they all consider themselves friends off the hill.

That creates a productive environment that has helped push several athletes to career-best results in recent seasons.

“It just makes it that much easier,” says assistant coach Pete Anderson of the coaching camaraderie. “When we’re around each other, it’s fun. I think we all have a good time. It’s easy to work hard. You see another guy working hard, and you want to make sure you’re not the one falling behind.”

Chris Beckmann, a national team athlete for several years in the mid 2000s who took the World Junior Championship downhill title in 2006 before retiring and joining the assistant staff, says he sees the dynamic among the coaches benefiting the athletes.

“We’re definitely the young workhorses,” Beckmann says. “We all work hard, just kind of pushing each other. It makes us work that much harder as a group, and it definitely feeds down to the athletes. The athletes see that and they want to put forth as much effort as they can and it just really works well.”

Oh, did we mention Beckmann can belt out a good tune, too?

Speed assistant Scotty Veenis adds that the all-American staff bands together when on the road in Europe, which also creates a tight-knit approach to World Cup racing rigors.

“We’re definitely a different culture than the Europeans,” explains Veenis. “Our guys have a different mentality as far as everything goes. Most of our group is pretty laid back. We have to play into that all year long, especially when we’re on the road to keep the confidence going, and that’s one of the biggest challenges. Once we get over to Europe in mid-December for Gardena and Santa Caterina, we’re there till March. We have to function as a family; that’s the biggest part.”

Waving the red, white and blue also inspires other young coaches, says Anderson; in the past, European-dominant staffs have intimidated rising talent in the U.S.

“I think it’s cool to have as many Americans as possible,” Anderson says. “I think there’s kind of been a perception maybe that the foreign teams have something extra to give. I think there needs to be a progression in the U.S. of younger coaches moving into the World Cup ranks as leaders because I think there’s no reason why Americans can’t have enough knowledge and skill base to be good coaches at the World Cup level, as well.”

“After all,” says Beckmann, “it is the U.S. Ski Team.”