NBS President’s Vision and USSS Partnership

Since becoming president of The National Brotherhood of Skiers (NBS), Henri Rivers has not only strived to introduce more people of color to skiing but has worked tirelessly toward bringing racial diversity to the sport’s highest level.

Thanks to a new partnership with U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the NBS is one step closer to that goal.

Nine competitive Team NBS athletes attended a camp at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard’s Center of Excellence (COE) in Park City this August. The first of its kind, the camp provided the athletes with a week of intensive dryland training and testing, nutrition, psychology, branding and social media education.

“The reason we wanted it dedicated just to [NBS athletes] was that we didn’t want them to feel any outside pressure to join an established rookie camp and compete with a bunch of white athletes who might have a leg up on them,” Rivers said. “Now, for round two, when these nine athletes go into that kind of environment, they’re not going to feel intimidated. A lot of them walked away a little more confident.”

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A taste of the top tier

The camp, which has yet to be named, will become an annual fixture every August, possibly even twice yearly.

“It’s kind of what we do for our rookie camp,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chief of Sport Anouk Patty. “It’s more a glimpse of what it could look like to be an elite athlete. They’re not going to be named to the team. They have to earn it like everybody else. The hope is that we provide some education and also inspire them to work hard, make the team, and come work out at the COE every summer. We want them to recognize what it means and what it’s about to be an elite athlete so they go back into their communities and talk about it. We need to start by doing this.”

Homogeny hampering the sport

Like most winter sports, alpine racing is virtually devoid of athletes of color. Without support from the sport’s upper echelon, progression to an elite level is difficult for anyone. However, race, residing far from ski areas and socio-economic limitations present additional barriers for athletes of color.

“DEI [Diversity, Equity, Inclusion] is something every organization across the country is talking about, but more importantly, for us to achieve athletic goals, there’s this whole pool of athletes out there that we’re not tapping into. Our athletes are a white, homogenous group,” Patty said. “The other thing with DEI is that the term focuses a lot on the numbers. How many BIPOC [Black, Indigenous People of Color] athletes do you have? How many gay athletes? How many women? I view it as the reverse – IED. You really have to start with an inclusive culture where people of all colors and sexual orientations feel safe and comfortable.

You have to create opportunities. Diversity is the outcome. I’ve been here [at U.S. Ski & Snowboard] for a year and a half, trying to create this inclusive, welcoming culture where athletes feel safe like they can be their true selves. That makes them their best selves. We get it. They haven’t had the opportunities, so we’re going to give them that opportunity.”

Camp takeaways