The USA Luge off-season recruiting tour – the White Castle USA Luge Slider Search – will begin its national search for new talent on July 25-26 in Duluth, Minn. This year’s schedule, featuring sleds on wheels, is starting later than usual as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
USA Luge decided to move forward with the recruiting tour because of people’s desire to participate in outdoor activities. But it will be deploying new cleaning and sanitizing protocols in all of its clinics to keep participants safe.
The Duluth clinics, for boys and girls ages 9-13, are slated for Junction Avenue from East Niagara to West College, and will be conducted in coordination with the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Three sessions are planned each day, from 9-11 a.m., 12-2 p.m. and 3-5 p.m. No more than seven youngsters, accompanied by three coaches, will be permitted in a session. Participants only need to attend one session. All clinics are free of charge and each young athlete will be given a complimentary White Castle USA Luge Slider Search T-shirt.
USA Luge’s five rings of safety protocols in these sessions will include:
1. A strict policy of social distancing (six feet at all times)
2. Wearing of face masks is mandatory
3. All sleds, helmets and registration items (pens, clip boards, tables, etc.) will be disinfected after each use with OSHA recommended cleaning products
4. USA Luge will provide hand sanitizer for all participants
5. Attendees are restricted to two adults per youth
"We’re very happy that Duluth and the university have partnered with us to find more luge talent for our future teams," said Gordy Sheer, Olympic silver medalist and Director of Marketing and Sponsorships. "Certainly, all of us have encountered new and different times in the past four months, but in reducing the number of children in each clinic, the silver lining is that they will all be safe, and will all get ample attention from the coaching staff."
Once the participants master the ability to maneuver the sled in both directions, they will then slide from the White Castle USA Luge ramp onto the road surface to negotiate a shallow, gentle cone course.
During the free clinics, national team coaches travel each summer and fall looking for future Olympic athletes in the sport. The event will give these youth an opportunity to learn luge and qualify to join the USA Luge Junior Development team. This is the first rung on the ladder to national and Olympic team status. Children selected from the White Castle USA Luge Slider Search will be invited to learn the sport on ice next winter in either Lake Placid, N.Y., host of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics, or Park City, Utah, the 2002 Olympic luge site.
Over 250,000 youngsters have been introduced to luge in this program since its inception nearly 35 years ago.
"We’re so proud to be a partner with USA Luge in its annual Slider Search, especially this year," said Jamie Richardson, vice president at White Castle. "The pandemic doesn’t have to dash anyone’s hopes of becoming an Olympic athlete. This program is helping to keep kids’ dreams alive."
An Olympic sport since 1964, luge consists of athletes sliding down a track of ice on sleds at speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour. The White Castle USA Luge Slider Search clinics will have kids luging at much slower, more introductory speeds on the wheeled luge sleds. Participating "sliders" (a name given to luge athletes and the iconic White Castle burger) will ultimately be considered for the USA Luge Junior Development Team. The coaches guiding each clinic include National and Olympic team athletes, giving each young participant professional instruction and inspiration.
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