RIDGEFIELD, Conn. --- How do members of the U.S. national luge team get their start in the Fastest Sport on Ice®*? Through the Verizon-USA Luge Slider Search, which targets boys and girls aged 11 to 14. On Saturday and Sunday, June 7-8, young athletes who want to experience the thrill of luge and train under the guidance of USA Luge national team coaches and athletes can do so when the Verizon-USA Luge Slider Search rolls into Ridgefield, Conn. The event will be held on Governor St., between Prospect Rd and East Ridge St., from 9 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
During a Verizon-USA Luge Slider Search clinic, USA Luge coaches and athletes teach youngsters the basics of riding a luge sled, including position, steering and stopping. Armed with the basics, the young athletes make several runs down a paved luge course. Finally, the youngsters measure their physical skills through a battery of fitness tests.
Those who show the most promise at the clinics are invited to train in Lake Placid, N.Y.; or Park City, Utah. They also will be considered for the 2009-2010 USA Luge development team.
Currently, most of USA Luge's national team are graduates of the Slider Search, including Brian Martin (Palo Alto, Calif.), a 1998 Olympic bronze and 2002 Olympic silver medalist. The Search also produced eight members of USA Luge's 2006 Olympic team, including the entire three-member women's squad, which consisted of Erin Hamlin (Remsen, N.Y.), Samantha Retrosi (Saranac Lake, N.Y.) and Courtney Zablocki (Highlands Ranch, Colo.).
The cost is $15 per youngster and includes a Verizon USA-Luge T-shirt. For complete information and to register for the Verizon-USA Luge Slider Search, call 1-800-USA Luge.
USA Luge uses the Verizon-USA Luge Slider Search, now in its 23rd season, as its primary means of recruitment for a program whose athletes have captured 521 international medals since 1994. Included in that total are silver and bronze medals during the 1998 and 2002 Olympic Winter Games, 25 World Cup victories, four overall World Cup doubles crowns, 18 Junior World Championship titles and 10 Senior World Championship medals.
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