Calgary (AB), Canada (Tuesday, May 13, 2003) - Mark Sharp, the former head coach of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team's women's technical group, has accepted the newly created position of Director of Juvenile Development, Alpine Canada Alpin announced today.

The position was created as part of Alpine Canada Alpin's national effort aimed at creating a world-leading development system for Canada's future alpine ski racing champions. The move comes as the organization and its coaching staff review the 2002-2003 season that saw major new corporate partners support ski racing, and the launch of the Podium 2010 plan for the organization - as well as one of Canada's strongest showings in World Championships action for the team.

"Alpine Canada Alpin is moving strongly on multiple levels to give athletes the resources this country requires to consistently place Canadian racers on the podium at all levels of competition," said President Ken Read. "Together with our provincial partners, we are intent on developing programs that boost the number of young racers in our system, and deliver world-class coaching from Nancy Greene to the national team levels."

Sharp, who helped coach Allison Forsyth to her bronze medal performance at this year's World Championships in St. Moritz, began his career with the national team seven years ago as a development team coach, and moved up to the World Cup circuit alongside the athletes he helped shape, including Forsyth.

"Mark is a fantastic coach and very committed to the athletes and to the sport," said Joze Sparovec, Alpine Canada's vice-president of athletics who originally hired Sharp. "He is an incredible asset to Canada's ski racing community. Mark has a lot of experience and knowledge to share with the juvenile-aged racers and their coaches, and Canada as a whole will benefit from his commitment to helping develop our future world and Olympic champions."

In his new role, Sharp will focus on implementing Alpine Canada Alpin's new development model at the juvenile K1/K2 level (racers aged 11-14 years). The model was created by another former national team coach - Max Gartner - who was named vice-president of Canadian development programs for Alpine Canada Alpin last January. Working together, Sharp and Gartner will be moving forward with the vision of creating and implementing a world-leading national development system for young alpine racers that will help Canada to consistently see its athletes on the podium in international competition.

"It was a great experience for me to be able to work with some of Canada's best K2 skiers at the coaches' development camp following this year's Whistler Cup, and it is an honor to be moving into such an important role," said Sharp, who was part of a group of Canadian and Austrian national team coaches and physiotherapists - including Gartner and Sharp's coaching partners Jim Pollock and Matt Kerr - who took part in a training camp for Canada's elite K2 racers and their coaches in early April.

Sharp said in his seven years on the world scene, it has become very evident to him that the most successful sport federations are very in-tune with the development of their talent pool, and it's very common for European World Cup coaches to move into similar roles within the juvenile ranks.

"Canada is moving in a positive direction with its commitment to its young athletes. Coaches at the juvenile level have a tremendous responsibility to guide the athletes through this important phase, and I know that I can really contribute to helping them teach their athletes the strategies and philosophies that they will bring with them to the next levels in their career."

According to Sharp, there are some great coaches and programs already in existence across Canada, and there are many opportunities to bolster those programs with some new help and direction.

"What I envision is that in every corner of the country, the coaches of Canada's young athletes will - over time - use some of the new information and tactics for technical and physical preparation and add it to what they are already doing. We find that exposure to Canada's and the world's top racers is very limited for our young athletes compared to what European club kids have. My job will be to help increase that exposure to the juvenile coaches and athletes."

Alpine Canada Alpin is the governing body for ski racing in Canada. Its 27,000 members are athletes, coaches and officials, including the elite racers of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team and the Canadian Disabled Alpine Ski Team.