LAKE PLACID ­– The New York Ski Educational Foundation was recently awarded the United States Ski and Snowboard’s Club of the Year award at the USSS’s annual Congress meetings in Park City, Utah.

The club was also recognized as the National Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Club of the year. Individual recognition was also given to NYSEF alum Tate Frantz as the National Ski Jumping Athlete of the Year, and NYSEF coach Larry Stone was named the National Development Coach of the Year for ski jumping.

The annual assembly draws coaches and the program leadership from clubs across the country for a week of workshops, focus groups, keynote addresses and the awards ceremony. Program leadership and staff attend the meetings, connecting with other clubs and sharing in the continued evolution of sport under the umbrella of United States Ski and Snowboard.

USSS then recognizes clubs that have “achieved the most outstanding high-performance athletic and organizational results in the current season and best meet the athletic and club performance benchmarks.”

“We are proud to receive this honor on behalf of our entire community at NYSEF. Every staff member and volunteer — every athlete and parent,” NYSEF Executive Director John Norton said. “Our entire community earned this by working together.”

NYSEF is represented at each state Olympic Regional Development Authority venue in the state, which means that the club serves more than 600 athletes across freeride disciplines, Alpine disciplines and Nordic disciplines. National-level and international-level success were seen from current NYSEF athletes and alumni in multiple disciplines.

This past season, Northwood School/NYSEF’s Hudson Marshall earned a top five overall performance at U16 nationals, while fellow Northwood/NYSEF athlete Henry Loher, alongside Frantz, was part of a historic medal-earning team at Junior World Championships for ski jumping. Frantz also earned some of the best American finishes ever during the Ski Jumping World Cup season, including a top 15 result at the Four Hills Competition. Also, NYSEF athlete Kai McKinnon qualified and competed at World Championships in Nordic Combined, among the many accomplishments that highlight the sports NYSEF supports.

“It’s all about layers of success at all levels and all disciplines,” NYSEF’s Winter Term Director Beatty Schluter said. “To me, what’s neat about this award is that it’s about who we are as a community and all of the work we’re doing at all of our venues. We’re running programming at five locations and in seven disciplines and kids are performing. We’re also trying to create an environment of well-rounded, healthy athletes at the grassroots club level that can take the sport as far as their ability and dreams let them.”

NYSEF’s delegation at the meetings included Norton, Schlueter, Gore Program Director Rich Burnley, Gore head coach John Morgan, Belleayre head coach Jason Barcoff, Head ski jumping and Nordic combined coach Colin Delaney, Head women’s FIS coach Jeremy Transue and Head men’s FIS coach Seppi Stiegler.