Official Athlete Recruitment Tour of USA Luge Targets Boys and Girls, Ages 11 to 14
        
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, between the ages of 11 to 14. Saturday and Sunday, May 13-14, 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 Columbus, Ohio.   The event will be held on the Derby Hill soap box derby course, located in Big Run Park, from 9 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

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 2007-2008 USA Luge development team.

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 21st season, as its primary means of recruitment for a program whose athletes have captured 425 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, 16 Junior World Championship titles and 10 Senior World Championship medals.

Brian Martin, a 1998 Olympic bronze and 2002 Olympic silver medalist, is a graduate of the 1987 Slider Search.   Eight members of USA Luge’s 2006 Olympic team, including the entire three-member women’s squad, were also discovered through the program.

The Verizon-USA Luge Slider Search will also be conducted in other cities throughout the summer: Philadelphia, Pa.; Westmont, Ill.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Charlotte, N.C.; Tampa, Fla.; Seattle, Wash.; Santa Clarita, Calif.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Southlake, Texas and Ridgefield, Conn.
For more information on USA Luge, the Fastest Sport on Ice®, log on to www.usaluge.org.
         
Media contacts:

Jon Lundin, USA Luge
518-523-2071 ext. 112
jonl@usaluge.org
        

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