Have a few minutes on my hands. Think this might help some understand this, apologize to those who are already familiar with it.
The first process is that the USST issues this list of skiers that are being nominated to the USST. Just because you are nominated, does not mean you accept, though the huge majority do. However, with the pretty big price tags associated with joining the team, the occasional skier decides to go on their own. A good example is Robby Kelly, who is a WC regular, but an independent. Keep in mind that when representing the US at a WC, you must ski in a USST uniform, etc. The USST also picks up all of his expenses, just as if he were a team member when competing, etc. It's also been increasingly more common to turn down D team nominations. Why pay? And why not stay in your current program, or move into another more focused PG program, I assume that pretty much everybody on this list will accept.
The team criteria is based on birth year, and gender. The older you get, the higher the hurdle. For example, the men must be in the top 25 on the World Cup Start List for one event to qualify for the A team. If you are born in 1990 or earlier to make team criteria you must qualify for the A team. Men 1991 to 1994 must qualify for B team or higher criteria. C team is largely 1995-1997 birth years. And obviously younger skiers can make the criteria. Then, you see at the bottom of the criteria for the B team and C team the always present "coaches discretion."
So, all of the men on the A team met the criteria. Bryce Bennett and Tommy Ford have moved up. Bode, as we have noted is gone. And, the one that surprises me is that Tim Jitloff is off this team list. He had rough year last year, but he is normally our second best GS skier, and in training he often beats Ligety. He did not meet criteria, but I expected him to be on the B team. I have no idea what is going on. Perhaps he is going to ski independently. I am reasonably sure that he will be skiing, and he will have a start in every WC GS.
On the B team, we see Michael Ankeny dropped. He did not make the criteria. He started every WC SL last year. I think he's a 1991. Surprised that he's not a discretionary pick. I know that he just had shoulder surgery, but I hear that he plans on skiing, and that he too, has been given a WC SL slot. Wiley Maple was dropped. Wiley has been cursed with some injury problems, but there are others who are on the shelf who are discretionary picks. Wiley is a 1990 birth year. Sounds like he will come back and race independently. Before his most recent surgeries he was scoring WC points. One is Nolan Kasper. He's had a lot of physical issues, and surgeries. Has missed the better part of the past three seasons, with what were serious hip issues. At one time he was our best SL skier. He's a year older than Wiley and two years older than Michael. Tommy Biesmeyer is a discretionary pick, a 1989. He's has moments of brilliance and injuries...forever. Hope it's a healthy year for him.
On the C team, we have three guys who were discretionary picks due to their ages. Mark Engel is a 1991, and I think started every WC SL, and scored points. Nick Krause is a 1993, with a lot of speed. Coming back from injury and surgery. Brennan Rubie is a 1991. I'm pleased to see this pick, as he has upside, IMO. He skied very well at times on the WC last season. Two 1998"s on the C team: River Radamus, and Jett Seymour. Both are very, very talented and fast.
One other somewhat strange situation is that we have two other exceptional SL skiers who I believe have been assured starts in every WC SL, Robby Kelly and Hig Roberts. Along with Ankeny, that means that three of our consistent SL starters will not be team members. Just on a personal note, that feels a bit strange to me. However all three have been through the process of "Congratulations! Now here's your bill, and we'll need a credit card number!" before. I know that Robby is convinced that he's in a better place all around with his Redneck Racing program.
No men's D team named. All but one moved up. This falls in line with all of the work taking place under Chip Knight with respect to development, and one of the big questions for a few years has been "Why do we have a D team, and do we need it?" Do we need the expense, and the staff?
On the women's side, on the A team we see two new faces, Breezy Johnson and Jackie Wiles. We has Leanne Smith's retirement. And we still have Julia Mancuso on the roster. I assume that she is still injured, and fits in that box. And there will be plenty of Olympic year "Super Jules" hype and pay days for her, whether she even skis. Good for her. Nobody in this sport earns what they frankly should.
On the B team, we had Anna Marno's previously announced retirement. She's been injured a lot, has battled back, scored her first WC points this spring, and I believe just wants to move on with the rest of her live. Congratulations to her. Lila Lapanja is a different situation. She is 23 years old, and has had some injuries. She also has shown at times that she has great speed, and substantial upside. When she was in a training group coached by Dykster and training with MS, she was making big gains. And skiing a WC schedule. I serious do not understand that one. Nor do a number of folks. I hear that she is going to ski independently, unless the USST changes course. Two women also moved up to this years B team.
C team added two new faces. Nina O'Brien and Katie Hensien, who is just 18. Four women on the C team.
There is a womens D team. Two very, very high potential young ladies, both 1999's who are holdovers. One is Keely Cashman, the other Nellie Rose Talbot. Nellie missed the entire season with an ACL. The two of them could have all sorts of interesting starts this season, including a couple of WC starts. Probably a lot of EC racing.
The National Training Group is something that also gets plenty of discussion. I would not get all hung up on it. The headline is that the USST is committed to bring the best young skiers together to train and race in a variety of projects, including more international experience. Some will be on this NTG list, others not. This list may grow.
I'm lead to believe that the National University Team may be done, BUT not a focus on using the NCAA ranks as a feeder to the team. Again more project work, more camps, more summer work, etc. I am pretty sure that the entire Uni team experiment was funded for the two years by one donor. Money is pretty precious for the organization, and things may have changed. Perhaps his generosity is better deployed elsewhere.
So for me, the big question is what is the situation with Jit? I have asked a few people who are as clueless as I am. He's been a real individual for a long time. He lives with his girlfriend in Germany, is the only guy on the WC skiing on CROC skis, etc. I can't imagine that he is not going to ski. Perhaps the USST and he have been in a "conversation" about cutting him from the A team and cutting his funding? These never go over well. For me, the most interesting factor isn't missing his race results, as frankly he has struggled with them on the WC. If he were not to ski, it would, IMO, have a potential effect on Ligety. They have trained together and paced each other for over a decade. Ligety is coming back form back surgery, and they are all on new skis. Knowing how he is skiing relative to Jit is a big plus. Jit also pushes him. He's every bit as fast in training.
And keep in mind that being injured is a factor in these nominations. I know that the "spirit" of that, going back years is that you want to support the injured and help them recover and return. It gets messy when people perceive it to be inconsistent, or when fans conclude that somebody is "done."
So that's my first take. Just my $.02. Trying to get some more insight. If anybody else has some, please share it.