Realistic expectations Luce explains that USA Canoe/ Kayak is realistic in its expectations of younger athletes. He indicated that he was focusing on results for this year highlighted by the World Championships in August in Halifax, Canada. “So far, we’re having a good quad in relation to our resources,” Luce added. To those in the know, the U.S. team’s results are very good despite having a paltry budget. For a national federation of a nation the size of the U.S., it may seem a bit strange that there is only one coach for the team and one for the junior program, but that is the situation that Luce embraced when he took the job. “It’s a tremendous challenge and rewarding at the same time to work within our current environment,” Luce said. “But, I’m privileged to work with great athletes and great officials during this tough period of our development … I’m hopeful that our young athletes and those in our development program will hang in there and continue on their own development path with us.”
currentlevels due to missing the podium in the Beijing games. He said he understands that the USOC has tough choices to make, and a big part of what goes into funding decisions is success at the Olympic level. In addition to two coaches’ salaries, the USOC does provide room and board for up to eight athletes at the training center for two-thirds of the year.
Coach as master juggler What this means for Luce, and his junior coach, Mac Hickox, director of National Development for USA Canoe/Kayak, is that they have to wear every hat imaginable. “Not only am I the on-water coach for the senior team;” he said, “I’m the off-water coach, weight training coach, boat transport driver, scheduling master, fund raiser and PR guy.” This is a lot to juggle when you spend
most of your days on the water with athletes that are training twice a day in their boats in addition to their off-water training. “In a program that should have half a dozen coaches, I’m wearing all the hats while Mac is doing a super job on the development program, which is our future.” One of the things that Luce brings to the table is solid international connections. Not all that long ago, Luce was a top Canadian paddler himself who also trained in Germany developing relationship in the European network of clubs and national teams. When his international paddling career began to wane, he was already coaching top athletes, including Adam van Koeverden as a bantam. These connections have helped Luce
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Carrie Johnson
He said the team is on track – especially given its age – and has demonstrated success by having a number of boats make the B finals in 11 events in the recent World Cup regattas in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Top regattas are comprised of preliminary heats, semifinals and the top nine from these rounds selected for A finals and the next nine for B finals.
Funding challenges The United States Olympic Committee has significantly reduced support which means the federation has to work hard to gain funding from a variety of sources (see editorial by USA Canoe/Kayak CEO, David Yarborough). This situation is exacerbated by the tough economy and major sponsors withdrawing their support from this and other amateur sports. Luce indicated that the USOC wasn’t likely to fund the federation beyond
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