This year’s World Junior Championships are slated to be held in Davos, Switzerland, and the T2 Foundation, a Park City-based nonprofit, is aiming to raise $40,000 to send the entire U.S. team there to compete.

The fundraiser, which seeks small donations from many people, aims to ensure no athlete who makes the team will have to pay their own way to compete in one of the most important competitions of an athlete’s young career.

“We feel this is an opportunity to engage the ski community and come together to try and send our best skiers to the World Juniors, cost free,” said T2’s Executive Director Marina Knight. “It’s such a benchmark to win a World Junior title and T2 wants to alleviate the financial burden placed squarely on athletes, so they can not only compete without that stress, but also feel the support of our entire community behind them.”

T2 kicked the campaign off at the Killington World Cup in November and is seeking donations through their website.

“We tried to make the process as quick and simple as possible, so it’s easy to donate,” said Knight.

Since the kickoff, the campaign has been propelled by athletes and the T2 Foundation itself getting the word out via Instagram.

“What’s really cool and somewhat unexpected is to have athletes like Mikaela Shiffrin and Julia Mancuso get behind what we’re trying to do,” said Knight. “It’s really inspiring to see athletes at that level connect with the message and help rally support.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdLVG3QFxdt/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_legacy

Shiffrin posted on her Instagram account and Mancuso posted an Instagram story this week. Other athletes who have supported the cause include Steve Nyman, Ted Ligety, who is also a member of T2’s Board of Directors, Laurenne Ross, retired athletes like Kaylin Richardson and Tim Kelley, as well as current T2 athletes. Swiss Olympic Champion, Dominique Gisin, supported the campaign with a $100 donation.

“World Juniors changed the trajectory of my career and hopefully we can help the next generation of US skiers become the next stars,” Nyman wrote in his plea on Instagram.

T2 also plans to make a push that taps into local clubs and ski programs, once the team is named.

“The idea is to hone in on rallying each athlete’s individual communities to help out, with many people donating small amounts. We’ve been asking for $10 dollars, but the average gift so far is more like $25-50,” said Knight.

To help boost the funds raised, T2 is currently working with a matching donor, so any donation counts twice toward the $40,000 goal, which they hope to raise by the start of World Juniors on Jan. 29.

Release courtesy of the T2 Foundation

Posted from SkiRacing.com