Member Article

CEO Takes Snowsport Scotland to New Heights

Snowsports Scotland’s CEO – Jane Campbell Morrison – is on a mission to take the Scottish Governing Body to new heights with a strong strategic plan, ambitious thinking and the drive, experience and passion to do it.

Growing up in Canada, Scotland and France Jane’s passion for snowsports started at a young age – skiing since she can remember in Canada before moving to Scotland aged 6 and spending her Winters skiing as often as possible in the Scottish mountains.

Moving from her position as Development Manager at The Royal Yachting Association Scotland – another of Janes outdoor passions - Jane secured her role as CEO of Snowsport Scotland – the Scottish Governing Body (SGB) for snowsports in Scotland - in July 2013.

The primary role of the SGB is to encourage participation, build a strong club coaching structure, deliver top quality training programmes, develop and nurture Scottish and GB athletes as well as organise competition opportunities for snowsports athletes at all levels.

Jane has certainly faced the challenge head on , putting in place a number of internal procedures to assist Snowsport Scotland with some key targets - more effective delivery; strengthening and building member relationships; as well as raising the profile of the organisation within the snowsports community.

Jane immediately created an open door for discussions – attending meetings and conferences as well as attending events to meet athletes, club members, parents and coaches. She focused efforts on building relationships with Sport Scotland – the national agency for sport in Scotland – which led to Snowsport Scotland being able to gain two new coaches and two new Development Officers. Jane has also been working hard to strengthen relationships with snowsport clubs and facilities across Scotland to ensure strategic goals for both these and the governing body are achieved equally.

The organisation is most definitely reaping the benefits of Jane’s work. Relationships with key partners have been dramatically strengthened, gaining the organisation an increase in funding from Sport Scotland by 42%. Clubs are also now a lot more confident in their long term sustainability thanks to the renewed focus and the NGB for the first time in 2 years breaking even on its budgets.

“The organisation certainly needed to strengthen some key relationships. We needed to work more collaboratively with snowsports bodies in the UK to assist in achieving our shared goals and objectives and the difference is now notable. Our focus moving forward is building and strengthening these relationships and position Snowsport Scotland as the real, significant partner in snowsports across Scotland and we are well on our way to achieving this ambition” explained Jane.

The organisation is currently host to 35 clubs, 7000 members and 353 competitors all of which Jane has firmly embedded in her plans for Snowsport Scotland. “Our athletes are incredibly important to us and we want to continue putting relevant programmes in place to help our athletes achieve podium spots at major events including Europa Cup, Wold Cup and Olympics. And we will do this by providing a strong leadership programme and offering the maximum level of support as possible”.

As the national Governing Body for all snowsports in Scotland the organisation is responsible for building and supporting a world class, national coaching structure, developing and nurturing top athletic talent and providing the competitive area for athletes of all levels from beginners to the podium placed.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Scarab4 .