It has been announced that the Interim CEO of Snowsport England, Maggie Still is moving on after having been appointed to the CEO role at British Ice Skating. Still will also leave her post as CEO of Scottish Squash.
Statement from Maggie Still:
“I would like to thank everyone in the sport for a very positive experience. The Snowsport England Board and executive team have been brilliant. We have shaped and started to make inroads into the delivery of the organisation’s strategic objectives and have worked with the sport to develop a set of values that will underpin Snowsport in England for years to come.
I have loved my year in the sport, and we now need someone who can continue the good work of the team and embed the work of the Board and Committees. I will be taking up an opportunity with British Ice Skating, where I am looking forward to focussing on one exciting new role, including working with the Home Nations in a British context.
Thank you to all staff and volunteers who have been so generous with their support over the past twelve months, and I look forward to following your successes in years to come.”
Statement from Dominic McGonigal, Chair of Snowsport England:
“Maggie joined Snowsport England at a crucial time, when we were kickstarting our 10-year strategy. There was a huge amount of work to do to make us capable of delivering on Leadership, Talent, and Participation long term.
She has done a fantastic job for Snowsport England, successfully stabilising the organisation, delivering the second year of our strategy and creating new resources to make the best use of our expert volunteers and coaches. British Ice Skating are lucky to have her! We wish her well in this next career move.”
Still, who was appointed in July 2023 after the sudden departure of Tim Fawke, leaves the sport with many of the members wondering what the strategy is for developing the next generation of talent and also with a sport in a slight state of disarray with regards to planning for events for next year. Many believe that there are far too many races on the schedule and that the power struggle between Snowsport England, Clubs and Regions means that there is a free for all when putting the racing calendar together.
With few of the administrative staff actually from a winter sports background, the next CEO needs to hit the ground running and take control of sport with the athletes in mind. There is a growing feeling that many feel 'accountants' are running the shop at the moment.
With too many races on the calendar and no coherent strategy for bringing the next generation of athletes to the top, these are trying times for a sport that is seeing impressive performances from its athletes.
Many also feel that there is also a growing gap between the governing body and those that are giving their free time at grassroots and running clubs / regions and the paid employees.
With many members and more importantly, club committees who SE should have taken along the journey of the 10 year strategy, most have no idea of the process, the position to date and what next.
When constantly questioned by members on Strategy progress, and benchmarking, the response is “Everything is progressing” but members are given very little substance which has created many pockets of doubt
It is not just alpine that are feeling very disillusioned with the current situation, cross country are also mirroring many of these issues.
Whoever takes on the CEO role at Snowsport England, they will have their work cut out in pulling all the constituent parts that make up winter sport in England together.