2024-28 PSIA-AASI National Team Coach Interview: Michael Rogan

The 2024-28 PSIA-AASI National Team Coaching Staff was announced Jan. 31, solidifying the educational foundation for the upcoming new team selection, goal-setting process, and hosting of Interski in Vail, Colorado, in 2027.

In this interview series, the coaches discuss how they plan to continue to build on the current team’s success and innovation as they prepare to guide the 2024-28 PSIA-AASI National Team into the future. Here, PSIA Alpine Team Coach Michael Rogan talks about how he plans to support and steer the energy and talent of team members for the benefit of PSIA-AASI.

Q: What does it mean to you to coach this new team, and how do you challenge yourself to make sure you and everyone on the team are in a position to give their best?

A: For me, it is a great honor. To be in a position to be around some of the best in our industry is a dream come true. It’s amazing how everybody on the team pushes themselves and everyone around them to be better. To have the opportunity to help guide that energy is something I am so excited to be able to do. This is a group of people who think fast and move fast and can accomplish their goals very quickly. I’m excited to keep helping to direct that energy.

Q: I think everyone in PSIA-AASI would be fascinated to know how you take a group of such self-motivated instructor/athletes and give them opportunities to keep improving. How do you do that?

A: Pose good questions and get the heck out of the way. Seriously, with this group I feel my job is to be observant, ask questions, stay curious about as much as possible, pay attention to what they need and want and their goals, and help them get there by providing opportunities to utilize that talent and present them with challenges they can solve.

Q: One of the most impressive traits of the current team is how they worked together for the benefit of PSIA-AASI members by collaborating across disciplines, with a “ONEteam” approach to identify best practices for all snowsports instruction. What is key to keeping the momentum going?

A: Collaborate often. There are so many instructors who teach many different disciplines. We have to make the similar parts shared. We choose to keep ONEteam important and look for opportunities to work together as one team. For example, the way different disciplines can work on people skills and teaching skills together, because no matter if you’re skiing or snowboarding, those skills are the same.

Q: What are some of the key leadership traits you’ll be looking for as you identify who will make the new team at Team Selection in April at Big Sky, Montana, especially as you build a completely new “ONEteam?”

A: We need good teammates not just team members. We are better together. It makes the team experience so much more rewarding. We can disagree and talk about it. As long as we have each other’s backs and are working toward a shared goal, then we are going to do good things. Our membership and the international community are demanding of us to be as good as we can possibly be as an educational organization based in snowsports, and everyone on the team needs to understand that’s how it’s always going to be.

Q: Are there specific opportunities you see in your own discipline, and how might the new team take advantage of them?

A: I would love to see more of us on the road interacting with more of our membership. The National Team Project was kicked off this winter and I hope it is as successful as it should be as a way to personally be on snow with members and show the value we create for them and the work they do.

For alpine, I see us examining the fundamentals and when they are important and why are important, like when you are working with a beginner, or skiing crusty snow, or adjusting the magnitude of pressure on slalom skis. We’ve also made great strides with the Learning Connection Model and People Skills and two-way communication. But what does that look like when you’re teaching an autistic child? And how can we continue to get students even more involved with their own learning, so that they see the opportunities of continuing to get better and know more all the time?

Q: The 2024-28 National Team will enjoy hosting Interski 2027 in Vail, Colorado. How does having this event in the United States galvanize the team and provide a generational opportunity to promote the benefits of all snowsports instruction?

A: We get to show the world what snowsports instruction looks like in the United States. I think it should be eye opening for everyone involved. It’s an amazing event and we’re excited to host. We also know there’s a lot of work to do. The ability to personally show many more of our members the entire process of this education event and why we participate – and really the whole industry – and to ski off-piste with them is going to be really cool.

Q: There are so many ways this team can enhance the member experience for all PSIA-AASI members. How do you think this team will take us into the future of U.S. Snowsports Instruction?

A: By engaging. National Academy keeps growing. Regional events that we participate in keep growing. We all need to increase our time with our members and encourage more interaction. We are here to be a resource to members, schools, and our partner organizations. The best way to do that is to provide more exposure to and interaction with the team.