PR: U.S. Ski And Snowboard Association Names Snowboard Director
(July 11, 1997)

PARK CITY, Utah -- U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Vice-President of Athletics Alan Ashley has named Anita Tsuchiya of Seattle, Wash., a former snowboard competitor, as the new director of USSA's snowboard program. As USSA snowboard competition director, Tsuchiya will be responsible for development and implementation of all of USSA's snowboard competition and athletic programs ranging from grassroots competition programs through the U.S. Snowboard Team. "I'm very excited, as a former athlete, to oversee the USSA snowboard program. This is a great time for snowboarding in this country," she said. Tsuchiya, who began her position June 9, is in the process of moving to the Park City area. She replaces Sharon Harned, who will remain active as a volunteer within the snowboard community.

Tsuchiya, a former operations manager with the renowned Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, is a native of California's San Francisco Bay Area. She graduated from the University of California-Davis with a degree in pre-veterinary medicine and has headed the snowboard program for USSA's Pacific Northwest region for several years on a volunteer basis. A former recreational skier, she began to snowboard at the start of the '90s and competed in both alpine (racing) and freestyle (halfpipe and snowboardcross) events before retiring two years ago after competing in a World Cup snowboard competition at Mt. Bachelor, Ore. She is a former U.S. Amateur Snowboard Association masters combined champion.

"Anita has an ideal background for taking over administration of the snowboard program. She's has a competitor's viewpoint to go with about 15 years of administrative experience," Ashley said. "As snowboarding joins the Olympic schedule next February in Nagano, there will be increasing interest and demands on the program and Anita's experience will be vital to ensuring we have a strong, overall snowboard competition program."