Jed Hinkley: Guiding the Future at USA Nordic

Longtime athlete, coach and program leader Jed Hinkley has experience at every level of the sport. He grew up in New Hampshire, skiing both alpine and cross country, as well as picking up ski jumping. A journeyman member of the U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team, he was a 2002 Olympian. Today, he has taken over as sport director for USA Nordic. Hinkley got with legendary nordic commentator Peter Graves for an insightful look into his past and his vision for USA Nordic.

How did you get into nordic sport?

Much like many people, I believe I actually started downhill skiing or alpine skiing probably around the age of two or three. I had gotten into jumping because my dad had been a four event skier growing up, mainly a downhill skier, but also skied cross country and jumped a little bit.

Who was an influential coach for you growing up?

Tim Norris was my first ski jumping coach. I believe Tim started coaching ski jumping in 1969 at Proctor and then I think he actually formed the Andover Outing Club. I actually like to use Tim as a great example. Not having a whole lot of base, he coached ski jumping for nearly 50 years. You don’t have to be an amazing ski jumper to be an amazing ski jumping coach. He is one of my favorite coaches and human beings as well.

What lessons did you take from your development director job into your new job as sport director?

We work in ski jumping because we love the sport, but I also think that it is a great vehicle to instill values that go beyond just the ski jump. I have a bit of a different perspective coming from a small club. In my previous role, it was an understanding of what it takes to run a small ski jumping club and the amount of work you have to put into hill prep, you know, getting athletes to events and just making it fun. Tim made it fun for us. One of the things that it definitely taught me was, you do stuff because you’re passionate about it. You do stuff because it’s the right thing to do. Being outdoors, skiing on snow, is something every kid should have the opportunity to do. Nordic combined gave me a great appreciation for being outside in the winter. Certainly having to jump off the ski jump gives you some courage and some ability to overcome barriers. And then on the cross-country side, just the determination and the willingness – a willingness to sort of put it all out and give it all you got. 

Coming from a small club, you appreciate the role of volunteers.

Depending on how you count them, we have between 28 and 30 ski jumping clubs in the United States. I would say about 24 of them are run on a largely volunteer base. The vast majority of our clubs are completely run by parents, volunteers, former jumpers and by people who just have a passion for the sport. We wouldn’t have our sport in this country without that base. I do believe that we need to move in a more professional direction. And I do like to see more coaches paid so that we can just kind of have it be more of a profession that people can pursue. But I never want to forget those small clubs. And I always want to try to support our existing clubs that are doing so much to keep the sport going and to actually grow the sport.

What was your career like as an athlete and what lessons did you take away?

I’m certainly proud of those accomplishments, but I would say within my sport, I was maybe a bit more of a journeyman. I spent the majority of my career on the Continental Cup. But I think that one thing I took away is that I think that does help me give me some perspective on what a lot of other athletes are going through. The sort of struggles that a lot of athletes have trying to make it and pursue their dreams and perform and compete at the highest level.

You had exposure as an athlete to the early days of success of Todd Lodwick and others. How important is the hero factor in motivating athletes?

It’s really important for the younger athletes coming up to see the older athletes and see their heroes compete and being part of that environment. But at the same time, international events are expensive and it takes a ton of manpower to put them on. We’re really trying to find creative ways on how we can continue to host Continental Cups, FIS Cups and potentially World Cups in the future. They are integral to our sport here in this country, to inspiring the next generation and then also providing opportunities for athletes. But it’s certainly not an easy task to undertake.

What have you learned in your engagement with USA Nordic clubs?

When I took over the development role, it was certainly very important for me to not just be consulting with clubs from far away and not having an understanding of what was going on. I visited around 15 clubs per year. I would usually take ab