Bell Berghuis: “Everything I learned as an athlete and coach, I’m now bringing to Snowboard Cross”

Inside FIS: Can you give us an insight into your role as a FIS Assistant Race Director for Snowboard Cross? 

BB: We act like an umbrella for all the local organizing committees, to support them and help ensure FIS quality standards and rules are managed during the World Cup, and that the World Cup events are held on schedule and in the right regions. We follow the whole tour and work with organizers to make sure each World Cup event goes ahead according to FIS rules. 

I do it together with Uwe Beier, who is the Race Director, and Alberto Schiavon, who is also an Assistant Race Director. The three of us travel with the tour, go to the summer inspections, and design the calendar with the organizers. We are involved in everything from the TV coverage to putting pipes on the ground and even pulling cable in different areas, if we have new locations. 

There are team meetings, technical committee meetings, video refereeing and all the connections with the international teams during the competition. There’s a lot of stuff, but it’s very interesting, very dynamic and very diverse. I really enjoy it! 

Inside FIS: How do you balance safety, competition integrity and the athlete experience when you are working on a World Cup event? 

BB: I think it’s all about communication, being able to communicate what you’re doing and why, or addressing something that is going wrong. 

We want it to be a success for everybody, the local organizers, the athletes, the coaches and the fans. We want to put on a World Cup at the very highest level possible, and we also want a good show for TV. 

If something’s going wrong, we must be very open and communicative about it with the involved parties. By doing that with respect, you also get respect back. That creates a level of safeguarding as well: no matter what the culture or what the problems are, you talk to and listen to each other in a respectful manner. 

In the end, FIS is responsible for the World Cup, and we’re personally responsible for getting it done in a great way. We’ve got to make sure all the moving parts perform during the live TV window: the athletes, the TV director, the people on the course, and the course itself. How we get there can happen in many ways, but the biggest thing is communicating. 

Inside FIS: In recent years, have you noticed more women represented in leadership positions in snow sports? 

BB: Yes, I think so. In terms of coaching staff, we have two women coaches within the World Cup group for two different nations, and I think they are doing a great job. We’re also seeing more women officials, and that visibility is important. 

People ask me, “What did you do before?” and in fact I came to FIS via the Technical Delegate (TD) educational platform. I was out of snow sports for a while, out of the loop with what FIS was doing, but then I thought that maybe it was something that I could do. 

So, I try to encourage other people who are working at events, not only women, and tell them that maybe it could be something for them too, because we can always use different skill sets in TD education.