ASHWAUBENON (NBC 26) — USA Luge is in town searching for future stars of interest.
As part of their off-season recruiting tour, the White Castle USA Luge Slider Search will begin its national search for new talent this weekend.
The search goes on both Saturday and Sunday. It’s free clinics for both boys and girls ages 9-14.
The event is held in Ashwaubenon on Centennial Street between South Ridge Road and Allied Street.
Clinics are scheduled daily from 9-11 a.m., 12-2 p.m., and 3-5:00 p.m.
The program produces Olympians and medalists. According to USA Luge, their roster includes more youngsters from Wisconsin as a result of the slider searches in our state.
15-year-old Logan Barnes of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin has been part of this program for a few years now. He explains why he enjoys this sport so much.
“Typically done on ice on the track in Lake Placid, New York or Park City, Utah. There’s the two tracks there so basically if you do well here and they want to try you can actually go. Like you get selected and you can go to Lake Placid, New York, and try it on ice. And that’s your few steps to get on the team,” Barnes explains.
He says he has a passion for the sport and it’s all a matter of practice and repetition in order to continue getting better.
“Overall it’s the sport of speed and you go to the thousandths of second racing go down. Sometimes even tie-down at a thousandths of seconds and it's all about your body, your position laying back, relaxed, using your shoulders, head and feet to steer the slide,” Barnes said.
Barnes goes on to share about the community and mentorship gained out of this sport:
