Park City, UT – U.S. Snowboarding Freestyle National Development Coach Robert “Bud” Keene is again retiring, this time after two seasons where he implemented a successful rookie program, and helped coach Shaun White to yet another Olympic gold, U.S. Snowboarding Program Director Jeremy Forster announced Thursday. Spencer Tamblyn will join U.S. Snowboarding to take on the position of freestyle national development coach.n”Bud has elevated the level of our U.S. Snowboarding development program tremendously,” said Forster. “He established a deliberate strategy to work with all U.S. riders, regardless of their U.S. Snowboarding affiliation, knowing that a strong coach/rider relationship would be one of the keys to success during the Olympics – and that was achieved. I am stoked to have had the opportunity to work with him again and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
“There is no better coach to continue the development of our halfpipe program than Spencer,” Forster added. Tamblyn hails from the Steamboat Springs (Colo.) Winter Sports Club (SSWSC), which he has been interacting with for over 15 years as both an athlete and a coach. Most recently Tamblyn was the head coach for the SSWSC Pro-Am Freestyle Team.
“The choice of Spencer as my replacement was an easy one. He has clearly been the next U.S. coach in line, and though he has not been on the International tour, has been coaching at a world-class level for some time,” Keene said. “His snowboarding history, coupled with his technical and acrobatic coaching abilities make him more than ready to step into this important role, and the Rookies know it, and respect him. It’s a perfect plan.”
“I cannot even describe how it is moving in working with U.S. Snowboarding,” Tamblyn said. “The organization helped me out with a lot of projects for close to eight years doing different things voluntarily with camps for different groups. It really encouraged me to move towards U.S. Snowboarding after all the years here in Steamboat. All the coaches were encouraging and supportive. It’s great to see it all come together.”
Tamblyn comes to the U.S. Snowboarding rookie program already having spent time coaching Steamboat natives Maddy Schaffrick and Matt Ladley. According to Tamblyn he’s eager to make his athletes consistent.
“Trying to create consistency in their efforts, progressive, and results in their riding is a key focus,” Tamblyn said. “I’ve worked with pretty much everyone in the group to some capacity along the way, some I’ve worked with extensively. But now I get time to spend a lot of time with everyone so I can get a better feel of everyone on the team. That will add to the group energy throughout the season.”
Tamblyn has jumped immediately into his coaching duties, working alongside Keene at U.S. Snowboarding’s Project Gold summer camps at Mammoth Mountain, Calif. According to Tamblyn it was a great opportunity to learn from Keene and get to know the team.
“The Project Gold and Junior Gold camps were just incredible, Bud loves to cultivate the younger kids and encourage them. He’s all about that because he thrives in it,” Tamblyn said. “We are hoping to pick up off that and improve on that love to coach. We had a chance to do one-on-one interviews with the kids and that allowed us to get to know them off the mountain and know their personalities.”
Keene leaves behind a storied past coaching snowboarders. He grew up in Virginia Beach, Va., but moved to Stowe, Vt., in 1983 to ski. He quickly became a snowboarder, riding in competition for several winters before turning to coaching after the 1989 season. He coached throughout the Nineties with the Mount Mansfield Ski & Snowboard Club before joining U.S. Snowboarding after the 2002 Olympic season.
In his four years as U.S. Snowboarding halfpipe head coach, he led the team to two gold and two silver medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics. After a two year retirement, Keene returned in 2008 to lead the youth of the sport. Bringing his 2006 Olympic experience for the Rookie Team had a profound impact.
“The timing is right for me to step away from the day-to-day of coaching the Rookie Team,” Keene said. “Everything is playing out exactly as it should be. I am really looking forward to continuing my strong involvement and influence within the sport, but on a different level. U.S. Snowboarding is an organization that I have helped to build, and that I love. I’ll never walk away from it.”
At the 2002 Winter Games, Keene coached the halfpipe forerunners – a group which included the young Hannah Teter, who recently went on to capture the gold medal in Torino with Keene by her side. Keene also played a pivotal role coaching Shaun White to both his 2006 and 2010 gold medals.
Now, Keene will move on to a family business in Vermont, which will enable him to work closely with his brothers.
“My brothers have strong businesses in northern Vermont, and they have always wanted me to come and partner with them when I was done with this and ready to come home,” Keene said. “I’m not exactly done, but I am going home for now. I need a life, and to be a better Dad to my two boys.”
But don’t count Keene as one who will watch the Sochi Olympics from home. The man who was a personal coach to White for his past two Olympic seasons may have something up his sleeve.
“It’s early yet, but Shaun and I are just beginning to talk about the next few years and the 2014 Games in Russia,” Keene said.