SPOKANE, Wash. — Spring boarding from her Spokane roots, Chelsea Goss has branched out to carve quite a career in collegiate athletics compliance. Goss’s nearly 10 years in the field have literally taken her across America, from an internship at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, to New Hampshire and her current position as Associate Athletics Director of Compliance with Dartmouth College.

Recently speaking with Goss covered everything about her life from growing up as a skiing star in Spokane to her current work in collegiate athletics compliance.

Growing up in Spokane you were a highly successful competitive snow skier, including earning a spot on the Junior Olympic Team. You went on to become a member of the alpine ski team at the University of Oregon. What was your experience like as an elite skier?

“I have to give my parents a lot of credit here. My dad got my sister and I up to Mt. Spokane every chance he could for training. Both my parents traveled with us to races all over the west coast and supported us tremendously. The whole family had to be involved for my sister and I to have successful ski careers. I also had an incredible coach, Chuck Holcomb, who pushed me to be a better skier every day. He taught me how to set goals, visualize the course and so much more.

“I loved ski racing and still love skiing today. There is something so thrilling and magical about being up in the cold mountain air, flying down the mountain at an incredible speed. The passion had to be there to keep me going. Like most elite athletes, you miss out on a lot of stuff with your peers in high school to train and race, so if the passion isn’t there it’s easy to burn out. I loved training in the summers on the glacier at Mt. Hood and getting to ski at new ski resorts every year. That helped keep the passion and the excitement going, especially at times when I wasn’t skiing so great.

“Being selected to the Junior Olympic Team was a great achievement but I could have gone further if I hadn’t let typical adolescent activities distract me. My favorite event to compete and train in was slalom. I always felt I was terrible at giant slalom. I was always working on my line, typically late and scrubbing speed under the gates trying to make the next turn. I didn’t get to compete in many speed events but when I did, wow, talk about flying. The speed is so thrilling and frightening all at the same time.

“One of the many things that got me excited to work at Dartmouth was the opportunity to work with a historically successful ski team.”

What are your responsibilities now as part of a collegiate athletics compliance administration team at Dartmouth?

“My responsibilities are widespread. I love running the compliance department at Dartmouth because Dartmouth really spreads out the duties, which is kind of fun. I get to work on things and work with people that I hadn’t had the opportunity to do before at other schools. For example, I have never dealt with preseason meals or housing before. However, this year I got to work with all our fall sports to ensure the rosters were accurate and meals were accounted for, for all early arriving students.

“We have 35 sports at Dartmouth and only two of us, so we are usually running pretty fast to keep up with the interpretations for coaches, education, eligibility changes and certifications. Because we are a true quarter school, we have to certify all of our over 1,000 student-athletes four times a year.

“My favorite part of the job is waivers. Whether it’s a legislative relief waiver, progress towards degree waiver or delayed enrollment, it’s such an interesting and in-depth process and when you are successful it’s the best feeling in the world. Not only did you possibly just get a student-athlete a season back, but you may have helped the whole team.”

What are your thoughts on the status of women’s sports as compared to men’s in our country? Not only at the college level, but in general. What are you happy with? What, if anything, can be better in your opinion?

“The opportunities for women in college level and below has come a long way since Title IX. I could play almost any sport I wanted growing up, compared to my mother who had only a few choices. On the college level, the rules that are in place have greatly leveled the playing field between men’s and women’s sports but there is still work to be done. I think the most important thing to be done is educating young women and girls on the scholarship opportunities at the college level so they can plan for the future.

“From the professional level, honestly, I haven’t done enough research on this topic to give you a very thorough answer.”

You and your husband, Tyson, have a very young son, Viggo. One day he may well tell you that he wants to participate in competitive sports. As a mom, college sports administration professional and former top-tier competitive athlete, what will be important for you to share with your child?

“My first thought is, shoot for the moon, you can do anything you set your mind on. I hope he does want to participate in competitive sports. I think sports teach incredible lessons like leadership, how to set goals then follow the steps to achieve them, advocate for yourself and team and so much more. I’ll tell Viggo that as long as he works hard, tries his best and is kind along the way I couldn’t be prouder. We will be right next to him every step of the way supporting him, just like our parents did for us. My dad pushed me to be a better athlete and student all the while always telling me how proud he was of me. I am so grateful for his support and parenting example that I hope to replicate with Viggo.”

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