The Greater Minnesota Speedskating Association is saddened to share the news of the passing of Bill Cushman, Midway Speedskating Head Coach. Bill passed away this morning [October 4, 2011] with his family by his side. Memorial details are pending and will be announced shortly.
Bill was the head coach of the Midway Speedskating Club. He was a charter member of Midway and was a competitive speedskater until 1960 (except for two years in the U.S. Army). Since 1961, Bill was a Midway coach. He also served as coach and manager of several U.S. World Speedskating teams and was manager of the 1980, 1984 and 2002 U.S. Olympic Speedskating teams.
Bill served as U.S. Speedskating President from 1989-2000 and U.S. Speedskating Board member from 1972-2002. He was inducted into the National Speedskating Hall of Fame in 1996, and was honored with the George Howie Award in 2010 for his outstanding contributions to the speedskating community.
A graduate of St. Paul Monroe High School (1952) and the University of Minnesota (1956), Bill once said “The basic goal of Midway is to give the youth of our area a program to develop into the best skaters each can be and to provide a direct path to World and Olympic competitions, while having fun and completing their education. It can be done!”
Our thoughts and prayers are with Bill’s family and friends.
