Schaaf joins Bobsleigh coaching team
Bree Schaaf has joined the BBSA as Bobsleigh Performance Coach ahead of the new Olympic cycle.
The announcement of Schaaf’s arrival comes at the same time as the appointment of Mark Van Den Berg as Technical Director of Equipment and on the back of Matthias Guggenberger’s promotion from Skeleton Head Coach to Head Coach of both British programmes.
The 46-year-old brings 24 years of sliding sports experience to the role, having competed at the top level as an athlete in both skeleton and bobsleigh before moving into coaching, athlete advocacy and media work.
An Olympian in Vancouver in 2010 - finishing fifth in the women’s bobsleigh competition - Schaaf was a skeleton slider from 2002-2007 and then a bobsleigh pilot through to 2014.
After her retirement as an athlete, the American served as Emerging Nations Skeleton and Bobsleigh Coach and Para Skeleton and Bobsleigh Coach with the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation, a role she held up until her move to the BBSA.
Schaaf also served as Pilot/Development Coach for the US and Latvian Federations from 2023-2026, coaching both nations’ World Cup teams at times during the recent Milan Cortina Olympic season.
A strong voice for athlete advocacy, Schaaf was Chair and Vice Chair of the Team USA Athletes’ Commission from 2017-2022 and worked as a Programme Manager for Global Athlete between 2020 and 2022.
"I am thrilled to be joining the team at the BBSA,”said Schaaf.
The potential in the athletes and the team as a whole is clear, and I believe we can achieve exciting things together this quad.
“The men’s programme has well-established talent, and I look forward to contributing my experience in high-performance culture, technical skills, and pilot adaptability to raise the bar on their continued success.
“With the BBSA’s elite recruitment capabilities, rebuilding the women’s bobsleigh programme is also an undeniably exciting opportunity given my background focused on development.”
Bree Schaaf will officially start her new role on October 1st
Schaaf will work with World Class Programme athletes in all aspects of on ice coaching during the winter season as the team look to build on recent medal winning performances at World Cup, World Championship and European Championship level.
She will provide expert leadership, as well as technical support in areas such as equipment development and performance analysis, and play a leading role in developing a world-class performance culture with high levels of challenge and support.
“We’re really pleased to bring Bree on board at what is an exciting time for our bobsleigh programme,” said Natalie Dunman, the BBSA’s Executive Performance Director.
Bree has a large amount of experience across a broad range of areas within sliding sports and she has an athlete-focussed, forward-thinking approach to coaching that will fit really well into our current set up.
“We’re excited to see what we can achieve in the coming seasons and we’re confident Bree will play a key role in helping us reach our targets.”
The new bobsleigh season gets underway in just under four months’ time, with the opening race of the World Cup season scheduled for Altenberg, Germany on the last weekend in November.