Young athletes who want to experience the thrill of luge and train under the guidance of US Olympic and National Team coaches and athletes can do so when the Verizon-USA Luge Slider Search rolls into Long Island on Saturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 1.

The Verizon-USA Luge Slider Search, the official athlete recruitment tour of USA Luge, will be looking for boys and girls ages 10-14. The event will be held on the SUNY Old Westbury Campus, near the Clark Center, from 9 a.m. to noon and from 2 to 5 p.m. both days.

During a Verizon-USA Luge Slider Search Clinic, the youngsters use sleds on wheels to learn about the basics of riding a luge sled , including position, steering and stopping. Once these skills are developed, the youngsters make several runs down a paved luge course. Finally, current USA Luge Team athletes assess their physical skills through a battery of fitness tests.

Those youngsters who show the most promise at the clinics are invited to train on ice next winter in Lake Placid, NY, Marquette, MI; or Park City, UT. They also will be considered for the 2004-2005 USA Luge Development Team.

The cost is $15 per youngster and includes a USA Luge-Verizon T-shirt. For complete information and to register for the Verizon-USA Luge Slider Search, call 1-(800) USA LUGE.

USA Luge officials view the Verizon-USA Luge Slider Search as the primary means of recruitment for a national program whose athletes have captured 306 international medals since 1994. This total includes silver and bronze medals during both the 1998 and 2002 Olympic Winter Games, gold at the 2000 Winter Goodwill Games and a team record six medals, including a medal sweep of the women's singles competition at the 2001 Junior World Championships.

Six members of USA Luge's 2002 Olympic Team, including Brian Martin of Palo Alto, CA, a two-time Olympic medallist and the entire three-member women's squad - Ashley Hayden, Becky Wilczak and Courtney Zablocki - were graduates of the search.

The Verizon-USA Luge Slider Search will also be conduced in the following cities throughout the summer: Kingston RI, New Brunswick, NJ, Los Angeles, CA, Pittsburgh, PA, Minneapolis, MN and Denver, CO.

For more information, log on to www.usaluge.org.