The Olympic USA Skateboarding association representing skate Olympians has officially replaced Gary Ream with the chairman of the Downhill/Luge Committee, Don Bostick.
According to Duncan Mackay of insidethegames.biz, the 72-year-old is a former National Skateboard Association President and was involved in the formation of World Cup Skateboarding. Unlike Ream, who admitted he had never been on a skateboard, he has a long and varied sports history.
Ream had to step down following the publication of a damning audit conducted by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) - in which Robert Brink exposed what went down inside the organization.
Bostick owned and managed some skateboard/snowboard shops and eventually became Marketing Manager at Donner Ski Ranch in Lake Tahoe, CA.
Along the way, he organized several snowboarding and skateboarding events that led him to be President of the National Skateboard Association and eventually formed World Cup Skateboarding and WCS Snowboarding, which sanctions and organizes over 25 events a year involving skateboarding and snowboarding around the world.
After the news broke, USAS updated details on its website of its Board of Directors, which includes Micaela Ramirez, Bryan Ridgeway, Stephanie Murdock, and Oscar Loreto, Jr.
Hence, three positions are listed as "vacant" following the departure of several key personnel. The audit revealed that no financial reports had been presented to the USAS Board last year.
The budget for 2021 was never completed, and "there are multiple issues related to USOPC Funding."
The audit also revealed that USAS had been paying unsubstantiated expenses, no documented approval for any expenditure, and it had been providing per diem to staff members more than the days they traveled.
Unfortunately, World Skate has failed to respond to a request for comment from insidethegames about Ream’s position.