NENSA recently hosted our fall Coaches Symposium with both in-person and virtual program offerings that allowed over 100 coaches from far reaching areas of New England and beyond to engage with each other and learn from our knowledgeable presenters, clinicians, and panelists.
All of our presentations are now available to our community on NENSA’s YouTube. Please take the time to subscribe to our channel as we continue to build content on this platform.
Before the Symposium, Stratton and Green Mountain Valley School teams coordinated with NENSA to create a fast XCX course including two bicycle ramps and lots of sweeping corners. Seventeen athletes wore the NENSA bibs for the first time since March and helped us refine and practice safety procedures. You can find results HERE and course video HERE.
The in-person clinic took place in southern Vermont at the Ball Mountain Dam and Stratton Mountain School, and featured classic and skate technique progressions that wrapped up with some run throughs of the Rollerski Ramps! SMS coach Alex Jospe and NENSA’s Youth and Introductory Program Director, Kait Miller, headed up with classic portion of the clinic while NENSA’s Competitive Program Director, Justin Beckwith ,and SMS T2 Athlete Bill Harmeyer ran the skate portion. Virtual offerings included presentations, webinar footage from the Equinar Junior Camp in Norway, and discussions with guest panelists, NENSA staff, and U.S. Ski & Snowboard representatives.
The virtual presentations kicked off Saturday evening with the notoriously speedy Ludvig Jensen sharing his knowledge and experience live from Norway. Next we learned about Injury Presentation, Strength, and Mobility by watching some webinar footage from the Norwegian Junior Camp featuring a discussion with Doctor Petter Soerensen along with demonstrated exercises. We also heard from U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Cross Country Sport Development Manager Bryan Fish and enjoyed an informative discussion with experienced Physical Therapists Pete Dickinson and Brie Beckwith. The evening wrapped up with a recorded presentation on The Female Skier by Guro Stroem Solli, a current researcher and former Norwegian National team member. This presentation was followed up with an enlightening experience-based discussion led by coaches Maria Stuber and Alex Jospe as well as current US National Team Biathlete, Kelsey Dickinson.
Sunday’s virtual programming consisted of three presentations beginning with An Overview of L100 Coaching Certification: Content and Process with U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s XC Sport Coordinator, Adam St. Pierre. Next up we heard from Bryan Fish about Building Comprehensive Community & Club Engagement & FAQ’s about North American Fluoro Free Policy. The symposium wrapped up with a presentation from Kait Miller on BKL Philosophy and Long Term Athlete Development with a special focus on mindfully coaching in a pandemic.
We are grateful to all our panelists, presenters, clinicians, and attendees for taking the time and energy to make this symposium a fantastic learning experience for all involved! Stay tuned for updates about potential U.S. Ski & Snowboard L100 certification opportunities and NENSA’s new L50 Regional Coaches Education Certification that is currently in the works.