It was a fun and illuminating day of education and discussion at the Dublin School for this year’s Coaches Education Conference. Pathways included a BKL Coaches Training as well as U.S. Ski & Snowboard L100 and L200 in-person coach practicums, which continue to be offered as Continuing Education opportunities. This year, in addition to the group-specific education, we extended our day to include a Coaches Forum with a panel led discussion.
The weekend was designed with a compressed schedule, with the the goal of creating as much interaction between participants as possible. Coaches (and skiers) of many backgrounds came together to share their knowledge under the guidance of Kathy Maddock (Dublin XC) in an Introductory Clinic that saw six new coaches gain L100 certification. The larger scope of the group consisted of coaches who are supporting master, junior and BKL skiers and bringing knowledge back to their clubs.
U.S. Ski Team Cross Country Development Director, Bryan Fish, led an awesome group of experienced coaches through the L200 coursework.
The Bill Koch Philosophy continues to drive our programming here at NENSA, at the end of the day, it is all about having FUN on skis! It is so encouraging to see the enthusiasm of new and experienced coach / leaders coming together to discuss how to grow and support club programs in their home communities.
There is a new generation of coaches coming into the pipeline and that is so exciting to see! Throughout the day so many connections were made between the fifty participants, with old stories told and new plans made.
The day concluded with a thoughtful discussion led by Sam Benzing, The Paul J. Finnegan Family Head Coach for Men’s & Women’s Nordic Skiing Harvard University, Bryan Fish, Drew Gelinas, Nordic Product Manager of SwixSport North America, Zach Caldwell of Caldwell Sport, and Kathy Maddock. The Forum concept was well received and offered insight into many topics including: ideas of leveling the competitive playing field on a technical level, inspiring and maximizing ski specific training for high school athletes, social media influences and integrating high school skiing with outside opportunities. NENSA hopes to continue these dialogues throughout the year via virtual Forums — if you are interested in participating please reach out to staff@nensa.net.
We want to thank all of our leaders for their time and dedication to this weekend as well as the Dublin School for being such awesome hosts — providing two meals and sharing their spectacular campus with the Eastern Skiing Commuinty.
