On November 4th and 5th, NENSA was excited to attend the Snowbound Expo for the second year in a row. The expo strives to be the home for winter and outdoor sports bringing together people, businesses, and organizations from across the industry all under one roof. It was impressive to see the enthusiasm and excitement around snowsports and we were happy to connect with some of our partners, sponsors and collaborators at the event including Fischer Nordic, EMXC Skiing, and CCSAA. We were excited to work again with EMXC Youth and EMXC Juniors volunteers to help lots and lots of expo attendees of all ages try rollerskiing as part of the Cross Country Ski Experience Booth.
The Maine Event Rollerski Clinic
NENSA held a rollerski clinic in conjunction with The Maine Event rollerski race at Black Mountain of Maine and the Chisholm Ski Club. This clinic provided a great opportunity for participants to watch some high level skiers in head-to-head action prior to trying rollerskiing themselves. The Black Mountain parking lot proved to be a great surface to learn on, despite challenging weather conditions on the day. Participants even got to try their hand at some ramps! Thank you to the Chisholm Youth Ski Club for bringing their skiers to the clinic!
Come join NENSA and EMXC at the Snowbound Expo, Nov 3-5th
If you’re in the Boston area, come join NENSA and Eastern Mass Cross Country (EMXC) at the Snowbound Expo. The Snowbound Expo is the relaunch of the well known ‘Boston Ski & Snowboard Expo’ bringing together the ski & snowboard community to meet up & plan for their next adventure in the mountains. The show will bring together brands showcasing the latest gear, equipment, apparel, and technology. Snowbound Expo hosts an amazing line up of inspirational speakers who will share their skills and experiences to get visitors stoked for the next season! Snowbound Expo is accessible to all – no matter your age, sexual orientation, race, ability – if you want to try out snowsports or improve your techniques, Snowbound Expo is the place for you!
From November 3rd-5th, NENSA and EMXC will be at the Cross Country Skiing exhibit in conjunction with the Cross Country Ski Areas Association (CCSAA). Been waiting to try rollerskiing? We will have our NENSA rollerskis available to try out on the floor! Additionally, our own Julia Kern will be speaking at this event on Friday November 3rd from 3:30-4:00pm on the Inspiration Stage. Fitting location, as Kern consistently inspires our community with her work in the sport! Read more about the booth here. Hope to see you there!
NENSA Rollerski Clinic at The Maine Event
Sunday, October 22nd, 2023 / Black Mountain of Maine Parking Lot
If you’re a youth or BKL skier (or an adult looking to try rollerskiing!) in the Rumford area, come join NENSA for rollersking fun at Black Mountain of Maine! This learn-to-roll opportunity will take place from 2-3:30pm after the “Maine Event XCX” rollerski race. All clinic participants can use NENSA’s Swenor Rollerskis, but remember to bring your own boots, poles, and helmet! We can accommodate SNS and Prolink/NNN bindings.
Schedule:
1:45pm- Gather
2:00-3:30pm- Hand out Equipment, Clinic Activities
Location:
Black Mountain of Maine Parking Lot at 39 Glover Rd, Rumford, ME 04276
Rollerski Clinic Description:
This learn-to-roll clinic is open both youth and adult skiers. We will go over some basic skills, play games, and try out our ramps and other agility features.
Please direct any questions to [email protected].
2023 Fall Coaches Education Recap
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 [email protected].
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.