Websites, Videos and Presentations

The Outdoor Sports Institute’s XC Ski Curriculum Guide

Canadian Sport For Life Long Term Athlete Development

Changing the Game in Bill Koch League Skiing This video presentation has been created as a resource specifically for BKL parents and coaches by NENSA and John O'Sullivan, the author of the #1 bestselling book Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes.

Changing the Game Project Blog Frequent updates from John O'Sullivan on issues related to youth sports and Long Term Athlete Development

Roy Strum XC Coaching, Alberta Ski Team Director writes about his coaching experience with youth skiers.

Adventure to Excellence: An Adventure Approach to Creating a Positive BKL Team Culture Presentation by Jamie Hannon, Professor of Adventure Education at Plymouth State University

SafeSport

SafeSport is a national organization that provides an on-line training course to ensure all coaches, volunteers or persons in authority working with youth athletes are educated on the subject of abuse in sports. Keeping our athletes safe is first and foremost on the agenda for all sport governing bodies, and now it is federal law. This is to ensure that all athletes are protected, and coaches and volunteers are educated.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard, our National Governing Body (NGB) requires the following individuals complete training provided by the U.S. Center for SafeSport:

Individuals associated with Member Clubs (that means any NENSA club)

Adult athlete members of Member Clubs, except Short Term Athlete Members due to their limited participation and Master Athletes who do not i) have regular contact with minor athletes or ii) have authority over minor athletes
Adult members (who are not athletes) of Member Clubs who i) have regular contact with athletes, or ii) have authority over athletes
Employees and Board Members of Member Clubs
Individuals providing services to Member Clubs, including but not limited to contractors, volunteers, interns, who i) have regular contact with athletes or ii) have authority over athletes
More info here: https://usskiandsnowboard.org/safesport-athlete-safety/safesport-training

NENSA urges ALL New England coaches, parent volunteers, venue volunteers and anyone working with youth to take the SafeSport on-line course and get certified. NENSA requires this of all our staff and volunteer coaches and wax techs at JN's and REG Camps. Please take time this season to be sure all your club volunteers and coaches are SafeSport certified. Do it today. Go to: https://www.safesport.org

Background Checks

Our mission at NENSA is to sustain a healthy cross country ski community in New England. We support our clubs, who in turn work with the young skiers who are the future of our sport. Clubs range in size from large to small, from fully staffed to run by volunteers, and everywhere in between.

As an umbrella organization for clubs, NENSA is not able to be involved in the hiring and screening of every coach and volunteer. However we do believe that screening candidates who are coming into contact with young athletes is of paramount importance. We strongly urge all of our clubs to implement a background check procedure for incoming candidates, whether they are coaches or volunteers. Anyone who is coming into contact with children on a regular basis need to be screened.

There are many affordable resources available for background checks through state agencies, and other companies that search the National Center for Safety Initiatives (NCSI) database. If you need help finding the right place to look, please feel free to contact our Youth and Introductory Program Director at [email protected] Below is a list of some of the screening resources that are available.

State Agencies

Other Resources