Coach Education

NENSA is thrilled to introduce incoming Competitive Program Director, Ben Theyerl.

Ben comes to NENSA with strong connections to New England, coaching and community leadership experience, and broad perspectives about sport and athlete development.

A Wisconsin native, Ben connected with the culture and tradition of skiing in the Central region while growing up. He attended Colby College where he studied English, Education, and Environmental Studies and was a member of the Nordic Ski Team. In the years since, Ben has been based in Colorado where he has grown and developed the program at Crested Butte Nordic, provided regional leadership on the board of Rocky Mountain Nordic, and supported U.S. Ski & Snowboard development projects. Along with this regional engagement, Ben has made significant contributions to the broader ski community as an Associate Editor at FasterSkier and Communications Associate with the National Nordic Foundation.

Heidi Lange, Executive Director, is delighted to welcome Ben to the team at NENSA. “Whether engaging with Ben in conversation or through his reporting, his love of sport shines through. Ben thinks critically and holistically about the development of athletes, sport, and communities. The leadership he brings to NENSA is rooted in his experience and insights into our sport at the local, regional, and national levels. Ben brings the passion, organization, communication, creativity, and vision necessary to lead NENSA’s competitive programs and athletes.”

Ben shares, “In the past few years working in skiing I’ve found myself coming back to the refrain of “what is NENSA doing?” which just makes me excited to actively contribute to what I see as an exemplary, and transformative, ski community in New England. I’m also looking forward to working with a lot of old friends, and developing relationships with people I’ve really admired for years as an athlete, coach, and part of the ski community.”

Long-time NENSA Board member Kate Koch reflects, “Ben will bring so much to his role as NENSA’s Competitive Programs Director; he has experienced New England and other divisions, competed, coached, written for Fasterskier, and served our larger ski community through his work with NNF. I know his curiosity and creativity will spark his efforts as Ben jumps into NENSA and continues to build our XC community.”

“Out of a lot of ski memories, I always land back on the American Birkebeiner Trail near where I grew up in Wisconsin,” Ben recalls. “When I was about 12 years old there was a race at “OO” that I did, and then afterwards, my Dad raised the idea of skiing all the way to the Old Telemark Lodge in Cable with a family friend of ours, Tom Meyer.”

“The 20 k up to Telemark was the longest ski of my life at that point, and I just remember it for many of the reasons I uniquely love skiing. The way my Dad and Tom seemed to know everyone out on the trail, the beauty of the Northwoods, and the novel idea that you could race and then just keep doing the sport afterwards, that there was no final whistle or anything. It was the ground from which my love for the sport has grown out of – pushing yourself alongside great people in some of the most beautiful places in the world!”

The Competitive Program Director at NENSA is responsible for overseeing all aspects of NENSA’s competitive programs. This includes managing the Eastern Cup Race Series, Rollerski Series, Zak/Marathon Series, New England Junior National Team, NENSA Elite and Development Teams, and the Eastern Regional Elite Group camp. The CPD advances NENSA’s athlete and coach development pipeline and philosophy by creating resources and implementing development projects.

Ben will be relocating to New England in June and will begin work at NENSA on June 24. 

Ben concludes by reflecting, “I think we’re uniquely in a time when every year has seemed more exciting than the last for American skiing, and with the latest “BIG” development being a Lake Placid World Cup in 2026, I think the next year is going to be a great opportunity to start focusing a lot of the great energy in US Skiing towards the East and all the great things it has to offer ahead of us welcoming the world in 2026.”