The Jackson Ski Touring Center in Jackson NH is looking for a new Executive Director. If you are interested in this position, please go to this link for more information: http://jacksonxc.org/wp/media/JSTF-Exec-Dir-Job-Announcement-6_2018-1.pdf
NENSA News
2018 Eastern REG Camp & Olympic Day Recap
Last Tuesday morning in Lake Placid, New York, 46 athletes toed the line for an uphill run test on Whiteface Mountain. The workout was part of our annual Eastern REG camp and would be a grueling uphill grind in the late June sunshine. The camp brought skiers together from New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York for a week of training with an all star cast of coaches and guests, all hosted by the Northwood School, right in the heart of Lake Placid.
A few hours later, when the test was over and the skiers had recovered, they gathered for presentations from a group of former Olympians including Andy Newell, Dorcas Denhartog, Tim Burke, and Andrew Johnson. It was an inspiring afternoon and the Olympians drew from their experiences to pass on some expert wisdom to the next generation of skiers. Four time Olympic biathlete Tim Burke told the athletes to dream big, make every day count, and to ask questions. He stressed that the best athletes always wanted to learn more about their sport.
Johnson spoke of finding his own path in the world, and not feeling constrained by what others might think is the right trajectory. He told the campers that they were ahead of the curve already compared to where he was at their age, and complimented their level of dedication and focus.
Dorcas Denhartog gave a heartfelt presentation and spoke her love of skiing and the family bonds that can be strengthened by our sport. She told the campers of her father and how he became both student of the sport, and her biggest fan when she was competing. He collected Olympic pins when he traveled to watch her at the winter games. After the Olympic Day celebration she passed out a pin from his collection to each of the campers, saying “I could think of no better way to make sure that that passion was passed on than to share his pins with New England’s aspiring Olympians. I had no idea if the skiers would understand, or if they would want a pin from a ski event that happened before cell phones. But I’d like to think that wherever that pin goes, it will add a little tug to the heart of that skier, inspire and empower them to follow their passion.”
Though the Olympians came from different backgrounds there was a commonality in their message that US Ski Team development coach Bryan Fish summed up as “push yourself toward bigger goals than you think you might be able to achieve, make each day count because experiences pass by faster than you think, take the opportunity to learn about yourself and your sport each and every day- and last – enjoy the amazing people within our great sports. These people will be friends for life.”
It was a truly special celebration of personal and athletic history with amazing energy that carried over into the rest of the week’s training schedule.
The following days included technique work, movement education, an epic long run/hike, and a fast paced agility course that kept the skiers on their toes and thinking one step ahead. It was exciting to see the dedication and enthusiasm of these young athletes as they drew inspiration from their coaches and each other to make the camp a success. Andy Newell joined the camp as both a coach and an athlete, taking part in all of the trainings alongside the campers, and offering unique insight into his years on the World Cup. He commented that he was impressed with the “fitness and athleticism of these young skiers” and later told us that ” because of this new athlete/coach relationship we were able to accomplish so much more together in a short period of time. The future of Eastern junior skiing is looking bright!”
Dorcas praised Andy’s presence at the camp, telling us that “His position now is going to be a key link of communication and understanding between the national team and our REG skiers. The skiers were able to make the connection between the legendary Newell they know about through the media, and the real person they met at the camp, who was once like them.”
NENSA Would like to thank the Northwood School, NYSEF, the Lake Placid Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) and all the amazing coaches who helped make this week possible. Below we have included a few photos from the week, as well as a video of camper Ben Ogden rocking our agility course, and videos of the double pole test Scroll to the bottom of the post for results from the Agility Test, Uphill Run Test, and the Double Pole Test.
PHOTOS
VIDEOS:
https://www.facebook.com/usskiandsnowboard/videos/613776945687784/
RESULTS
Nancy Jean Steffen from Prospect Mountain Ski Club Honored with Lifetime Bill Koch League Leadership Award
Please join NENSA in honoring Nancy Jean Steffen for her 47 years as the treasurer and lollipop leader at Prospect Ski Club with a Lifetime Bill Koch League Leadership Award. Nancy brought so many young people along, being the first coach they came into contact with, gently teaching them the ways of Nordic Skiing, through fun activities and thoughtful, well organized practices.
“Nancy epitomizes the backbone of the Bill Koch League- volunteers who spread the love of XC to new generations of skiers. People like Nancy show that cross country skiing is a lifelong passion!” Bill Koch
Nancy Jean was known for getting to practice early to set up fun activities such as ski orienteering or the very memorable Valentines Day ski. Nancy would set up pinwheels along the trail, one for each skier with their names on one for them to keep and bring home with them, as well as handwritten personalized valentines day cards. For a first timer, she would bring them out to candy cane lane, a flat area great for learning, and while they skied the loop, Nancy would follow behind them placing candy canes. On the next loop through the lane, skiers would delightedly find candy canes to collect from the trees.
“When I think of Nancy Jean, I think of my childhood. She was my first coach at Prospect Mountain Ski Club and has been the lollipop coach there forever! Nancy Jean has taught countless youth to cross country ski and has shared her love and passion for the sport with all who come in contact with her. She has always been full of fun stories and tales of lollipops growing out of trees, and shares that magical wonder with her young charges. Nancy Jean made learning to ski FUN – which is the heart and soul of the Bill Koch League here in New England. Having fun, playing on skis with your friends, enjoying winter in Vermont – Nancy Jean captured that beautifully as a coach of young children, and for that, we THANK YOU, for all you have done for so many of us growing up in Vermont, and who learned to ski from you at Prospect Mountain. You are the best!” Amie Witten Smith, NENSA Executive Director (and Bennington native).
Nancy has a innate sense of what children need, and at practice, with basic safety and a good practice plan in place, she would let kids be free and play. It was always obvious how much she loved being with children, and they responded to her casual comfortable teaching style.
“When I think of Nancy, I think of a quiet, steady, capable leader. Someone who is always there to make sure that things go smoothly and well. She’s like hot chocolate at the end of a long day…you see her, and you feel good.” Sverre Caldwell, Stratton Mountain School Head Coach.
“There are few people out there in the nordic community that I respect more than Nancy (and also her husband Tom) for the gifts she has bestowed upon the sport of cross-country skiing. There aren’t many people anywhere who have turned on more children to the joys of xc skiing than Nancy. For nearly five decades she has nurtured, taught and introduced kids to the beauty of a lifetime sport and while she did it she taught us more than the basics of the sport, she taught us of humanity, love and kindness and the value of teamwork. She did it unselfishly and reliably for years. The sport owes Nancy a huge debt of gratitude for showing so many the way and teaching us how to be outside in winter. For her and the program it was never about simply just developing racers, she cared for the beauty of the sport as a lifetime pursuit and a fine way to enjoy winter.
Her legacy is huge and will be carried on forever in every skier lucky enough to have had her for a mentor. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Peter Graves, Bennington native, Former US Ski Team Coach and 11 time Olympic Broadcaster
Thank you Nancy Jean Steffen for your dedication, and for instilling the love of Nordic Skiing into the hearts of many skiers over the years.
2019 New England Women’s XC Ski Day
NENSA is pleased to announce that the 2019 Women’s XC Ski Day will be held at the Waterville Valley Nordic Center in Waterville Valley, NH on Sunday January 20, 2019. Save the date, and book a room at the host hotel, The Silver Fox Inn for the weekend!
This year’s event will benefit The Circle Program, an organization that provides girls from low-income New Hampshire families with new opportunities to learn the skills, courage and confidence they need to handle the challenges in their lives.
Lodging options and additional information are available here. Stay tuned, registration will be open in November.
2018 Bill Koch League Leadership Award: Anna Schulz, Craftsbury Outdoor Center
Anna Schulz grew up with skis on her feet. She learned to ski on her great-grandparents old farmland in Johnson, VT with her brothers, cousins and family in the back fields and woods around their home. Anna was in the New England ski world early on and joined the Bill Koch Youth Ski League when her parents worked at the Trapp Family Lodge. “My first BKL festival was at Trapps when I was in 6th grade, and while I don’t remember much about it, I remember that I had a killer outfit!”
Anna in another killer outfit at the 2018 BKL Festival (photo: Audrey Mangan)
From then on, Anna was hooked on skiing and continued as a junior skier in the Craftsbury Outdoor Center program with with Pepa Miloucheva, the Craftsbury Outdoor Center Head Coach. Anna ski raced while at college at Harvard University, and then after graduating volunteered for AmeriCorps. In 2011, she headed out to Bend Oregon to coach at the Mt. Bachelor Education Foundation, to return in 2013 to earn her Master’s Degree from UVM. It was then in 2015, that she headed back to Craftsbury as the Head Bill Koch League and Junior Coach, where she has been for the past 3 years.
Anna is the embodiment of the Bill Koch League and is one of those torch bearers of the philosophy of the league. While working for a club with a strong development and racing program, Anna sticks to the BKL philosophy to ensure that the Craftsbury Outdoor Center BKL skiers are getting enough play time on skis, fun, multi-sport development and learning about living an outdoor, active lifestyle. In the past few years, there is been growth in participation, enthusiasm and community around her programming because of her leadership. That is why NENSA is pleased to announce that Anna is this year’s recipient of NENSA’s Bill Koch League Leadership Award.
Nordic skiing teaches so many life lessons, and great youth sports coaches think beyond a race, or a practice. Anna does this by not focusing not on wins and losses but on the core values and principles we want our kids to take from sports. Craftsbury Outdoor Center Assistant Junior/BKL Coach Audrey Mangan, said “stop by the Craftsbury Outdoor Center on any given winter day and you will see hoards of kids in green spandex zooming around the trails. Some are as young as six years old and have likely been there all day, starting with BKL practice in the morning followed by another few hours of building jumps with their friends after lunch. This is skiing at its most magical, and Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club head BKL/junior coach Anna Schulz is the mastermind behind it. There is quite possibly nothing Anna loves more than showing kids how to have fun being active outside, and that enthusiasm has created something special in Craftsbury starting with her BKL programs and carrying through the junior race team. Anna’s skiers are happy, caring, and confident skiers; that they are often quite fast is almost secondary.”
Audrey is a 1/3 of the “dream team” coaching squad along with Jake Barton at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, and as assistant coaches for both the BKL and Junior skiers they are all a part of the success of those programs. “Anna gives the kids so much more than just the joy of skiing—which is a lot in itself—keeping it fun and rewarding. She also interweaves such life skills as the importance of good communication, teamwork, sportsmanship, being on time, taking care of your equipment, and volunteering… Craftsbury is lucky to have her along with the rest of her terrific “Coach Squad”.” Judy Geer, Craftsbury Outdoor Center.
Jake Barton, Craftsbury Outdoor Center Assistant Junior/BKL Coach, says “I have known Anna for most of my life. She is an amazing person and, even if she wasn’t a great coach, our young athletes would still have tons to learn from her. But, she is a great coach. I have been privileged to work with Anna at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center for the past 2 years. In that time, I have seen our BKL and junior programs thrive because of the environment that she has shaped. I have seen kids come out of her programs who are self confident, empathetic, well rounded and appropriately sassy. Anna’s tireless support and commitment to these kids has helped them grow into better people with the tools to pursue a lifetime of skiing.”
Anna organizing the final event of the BKL season, an all club, goofy relay (photo from Audrey Mangan)
Kids and parents alike see the impact that Anna has had on their young skiers and community. The NEVT BKL District Chair and parent of skiers in the Craftsbury program, Victoria Von Hessert said that “Anna meets our kids where they are in their lives not just as skiers, but as kids. She encourages them and supports them, and at the same time sets a high standard for good sportsmanship, being a good teammate, and having a good work ethic. They know that she believes in them and she helps them feel empowered, not just in their skiing, but in the other activities we do all year at the Center. We feel so blessed to have Anna and her coaching team as the positive – and fun – adult role models our kids need. It’s this kind of coaching that has helped our kids love the sport.”
Anna models the behavior she wants to see in her skiers, and uses skiing, practice and racing to teach lifelong lessons through sport. When asked about her favorite part of her job she said, that “ seeing kids try something new, come up short, and go back for more. When we have stormy winter days and build jumps, I love watching the kids who totally eat it, come up smiling, and try again until they nail it. I love seeing kids try racing, finish last, and come back to try again. Kids can just have this incredible fearlessness and resilience, and skiing seems to both bring that out and cement it into their consciousness.”
“No matter if it’s a cold wet run up Elmore Mountain in early May, a bluebird 20 degree day skiing Ruthie’s in February, or an agility obstacle course in the Fall, Anna makes skiing and training a fun adventure. Anna personifies enthusiasm, camaraderie, intelligence and fun and we feel so fortunate that Callie and Jack have her as a coach. We couldn’t ask for a better role model to bring out the best in our kids’ racing as well as their personal development.” Meredith and Chris Young, former New England District Chairs and parents of skiers in the Craftsbury Outdoor Center program.
2018 New England wax team, left to right, Steve McCarthy, Anna Schulz, Jake Barton, Colin Rogers, Justin Beckwith. (photo: Amie Smith)
The New England Nordic Ski Community is fortunate to have Anna on the ground working with Bill Koch ages, but also in the development pipeline with our junior skiers. “Anna is a ambassador to our community- her varied skill sets make her an asset on any team she joins. Her work with the Craftsbury Outdoor Center ranges from creating inclusive BKL programming to facilitating high level race support for some of the top junior skiers in the country. In 2018 Anna was an outstanding member of the New England wax staff at the Junior Nationals in Soldier Hollow – she wore many hats with ease, including coach, wax tester, applicator and generally created a positive atmosphere for her four male counterparts in the wax trailers. Although Anna is receiving her award as a BKL coach it is truly the sum of the parts that makes her contributions so powerful. Thanks ANNA!” Justin Beckwith, Competitive Program Director, NENSA.