NENSA is excited to be partnering again with Swix! This year Swix is offering discounted outerwear (training jacket, puffy coat, and training pants) to all NENSA-affiliated BKL Clubs. If your club is interested, please email Kelley Roche at [email protected] so she can get an online shop set up for you. Online club shops will be open for a few weeks for club members to place orders as supplies last. One shipment per club will then be sent to a club coach who will distribute the gear. All items will be embroidered with the NENSA logo. Reach out soon if you want orders to arrive before the holidays!
NENSA News
Coaches Symposium Recap
NENSA recently hosted our fall Coaches Symposium with both in-person and virtual program offerings that allowed over 100 coaches from far reaching areas of New England and beyond to engage with each other and learn from our knowledgeable presenters, clinicians, and panelists.
All of our presentations are now available to our community on NENSA’s YouTube. Please take the time to subscribe to our channel as we continue to build content on this platform.
Before the Symposium, Stratton and Green Mountain Valley School teams coordinated with NENSA to create a fast XCX course including two bicycle ramps and lots of sweeping corners. Seventeen athletes wore the NENSA bibs for the first time since March and helped us refine and practice safety procedures. You can find results HERE and course video HERE.
The in-person clinic took place in southern Vermont at the Ball Mountain Dam and Stratton Mountain School, and featured classic and skate technique progressions that wrapped up with some run throughs of the Rollerski Ramps! SMS coach Alex Jospe and NENSA’s Youth and Introductory Program Director, Kait Miller, headed up with classic portion of the clinic while NENSA’s Competitive Program Director, Justin Beckwith ,and SMS T2 Athlete Bill Harmeyer ran the skate portion. Virtual offerings included presentations, webinar footage from the Equinar Junior Camp in Norway, and discussions with guest panelists, NENSA staff, and U.S. Ski & Snowboard representatives.
The virtual presentations kicked off Saturday evening with the notoriously speedy Ludvig Jensen sharing his knowledge and experience live from Norway. Next we learned about Injury Presentation, Strength, and Mobility by watching some webinar footage from the Norwegian Junior Camp featuring a discussion with Doctor Petter Soerensen along with demonstrated exercises. We also heard from U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Cross Country Sport Development Manager Bryan Fish and enjoyed an informative discussion with experienced Physical Therapists Pete Dickinson and Brie Beckwith. The evening wrapped up with a recorded presentation on The Female Skier by Guro Stroem Solli, a current researcher and former Norwegian National team member. This presentation was followed up with an enlightening experience-based discussion led by coaches Maria Stuber and Alex Jospe as well as current US National Team Biathlete, Kelsey Dickinson.
Sunday’s virtual programming consisted of three presentations beginning with An Overview of L100 Coaching Certification: Content and Process with U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s XC Sport Coordinator, Adam St. Pierre. Next up we heard from Bryan Fish about Building Comprehensive Community & Club Engagement & FAQ’s about North American Fluoro Free Policy. The symposium wrapped up with a presentation from Kait Miller on BKL Philosophy and Long Term Athlete Development with a special focus on mindfully coaching in a pandemic.
We are grateful to all our panelists, presenters, clinicians, and attendees for taking the time and energy to make this symposium a fantastic learning experience for all involved! Stay tuned for updates about potential U.S. Ski & Snowboard L100 certification opportunities and NENSA’s new L50 Regional Coaches Education Certification that is currently in the works.
2021 BKL Festival Moves to Regional Model: Enter the Mini-Fests
The decision has been made with the wonderful folks at Quarry Road Trails and the Quarry Road Ski Club that the BKL Festival will move to a regional model of operation for 2021. Our goal with the BKL Festival is for our young skiers to enjoy a fun, safe, and inclusive capstone to their winter season, and we believe this can be best achieved through a district/state-based model where each region hosts a Mini-Festival.
NENSA will work with our dedicated BKL District Chairs and Leaders in each state or region to host a Mini-Fest event that fits safely within their state or region’s COVID guidelines. Goody bags and graduation certificates will be mailed to District Chairs for distribution. More information will be available at the beginning of November. In the meantime, stay tuned for the upcoming 2021 Mini-Fest theme announcement! We appreciate your flexibility and understanding with this change.
NENSA will be releasing Event Host Guidelines and BKL Club Best Practice Recommendations soon. You can read through our current COVID Considerations and Event Contingency Plans HERE.
FINAL CALL: Join the NENSA Technique Clinic and Coaches Symposium.
Come experience this new teaching phenomenon IN-PERSON tomorrow at Stratton at our technique clinic and Coaches Symposium! 3 Hrs. left to register!
REGISTER HERE
THIS WEEKEND!
Marty & Kathy Hall step up to the plate with a $10k donation and a $10k Challenge for our NENSA programing this season
NENSA would like to thank Marty & Kathy Hall for the wonderful opportunity they have given to NENSA, and our ski community, with the Marty & Kathy Hall $10k Challenge~ The Hall “Mark of Excellence” Award! Not only have they helped NENSA financially with a recent $10k donation, but they are also offering this additional $10k Challenge, which will support both individual athletes and the top school or club. Their generosity will add a great challenge aspect to our competitions this year!
The $10k Challenge is split into two $5k awards ~ spreading their generosity over more programs and athletes:
#1: $5000 will be awarded to the top school or club in New England based on the top 20 overall finishes (20 male & 20 female) for the App Gap Challenge and Lost Nation Roll Rollerski races, four Eastern Cup weekends, and select Popular Races. At the end of the season, the school or club with the most points will be awarded $5000 by the Hall’s.
#2: $5000 will be used for FIS podiums – NENSA will be supporting a robust FIS schedule this season and, thanks to the Halls, awarding cash prizes to top finishers similar to past U.S. & Snowboard SuperTour events and current Nordique Canada FIS events. For the first four FIS races, December – January, this Challenge will offer $1250 per race which will pay out for podiums ($300/$200/$150 per gender). While there is no national SuperTour series this winter, the Hall Challenge will offer our top New England based athletes much deserved monetary awards this season.
In the words of Marty and Kathy, “It is with great pride that we give these dollars to join the fray and journey to international success—we need help though—please join the battle!” Thank you again to the Halls for these very generous donations!
If anyone else is interested in supporting NENSA, and our programing this winter and beyond, please contact Amie Smith, Executive Director, at [email protected] or 781-864-0545.