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About our Club, 2007-08 The Bill Koch Youth Ski League The Bill Koch Youth Ski League is the largest
membership group in Our Club Goals and Philosophy Our goal is a simple one: To introduce kids to the
joy of cross-country skiing and especially, to skiing fast! High-performance country skiing on groomed
tracks is really exciting and is quite different from the “walking on skis”
style of skiing that many people think of when they think of XC. Skiing fast
is challenging, exhilarating, and the best way we know to experience winter! Learning to ski fast means learning to ski well.
Good technique is the foundation. For this reason, the core of our program is
instruction in modern groomed-track cross-country-skiing technique, using
age-appropriate methods. For many – but not all – of our skiers, skiing fast
also means doing some racing. Our view is that racing is great if its what the child wants, but if not, that’s OK too. Many
of our skiers go through the year without participating in a single race. Our
experience is that some skiers enjoy skiing but not racing when they are
younger, then develop a desire to race as they grow
up. Especially at the youngest ages, racing can place too much emphasis on
working hard and not enough on skiing well. Our perspective is a longer term
one: we provide strong technical skills and instruction to our skiers when
young when it is easiest to learn so that they are ready to race if they
choose to. Most of our skiers go on to
race with their high school teams, and some compete at the regional and
national level with our junior club partner, CSU. In the 2006-7 season,
two of our graduates went to the Junior Olympics and had great races,
including a 9th place finish in the 5k classic race. Unlike some youth sports programs, we have no
tryouts and no cuts. Coaching and Practices The core of our program is providing quality
coaching and technical instruction to our young skiers. Our coaches are
committed parent volunteers. Many have been through the NENSA (New England
Nordic Ski Association) Bill Koch coach training program. Several are also
accomplished former college and/or masters racers. Early in the season we
hold two local, on-snow, coaching clinics (one classic, one skate) for our
coaches to coordinate coaching methods, drills, objectives, etc., and to
discuss how to customize our coaching methods in an age-appropriate way. Our season starts with dry land practices in
mid-November. Parents can use this time to discuss equipment, ask questions
and get ready for the season. Skiers, meanwhile, are able to start thinking
about skiing and to go over some of the technical fundamentals that can be
taught without snow. Once on-snow practices start (usually in the second
week of December), skiers are assigned to a “country” which has approximately
25 skiers and 3-4 coaches, and the skiers stay with the country for the rest
of the season (with some occasional reassignments). The country groupings
place skiers of a similar level and with similar goals together; age is a
secondary factor and a country can have a wide range of ages. This “country”
structure allows skiers to develop an ongoing, one-on-one relationship with
their coach and to make friends within their country. A typical country head
coach has years of skiing experience, has been trained at a two-day NENSA
coaching clinic, and has previous coaching experience within our club. The
head coach of the skier’s country has responsibility for running each day’s
practice and is the primary point of contact on coaching-related matters for
the skier and parent. A typical on-snow practice begins with a country
warm-up, after which the country divides into smaller groups for 40-50
minutes of individualized instruction. Our Saturday practices conclude with a
15-25 minute game (while perhaps not obvious to the casual observer, the
games have been designed by coaches and NENSA to develop specific technical
skills). We don’t spend much time on endurance training during practice,
although later in the season we start to emphasize high-speed, short sprints,
and we do engage in some strength and endurance work with our oldest and most
experienced racers. As a general matter, we believe it is better to spend
valuable practice time on technical instruction (and reinforcing that
instruction through games) because the earlier a skier learns sound technical
fundamentals, the better. XC skiing is
a subtle sport that requires several years for even the best young athletes
to master, and the best time to develop skiing quickness and agility – grace
on snow – is in pre-adolescent years. The better a skier’s technique when
they are young, the more time they will have to focus on strength and endurance
when they are teenagers. Some of our skiers will be aiming for top-ten
performances in the New England Bill Koch Festival at the end of the year,
and they will do additional speed and endurance work, primarily outside of
practice based on coaches’ advice; however, these skiers constitute a
minority of our club members, and this training is not the focus of our
practices. Although our focus is youth skiers, we also sponsor
one or two clinics for parents each season so that new parents who want to
try to keep up with their kids can learn some tips. Skiing is a great family
sport, and we strongly encourage parents to give it a try! Expected Commitment The level of commitment we ask from our skiers is
the same as you find on a child’s soccer, baseball, or swim team. Mainly,
this means showing up to practice on time, being ready to have fun and to
learn. Our practices - especially the Saturday morning practices - focus on
technique development. They are progressive - that is, they build on ideas,
drills, and technique introduced in previous practices (including the dry
land practices). For this reason, skiers should plan to attend all the
Saturday practices. Although not always possible, attending all the practices
allows the skiers to make progress and to develop skills over the season. We also hope that parents of club skiers will pitch
in with the operation of the club, not necessarily in their first year but
over the course of their child’s experience. Done little – or no – XC skiing? We welcome children who have little, or even no,
experience with XC skiing. We have had
quite a few skiers whose first day on skis was their first day at one of our
practices! If a child is motivated and athletic, he or she can learn
relatively quickly to ski fast and to have fun on skis. A good analogy might
be tennis: At first, it takes a lot of time to learn even to get the ball
over the net, but after a few weeks, if you practice, it becomes easier and
more natural. And remember that kids
learn a lot faster than adults! Parents sometimes wonder if they should have their
child get lessons first before trying the club. We prefer that new skiers not
have lessons outside the club first – XC lessons for kids can have quite
variable content and often fail to emphasize the technical fundamentals we
consider essential. At the same time, our approach is different from ordinary
lessons – more oriented towards developing fast-skiing (performance skiing)
technique. One way to think about instruction and our program is the difference
between ordinary swimming lessons and the technical instruction a child would
get on a swim team. If you are new to the program or to high-speed
groomed-track skiing, please be aware that even new skiers need the right
equipment. In 2007-08, If you are interested in joining the club, contact
one of the coaches or our communications boss – or just show up at one of our
dry land practices! What you can do on your own to become a
better skier Watch TV. Seriously! The core of our instructional
program is a simplified version of the US Ski Team progression system and
technical framework, as laid out in the 2002 instructional video, “US Ski Team
Skating and Classic Technique and Progressions - 2002” (Instructional Series
VI019). We urge
you to get this video. You can
mimic the stars of the Go skiing. The
more practice the better. Have you
tried going out in the woods at night with a headlamp? Playing tag on skis on
a frozen lake? There are many fun ways to develop balance and general ski
sense. And, of course, go skiing with your family. Age Groups Our program accepts skiers ages 7 through 13 (age
is as of Jan. 1). We also accept J2 skiers (14 year olds) who are in 8th
grade. The NENSA age groups are: J2 – 14 and 15; J3
– 12 and 13; J4 – 10 and 11, J5 – 8 and 9, Lollipops – 7
and under. For skiers aged 14 (as of Jan. 1) through high
school, check out the CSU
junior XC racing program. This program is the extension of our BK program
and many of our graduates enter this program. They also hold team practices
at Weston Ski track. J2s who are in 8th grade have two options –
they can ski with us or they can ski with CSU. For skiers who are motivated
to race, the CSU Jr program is recommended. If you are an 8th-grade J2 (or a
parent of one), ask one of our coaches and/or a CSU coach for advice if you
are in doubt. Scholarships Ski equipment, club registration, and a season pass
can add up and we have some (limited) scholarship opportunities for skiers
who need it; please contact our communications director (listed below)
directly. Registration Online registration for 2007-08 is open – click here and
follow the instructions. Annual membership includes a team
hat for skiers who are new to the team (if you have lost yours,
or it no longer fits, talk to Amie). Please note that the membership fee
does not include trail passes.
Youth season passes at Weston
Ski Track, our primary practice site, are available. Many parents choose
to purchase a family season pass. Please note that we have a $5 fee per day per skier
for non-registered skiers. We are required to assess this by our umbrella organization
(NENSA) for insurance reasons. Personnel and Contact Information For general administrative and registration
questions, contact Bonnie McEwen. For skiing/coaching questions, contact our head coach,
Jim Stock. Our club is a parent-run, all-volunteer
organization. Please
see our volunteer page. Volunteers
do not need to be skiers! Communications Boss Volunteer Coordinator Coaches – 2007-08
season (list as of 10/27/07) Jim
Stock (781-259-4144) – head coach Erik Anderson David
Brams Will Brote Karin Cole Mark Cote Anne
Doyle Chris
Doyle Lauren Hefferon Steve Hochman Peter
Hoenig (978-369-8346) Sarah Holton Dorothee Kern Gunther Kern Barry Kitch Henry Koziel David
Kwiatkowski Erica Kwiatkowski John LaChance Alan McEwen Sandra Meyerson
(Lollipops) Andy Orsmond Cathy Schen (Lollipops) John Seltzer Amie Smith Jim Stock Elizabeth Wilcox-Snow (Lollipops) EMBK Board Members
(2007-08) Rob
Bradlee (CSU) David
Brams Terry
Furman Peter
Hoenig (chair) John
LaChance Andy
Orsmond Elisabeth
Wilcox-Snow Web design by Chris Stock More
Information on EMBK Volunteer Positions and Organizational Structure More Information on NENSA and the Bill Koch
Youth Ski League Check out the NENSA Web site – see how the
NENSA portion of your registration fee is used to support XC skiing in |
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Updated 2/28/08 |
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