Greetings NENSA Community!

This past Saturday, some members of our NENSA community received an email, that looked very much like it was from NENSA, but it was not. NENSA had been spoofed, but more importantly, I want to you to know that NENSA does not ever solicit money for another organization. We have enough fundraising to do of our own each year! ;-)
NENSA would never ask for a donation to another organization or a GoFundMe page that was not NENSA's.

Today at 5pm is the final day to register on SkiReg.com for our third Eastern Cup weekend, taking place this Saturday February 16th & Sunday 17th, hosted by Frost Mountain at the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton VT. Saturday 2/16 overlaps with the Middlebury Carnival too. There is DOR for Saturday's interval start races, from 8:30-9:30am. There is no DOR for the EC mass start races on Sunday, but there is DOR for the citizen mass start race on Sunday afternoon, from 12noon-1pm.

Check out all the NENSA NEWS from the Field below, including all the info you need to know for this years New England JN Team & Trip; how to watch the Supertour in Minneapolis for FREE this weekend; Sophie Caldwell's amazing 2nd place finish in the Lahti Sprints last weekend; and the tons of races and events coming up in all of February and March on our full NENSA Calendar of Events at the bottom of this eNewsletter.

Hope to see many of you out at NENSA event or race soon!

Best,
Amie

Amie W. Smith
Executive Director
New England Nordic Ski Association
Amie@nensa.net

NENSA does a lot of social media posting and updates on our social media platforms ~ be sure to follow us on
Facebook, Twitter and on Instagram @nensa_nordic
NENSA News from the Field
Highlights and Notes from NENSA and the Nordic World
Everything You Need to Know for the Upcoming New England Junior National Team Trip to Anchorage Alaska
March 8th-17th
This weekend and next bring the final two Eastern Cup JN qualifying race weekends - with 5 more opportunities for JNQ racing! With the Alaska departure date just a few weeks away, we wanted to take this opportunity to get you all the info athletes and parents will need to register and pay for this JN trip. New England will be fielding a large team this year due to the large number of auto qualifiers from US Sr. Nationals. Anyone who auto qualified, and knows they will be going to JN's, should go ahead and sign up now. It will be a very fast turnaround from the final JNQ race on 2/24 to leaving for this championship event on 3/8.

This year we will defending the Alaska Cup for the 6th year in a row - not an easy feat when heading to Alaska! But if any region is up to this task, it is New England!

Mark your calendar: There will be a JN Team naming and meeting on Sunday 2/24 at 1:15pm at the Holderness School, following the EC races. More info on this important meeting in the 2019 JN Team Packet below.

THANK YOU SWIX
for this great New England Junior National Team Hat for 2019! We will be looking spiffy in Anchorage thanks to these, and our awesome NE Team SWIX uniforms!
LIVE STREAMING FOR WEEKEND CROSS COUNTRY SUPERTOUR
IN MINNEAPOLIS
Fans around the world can tune in this weekend as the fifth stop of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Cross Country SuperTour comes to the heart of Minneapolis. The SuperTour makes a stop at Theodore Wirth Park Feb. 15-17 for one of its most important stops of the tour and a test event for the FIS World Cup sprint event, taking place in Minneapolis in March, 2020

U.S. Ski & Snowboard is making the live stream available free for fans , with production by Central Cross Country Skiing.

Live streaming will be available on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team Facebook channel and on U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s website.

Minneapolis’ Theodore Wirth Park is recognized as one of the best urban cross country center in America. It provides millions of Twin Cities area residents with easy access to cross country skiing. It is also a hotbed of racing, including the recent City of Lakes Loppet. With the Olympic gold medal success of hometown hero Jessie Diggins, The Loppet Foundation and U.S. Ski & Snowboard teamed up to bring a World Cup event to the Twin Cities in March, 2020.
World Cup Update:
Caldwell Second in Lahti Sprint
Sophie Caldwell (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) skied to an impressive second place Saturday 2/9 in the FIS Cross Country freestyle sprint in Lahti, Finland. Caldwell led three U.S. qualifiers in the heats with Ida Sargent (Craftsbury, Vt.) in 26th place, and Kelsey Phinney (Boulder, Co.) in 27th place. Neither Sargent or Phinney advanced past the quarterfinals.

The race was won by Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla with Sweden’s Maja Dahlqvist in third.

“I’m really happy with my race today,” said Caldwell. “The conditions were wet and fast and this course is always a fun one with how tactical it can be. I was happy to feel better as the day went on and to finish 2nd in the final was awesome. It was also really cool to watch my SMS T2 club team teammate, Kelsey Phinney, qualify for her first heats and finish in the top 20! Our service team gave us great skis and we’re all looking forward to some team sprinting tomorrow!”

“Sophie skied a technically brilliant race today and showed some uncharacteristically aggressive skiing,” said Coach Matt Whitcomb. “Considering she has just returned from a three-week training trip to the U.S., her second place today shows that she is clearly in good form.”

The U.S. men failed to qualify anyone for the heats. The men’s race was won by Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway, with Federico Pellegrino of Italy in second and Finn Haagen Krogh of Norway completing the podium.
Sophie Caldwell battled to second at the Lahti Sprint
(U.S. Ski & Snowboard - Reese Brown)
Looking for more current Cross Country Ski News?? Check out these links on our NENSA.net website for the latest Social Media, Ski Community News, News at NENSA and back issues of KickZone
SafeSport Program

NENSA has always urged ALL New England coaches, parent volunteers, venue volunteers and anyone working with youth to take the SafeSport on-line course and get certified. NENSA has been requiring this of all our staff and volunteer coaches and wax techs at JN's and REG Camps for several years now. So please take time this season to be sure all your club volunteers and coaches are SafeSport certified. Do it today.
Renew  your NENSA Membership today, and THANK YOU!

Take pride in joining the New England Nordic community with your NENSA membership and in knowing your dues are coming right back to you in the form of NENSA programming and our ongoing support of venues, clubs, athletes and coaches across the region. 

There are more reasons than ever to re-new your NENSA Membership! We now have  NENSA Members Only Benefits & Offers  on our website ~ Check back often as we will be adding more from our wonderful sponsors as the season progresses! Go to our "NENSA Members Only Benefits and Offers" tab, under Membership, on NENSA.net to see the latest offers!

Questions about renewing your membership?? Email  preston@nensa.net  or call (207-688-6503) Preston in our NENSA office - he is there to help you! 

Upcoming Events
A Look Ahead at the NENSA Calendar
Upcoming Events:
March 23 FIS Junior Invitationa l Rac e in Quebec City at the WC races

Full NENSA.net Calendar Listing HERE
New England Nordic Ski Association
49 Pineland Drive, Suite 301-A, New Gloucester, ME 04260
Call: 207.688.6503 | www.nensa.net