Greetings NENSA Community ~

It is officially Championship March! NENSA's New England Bill Koch Festival kicked the month off this past weekend, and this weekend is the U16 Championships and the New England Junior National Team heads to California to start racing next Monday March 9th. Eastern High School Championship are the following weekend, and then, the World Cup in Minneapolis is on Tuesday March 17th! WOW! And, intermingled in all that is some really fantastic Popular Citizen racing during the whole month of March.

Just take a look at what we have in store for you in this week's KickZone ~

I hope to see you out there on the trail or cheering at a race this month!
Best,
Amie

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

Be sure to follow us on fb, Twitter and on Instagram @nensa_nordic
NENSA News from the Field
Highlights and Notes from NENSA and the Nordic World
New England Bill Koch League Festival Brings Skiers to Great Glen Trails
This past weekend the New England Bill Koch League festival descended on Great Glen Trails in Gorham, NH. Nestled at the base of Mount Washington in Pinkham Notch, Great Glen was the perfect site for the event. High snow accumulations in the weeks leading up to the event set us up for an awesome festival, with amazing race courses maintained by the staff at Great Glen, and plenty of snow for all of the non competitive activities of the weekend.

...Read full Story HERE , including links to Results, Photos from Joe Viger and Photos from Dave Priganc
U16 Championships
at Mountain Top this weekend
NESNSA's U16 Championships ~ bringing the top 20 male and top 20 female 14 and 15 years olds from Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and guests from the Midwest for three days of championship racing!

Click HERE for seed and start lists (starting Thursday) and for RESULTS this weekend
52 Athletes and 14 JN coaches & wax techs are heading to Truckee CA this weekend!
  • Team New England has won the Alaska Cup the last 6 years in a row!
  • We will be defending it for the 7th year at the Auburn Ski Club March 9th-15th
  • We won it there in 2015
  • If Team New England wins again this year - we will tie with Alaska for the most wins ever - 16 each!
  • "A" is the most popular letter for a JN Team member or staffer with 12 total "A" names
  • October is the month with the most birthdays for this JN Team
  • We have 3 Jacks on our Team this year
  • We have one pair of siblings - Aggie and Clint Macy from Dublin XC
  • Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club has the largest representation with 11 athletes, CSU juniors is 2nd with 8, and MNC and GMVS tied for 3rd with 6 athletes each.
  • And, 30 of our 52 athlete are from VERMONT!
  • #bringbacktheAKcup
  • https://www.xcjuniornationals2020.com
Zak and Club Points Update!
Click HERE to see all the latest rankings for the Zak Cup and Club points in our NENSA Popular and Citizen Races so far this season!
Special Savings and Offered from our
NENSA Sponsors on NENSA.net
NENSA is so grateful to all our Sponsors for their support of our non-profit organization and our sport! Did you know they also have some special offers for YOU, our NENSA members??! Be sure to check out the Members Only Benefits page on NENSA.net . There you will find savings on UnTapped Maple nutritional products, Concept2 SkiErgs, Nokian Tyres, TOKO wax and savings from ShareWinter.com and the Trapp Family Lodge. It's another way we can say thank you to you all for being NENSA members and supporting us too!
NENSA WAXING POLICY
2019-2020 SKI SEASON
Mission Statement:  NENSA is committed to making safe and supportive competitive events for all cross country skiers. Concerns about fluorinated waxes have emerged from three schools of thought: the health implications of exposure, the environmental effects involved with the raw materials in many of the wax products, and the competitive advantage certain clubs may gain due to the perceived complexities of available products. NENSA would like to address these issues and help reduce the dependence on fluorinated waxes through education and waxing guidelines.
It is important to note that the wax industry will shift as the international market responds to mounting regulation of ingredients in Europe. We hope our stance will promote a healthy environment for athletes, technicians, spectators and New England venues. These policies are based on trust and NENSA cannot enforce compliance.

Click HERE to see our NENSA Wax Policy for the 2019-20 Season
SafeSport Program
U.S. Ski & Snowboard, our National Governing Body (NGB) requires the following individuals complete training provided by the U.S. Center for SafeSport:

Individuals associated with Member Clubs (that means any NENSA club)

  • Adult athlete members of Member Clubs, except Short Term Athlete Members due to their limited participation and Master Athletes who do not i) have regular contact with minor athletes or ii) have authority over minor athletes
  • Adult members (who are not athletes) of Member Clubs who i) have regular contact with athletes, or ii) have authority over athletes
  • Employees and Board Members of Member Clubs
  • Individuals providing services to Member Clubs, including but not limited to contractors, volunteers, interns, who i) have regular contact with athletes or ii) have authority over athletes
  • More info here: https://usskiandsnowboard.org/safesport-athlete-safety/safesport-training

NENSA urges ALL New England coaches, parent volunteers, venue volunteers and anyone working with youth to take the SafeSport on-line course and get certified. NENSA requires this of all our staff and volunteer coaches and wax techs at JN's and REG Camps. Please take time this season to be sure all your club volunteers and coaches are SafeSport certified. Do it today. Go to: https://www.safesport.org

Further information on SafeSport, and important updates made as of 4/15/19 to the SafeSport Program, can be found on our NENSA website HERE
E xciting News from our Partners:
Junior Worlds Recaps ~
It's a bronze and a gold for Team USA (so far)
February 29: Ogden Sixth in Junior World Freestyle Sprint
Ben Ogden led the way for the Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team, finishing sixth in the freestyle sprint at the 2020 FIS Junior World Cross Country Championships in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, Saturday. Gus Schumacher, who posted the fastest qualifying time, finished seventh. JC Schoonmaker was 11th and Luke Jager finished 18th. In the women’s event, Novie McCabe was 22nd.
RESULTS

March 1: Kern Takes Sprint Bronze at U23 World Championships
Julia Kern won the bronze medal in the freestyle sprint at the FIS U23 Cross Country World Championships in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, Saturday. Sweden went 1-2 with Emma Ribom winning the gold, and Johanna Hagstroem taking the silver. ...READ MORE

March 2: Schumacher Wins Junior World Championships 10k Classic
Gus Schumacher took the gold and led the way for the Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team at the FIS Junior Cross Country World Championships in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, Monday. Ben Ogden was ninth, Luke Jager was 10th and Johnny Hagenbuch 25th. ...READ MORE

March 4: Three Americans in Top 10 at Junior World Championships
Sophie Laukli finished fifth in the women's 15k mass start freestyle at the 2020 FIS Junior Cross Country World Championships Wednesday in Oberwiesenthal, Germany. Novie McCabe was ninth and Kendall Kramer was 24th. In the men's 30k mass start freestyle, Gus Schumacher finished fifth - his third top-seven result at Junior Worlds.

Up next, the U23 women race a 15k mass-start freestyle, and the men will race a 30k mass-start freestyle Thursday. Gus, Ben Ogden, Johnny Hagenbuch and Luke Jager look to defend their 4x5k World Championship title in the team relay Friday.
RESULTS
Julia Kern (right) won the bronze medal in the freestyle sprint at the 2020 U23 FIS Cross Country World Championships Sunday March 1. (@flyingpoint)
Gus Schumacher won the 10k classic at the 2020 FIS Junior Cross Country World Championships on March 2.
Upcoming Events
A Look Ahead at the NENSA Calendar
U pcoming NENSA Events:
March 17-April 20: NENSA's annual Fund Drive
May 2-3: NENSA's Spring Board of Directors and Committee meetings, Hanover NH

Full NENSA.net Calendar Listing HERE
Link to all our Popular Races ~ Zak Cups
Link to all our Marathon Races