Greetings NENSA Community ~
Hard to believe it is already mid-December! With just two weeks of 2021 to go, please consider NENSA in your year-end charitable giving. There is no wrong time of the year to give. Some folks like to do their annual giving and donate to NENSA at year-end, and others like to wait for our Annual Fund Drive in April. We would also like to acknowledge the donors who gave generously this past #GivingTuesday on November 30th, and our donors who give randomly on a Thursday in August, or a Tuesday in June! We have some nice incentive gifts including our new (arriving early January!) NENSA custom print SKIDA alpine hats and fleece neck warmers. Click HERE to donate to NENSA today.
Be sure to check out the NENSA calendar listings for January at the bottom of this eNewsletter. We have 15 different races and/or events happening over all 5 weekends in January in VT, MA, ME, NH and NY. These include 12 different Popular/Citizen races (including 3 days of Marathon racing), 2 days of Eastern Cup/Supertour races and one amazing NENSA Women's Day event. There is literally something out there for everyone, and that's just the month of January! February and March promise to be just as exciting!
Here is what we have for you in this edition of KickZone:
- Year End Giving HERE ~ help support all our great NENSA programming!
- Recap of the Rodrigues Sprints and Kendall Classic Races at Craftsbury last weekend
- NENSA's Roy Varney Eastern Cup is this weekend in Waterville ME at Quarry Road, and kick off the New Year with the Jackson Jaunt coming up on January 2nd
- NENSA's BKL BINGO is open for the season!
- Check out our NENSA Popular Race Poster below ~ for fun events for all skiers!
- Registration Open for 2022 Women’s Day at Rikert Nordic Center 1/23/22
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From our Partners & In The News: From U.S. Ski & Snowboard ~ Davos WC weekend Recap; from TOKO an interview with their Chemist (re waxing!)
Thank you to all our NENSA Sponsors ~ they are such a HUGE part of our NENSA programming continued success, and we so appreciate all their support. I want to be sure we all acknowledge the businesses who support us and cross country skiing!
Best,
Amie
Amie Witten Smith
Executive Director
New England Nordic Ski Association
Amie@nensa.net
GIVING: DONATE to NENSA today, and thank you!
MEMBERSHIP: RENEW or JOIN today, and thank you!
Please take a few minutes to do that and support the organization that supports XC skiing here in New England, and beyond! NENSA is here for you, running programing for you, our ski community ~ we need your support this year, more than ever!
Be sure to follow us on fb, Twitter and on Instagram @nensa_nordic
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NENSA News from the Field
Highlights and Notes from NENSA and the Nordic World
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Opening races in Craftsbury, celebrate venerable skiing figures
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Day 1 – Rodrigues Sprints
Saturday greeted us with rain and enthusiastic skiers excited to be back on snow, wearing a bib. 83 skiers toed the line for the 1.5km freestyle sprint qualifier, followed by three rounds of sprint heats. In the sprint heats we saw masters, juniors, and collegiate skiers mixed together, often regardless of gender, skiing together in hone of the late Jim Rodrigues. The Queens Court format was a dizzying affair, with 14 heats of six skiers executed in each round. The rule of thumb for the day was that everyone got to race all the rounds. As each round went on, athletes were filtered into heats that were closer and closer together in ability range, resulting in some close finishes throughout the day!
2020 Nordic Combined World Cup Overall Champion, now biathlete, Tara Geherty-Moats of the Green Racing Project (GRP) put in a late surge to hold off University of Vermont’s (UVM) Anna Bizyukova (2nd) and GRP teammate Kelsey Dickinson (3rd) for the win in the open women’s field. In the girl’s U16 age group, Craftsbury Ski Club’s Ruth Krebs outpaced Mansfield Nordic’s Julia Thurston (2nd) and teammate Annika Leahy (3rd) for top spot. Stowe Nordic’s Sara Graves led the master’s women category in 15th overall.
In the open men’s race, Colby College skier Jack Young took the win over Elvis McIntosh of the Green Mountain Valley School (2nd) and Finn Sweet of UVM (3rd). Meanwhile, finishing fourth overall, Mansfield Nordic’s Adam Terko took top spot in the master’s men category. Ellis Slover of the Quarry Road Ski Club had a strong showing for 10th overall and first in the U16 age group, followed by Charles Kehler (2nd) of the Craftsbury Ski Club and Lucas Barstow of Gould Academy (3rd).
Craftsbury Ski Club led the way in the Club Cup for the day, with 169 points, followed by Mansfield Nordic Club and University of Vermont Ski Team with 149 and 140 points respectively.
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Racers charge towards the finish at the Rodrigues Sprints (Fred Bailey photo)
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Day 2 – Kendall Classic
The rain departed overnight and the sun came out to greet us for the second day of racing action. Skiers did either two or three laps of the manmade 2.5km loop at Craftsbury. With granular to icy snow classic tracks and snow temps just below freezing, klister was the flavor of the day. The Kendall Classic was hosted to remember Tom Kendall, our beloved timer of many years, with FIS and Popular racing opportunities for all abilities of skiers. Craftsbury also donated 25% of proceeds to the Muscular Dystrophy Association to honor the Kendall Family.
...click HERE for full story, lots more great photos and RESULTS
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Trina Hosmer, stalwart master skier, and 1972 Olympian passes under the Salomon arch. (JB photo)
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THANK YOU TO OUR ASSOCIATE SPONSORS
L.L.Bean and SWIX & Salomon!
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Striding into the Future:
Winter Competitions 2021-2022
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This weekend 12/18-12/19 we return to Quarry Road for the first Eastern Cup of the Season, the Roy Varney Memorial.
The Eastern Cup Series features a balance of U.S. Ski & Snowboard and FIS sanctioned events, and a few additional Popular racing opportunities.
NENSA would like to highlight that Club Cup Standings will include all Popular and Eastern Cup races for the winter of 2021-2022. The goal is to bring the entire community together across our competitive programming and provide an overall ranking of Club participation and performance. Eastern Cups will also be scored as individual events...click HERE for the full story
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THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS:
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2021-22 BKL XC Ski Bingo
is in full swing!
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NENSA is psyched to be offering a new version of Bingo for the 2021-22 season!! Download and print your own 2021-22 Bingo Card and be sure to fill out the BINGO ENTRY FORM when you finish. Activity descriptions included in the Bingo card download.
Rules of the Game:
- Must be under 14 years of age to play. Game runs from December 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
- Get “Bingo” by completing the activities and skiing in the states in a full row, column, or diagonal.
- Mark your Bingo card as you complete squares. Remember to take at least one activity photo or a picture of you where you skied!
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Fill out the Bingo entry form HERE once you’ve completed Bingo. You’ll include your activity or ski location photo and a picture of your marked Bingo card.
- Get outside and HAVE FUN!!!
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Direct any questions to kait@nensa.net.
What can you win?
Every player who completes Bingo gets a rainbow NENSA sticker. Each Bingo line completed gets players a raffle entry. At the end of every month we will raffle off NENSA monogrammed LL Bean flannel shirts and gift cards! You can get a bonus raffle point if you do any of the activities in costume.
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Registration Open for 2022 Women’s Day at Rikert Nordic Center ~
Sunday January 23, 2022
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Women’s Day registration is open!!! We are excited to announce that this year’s event will be held at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, VT. They hosted back in 2015 and we are looking forward to being back on their beautiful trails.
New England Women’s XC Ski Day was started in 2002 by former Olympian Trina Hosmer of Stowe, VT. Trina was inspired by her “sisters in skiing” in Anchorage, Alaska, who started the Alaska Ski for Women in 1997. The highlight of the day is learn-to-ski clinics with self-identified women instructors; the emphasis being on relaxed, fun learning with other self-identified women. Registration includes cross-country ski clinics, wax demonstrations, a fantastic prize drawing, a fabulous lunch, and a donation to our benefit organization
This year our benefit organization is Stride, an organization whose mission is to remove barriers to entry and get girls in the game and on the trails by providing mentorship, gear, and learning opportunities to young female athletes in Vermont. If you would like to make a donation to the organization, you can do so through registration. You can also pre-order this year’s official Women’s Day Skida hat!
Please click HERE for the Women’s XC Ski Day Page on the NENSA website for full details on lodging, rentals, and clinic information.
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IN THE NEWS:
DAVOS World Cup Recaps
December 11
Brennan Fourth, Career-Best 12th For Ogden In Davos Sprint
Rosie Brennan led four Davis U.S. Cross Country Team athletes into the points as she continued her torrid early-season World Cup pace, finishing fourth in the freestyle sprint in Davos, Switzerland. Ben Ogden posted a World Cup career-best result in 12th. He was 13th-fastest in qualifying and advanced into the semifinals for the first time in his career as one of two Lucky Losers. Jessie Diggins was 19th and Hailey Swibbul was 24th. ...READ MORE
December 12
Diggins Second In 10k Freestyle, Leads Five Americans Into Top 28
Jessie Diggins dug deep into the pain cave to find an extra gear that propelled her onto the podium, finishing second and leading five U.S. women into the top 28 in the FIS Cross Country World Cup 10k freestyle individual start Sunday in Davos, Switzerland. Rosie Brennan finished fourth for the second-straight day, with Hailey Swirbul in sixth, Sophia Laukli posting a World Cup career-best result in 19th, and Novie McCabe scoring her first career World Cup points, finishing 28th. ...READ MORE
Live SuperTour Streaming
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Ben Ogden advanced to the semifinals as one of the Lucky Losers en route to posting a career-best 12th in Saturday's FIS World Cup Cross Country sprint in Davos, Switzerland. (Modica/NordicFocus)
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Enjoy this TOKO interview with their
Head TOKO Chemist Stefan Jung ~
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THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA OFFICIAL SUPPLIERS:
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Upcoming Events
A Look Ahead at the NENSA Calendar
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Full NENSA.net Calendar Listing HERE
Link to our COVID Protocols HERE
Link to our NENSA Equality & Diversity Policy HERE
Link to our Health & Nutrition Resources Page HERE
Link to our NENSA Inclusivity Resource List HERE
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If you already shop Amazon ~ please link to Amazon Smile
with NENSA as your beneficiary!
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Did you know that NENSA could benefit from the Amazon purchases you are already making??! Please link your Amazon account to Amazon SMILE (with /smile) and choose NENSA as your non-profit beneficiary! All the purchases everyone is already making, all add up, and we would love to be able to benefit from that! Thank you!!
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New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA)
49 Pineland Drive, Suite 301A
New Gloucester, ME 04260
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