Greetings NENSA community,

The New England Division defended the Alaska Cup at Junior Nationals in Fairbanks, AK last week! A crowning achievement, this result is credit to the outstanding teamwork and performances of our athletes and the leadership and dedication of the Team NE staff. Congratulations to the 49 athletes and 13 staff who represented New England and who brought home the Cup!

Looking deeper, a result like this is only possible because it is backed by a strong development pipeline. Skier development leading to such an achievement occurs very obviously on the race course, but also in myriad other ways that are equally or more impactful. Our region collectively owns this success: it begins with a foundational culture of healthy, active lifestyles and a vibrant community of skiers, families, clubs, coaches, mentors, officials, and volunteers. It is promoted by exploration on snow, journeys with friends, games and activities in our youth programs, camaraderie and friendship on and between our teams, and a variety of event formats that bring skiers of all ages and abilities together. Thank you for being part of the fabric that makes skiing in New England special.

Thank you, also, for supporting this work we are committed to everyday at NENSA! An update on our Championship Fund Drive, off to a fantastic start, is below.

Finally, we are looking forward to seeing so many of you at the Club Relays (please note the deadlines this evening), Open Marathon, and End of Season Celebration in Craftsbury this weekend!

In this week’s edition of KickZone

• NENSA Championship Fund Drive Update
• Club Relay Championships and End-of-Season Celebration - registration closing TODAY!
• Eastern U16 Championships Recap
• Fairbanks, AK Junior Nationals 2023 Recap
• Supertour Finals
• SMST2 Seeks Program Director
• GRPSki, Biathlon and U23 Training programs accepting applications
• Scenes from the Community
• COC Summer Collegiate Training Group application open
• GMVS Summer Camp Registration
• SMS Summer Camp Registration
• Toko Newsletter

In the news

• Nordic Insights: JNs Redux: Final Photos Roundup 

Enjoy the excellent spring skiing we are fortunate to have in much of New England!

All my best,

Heidi

Heidi Lange

Executive Director

New England Nordic Ski Association

heidi@nensa.net

www.NENSA.net

Thank you!

Memberships directly support all of our year-round programming,

backing us in our mission to nurture and sustain an active cross country ski

community for all ages and levels throughout the East. 

Thank you for taking a minute to join or renew your NENSA membership,

and for the important support that it provides!

Please join me in thanking and supporting our wonderful NENSA Sponsors 

for their generous contributions and the ongoing impact that they have on NENSA programming and cross country skiing in New England!

Thank you to all who have made donations to launch our Championship Fund Drive this week! Nearly $7,000 has been raised toward our $40,000 goal.

Over 50% of NENSA’s operating budget is funded through sponsorships and donations. These resources directly support NENSA staffing and programming and reduce financial barriers to participation by keeping membership and event fees as low as possible. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Please support NENSA with a gift of any amount this month. Thank you!

“The NENSA Club Relay Championship attracts skiers of all ages and abilities and is the perfect way to involve all club members in a fun and exciting event. It is a true test to see who has the premier ski club/team in New England”

– former event host Jim Fredericks. 

It's not too late to register for the New England Club Relays (Saturday) and the Open category 40km classic mass start race (Sunday), both taking place at Craftsbury in conjunction with Supertour Finals.

There will be awards for teams with cumulative ages under 100, over 100 and over 200 years – choose your teammates wisely! The Relays will be followed by a community-wide BBQ and NENSA will present the end of season awards. Make sure to bring your lawn chair, sunscreen, and best relay costumes as well as some friends to enjoy the event with! Click HERE for full details including updated rankings and all registration info.

Important deadlines:

WEDNESDAY (TODAY!) 9pm: Relay registration closes (step #1)

WEDNESDAY (TODAY!) at midnight: Relay team submission closes (step #2)

Last week the top 14 and 15 year-old skiers in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont traveled to Fort Kent, Maine to compete in the three day Eastern U16 Championship event hosted at the Fort Kent Outdoor Center (FKOC). Eastern U16 Championships is the premier event for U16 cross country ski racers in New England and New York. The goal of the event is to provide the highest quality competition for U16 athletes to learn and develop as skiers and people. Eastern U16 Champs (U16s) began modestly in 1992 and has grown into one of the highlights of the season for junior athletes. This past week, skiers were warmly welcomed into the Fort Kent community where they found snowy race courses that were well maintained and prepared for them by the dedicated folks at the FKOC. 

Below we have featured the top-10 results for the individual races and the top-5 for the relay as well as the top-3 overall individual standings. While we are highlighting these finishes, we want to take a moment to acknowledge every athlete who stepped onto the start line this weekend and tried their hardest out there on the race course!...click HERE for the full story, results, recap video, photos, and a local television news segment.

The 2023 Junior National Championships highlighted the beauty of Northern Winter and the legacy of John Estle. The single-digit-race-temperatures were invigorating and challenging for Team New England. While precipitation and temperatures have been on the rise in Fairbanks, the cold-dry-and-if-not-perfect trails at Birch Hill are quite unique to the modern Eastern skier.

After months of planning, New England executed seemingly seamless travel to Alaska — with an awesome team dynamic among athletes and staff alike. Our 49 athletes were treated to a world class event, complete with a spectacular Northern Lights display, and exposure to a venue and organizing committee that any cross country skier should be lucky enough to experience. While New England continues to have a good run as a division — this year’s Championships illustrated the #skilikeanamerican movement— with outstanding skiing from all regions. In the end…we brought back the Cup!...click HERE to see full results, rankings, photos and to read much more.

Craftsbury Outdoor Center is hosting SuperTour Finals/Spring Nationals, the culminating event for the 2023 National XC ski calendar. Come see the best skiers in the country race on home soil or participate yourself in the New England Open Club Relay Championships on Saturday.

Events this year:

Wednesday, March 22, 2023 - Classic Interval Start 10km SuperTour

Friday, March 24 - Freestyle Sprint National Championship

Saturday, March 25 - Freestyle 4x5km Mixed Gender Club Relay National Championship & Open Club Relays

Sunday, March 26 - Classic Mass Start 40km National Championship

THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS:

Reporting Misconduct and New QR Code for Reporting

Whether you are a coach, parent, volunteer, or athlete, we all play a role in providing a safe environment for the sports that we love. U.S. Ski & Snowboard  Athlete Safety policies, the SafeSport Code, and the U.S. Ski & Snowboard MAAPP help us support that culture of safety.  

• If you witness or are aware of inappropriate behavior or misconduct - REPORT IT!
• Reports may be made anonymously!
• Child Abuse and Child Sexual Abuse – Report to law enforcement or child protective services in your jurisdiction immediately.
• Reports to the Center - SafeSport hotline at 833-5US-SAFE (587-7233) or CLICK HERE to complete an online reporting form.
• Reports to U.S. Ski & Snowboard - CLICK HERE

You may see QR codes posted at events this season. The QR codes open a page on www.usskiandsnowboard.org for quick links to reporting from your smartphone.

Thank you for your diligence in maintaining sport safety and protecting our athletes. 

The SMST2 team is planning to expand our program by hiring a Program Director, adding several new team members and accepting 3-4 athletes into our summer program. It is our goal to make a good thing even better.

The Program Director will work closely with the Head Coach supporting the athletes in establishing training and travel plans. The Program Director will oversee all outreach projects, fundraising events and social media posts. The Program Director will help with most workouts, but will not travel as much as the Head Coach. The Program Director must be positive, organized and knowledgeable in all aspects of cross country skiing. For more information, please e-mail Sverre Caldwell at scaldwell@gosms.org.

Full job description available HERE.

The Craftsbury Green Racing Project (GRP) Ski & Biathlon teams are now accepting applications for the 2023-24 training year as well as for their summer U23 training programs. Applications will be due by end of day March 31 and decisions will be made by April 15.

GRP is looking for skiers and biathletes who have shown good ski speed over the past couple years. Skiers who have not yet tried biathlon will be given the opportunity if they’re interested...click HERE to learn more about the program and the application process.

THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA SUPPORTING SPONSORS:

Are you in college, skiing at a high level and looking to put in a solid summer of training to reach your athletic goals for the upcoming season? Do you like convenient, flexible and fun training with friends? This is what you are looking for! Craftsbury is now accepting applications for our Summer Collegiate Training Group.

What’s the difference between this college group and the summer GRP/U23 program? Great question. Both are meant for highly competitive college athletes who are devoted to a summer of hard training. The GRP/U23 program is highly selective, typically accepting 3-4 skiers per summer based on the existing makeup of the GRP team. The Collegiate Training program aims to accept 8-10 people who can form a cohesive and positive training group.

We primarily train on the Outdoor Center rollerski loop, miles of singletrack trails and indoor/outdoor gym space but often explore nearby areas for longer adventures. The Outdoor Center also has the benefit of having multiple training groups and lots of training partners during the summer months. As a coaching staff we are committed to working with each individual and using our resources to create the most positive training experience. Possibility for local lodging depending on demand; program fees a-la-carte based on coaching fee plus individual room and board needs.

Apply HERE, and come say hi if you’re here for SuperTour Finals!

2023 GMVSxc Summer Camp registration is LIVE

Build training volume on foot and on rollerskis while exploring our local roads, mountains, trails, and rivers. Increase your strength in our world-class Racing Performance Center, and enjoy rejuvenating recovery sessions led by our experienced coaching staff. This year's camp will conclude with a race effort!

Join us July 25-30, 2023.

Join us for an SMS Nordic camp this summer! 

The 2023 Stratton Mountain School summer Nordic camp will be held on the SMS Campus.

The SMS Nordic Program has combined sports science, a variety of proven training methods, a culture of athlete-driven excellence, and of course, FUN(!) to boast one of the most successful Nordic programs in the world. The program's unprecedented national and international success has produced 16 Olympians in the past seven Winter Olympics. Over 35 SMS Nordic athletes have made the U.S. World Junior Team, and 25 have made the U.S. National Team. Each Summer, SMS Nordic hosts two summer camps for young skiers filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign up today! 

BKL Camp: Aug 7-10

Junior Camp: Aug 10-13

JNs Redux: Final Photos Roundup 

March 20, 2023 | by Nordic Insights

Junior Nationals wrapped up in Fairbanks last week with mass start skate races on Thursday. Junior girls raced 15 kilometers for, I assume, the first time in JNs history; they proved themselves more than capable of skiing that far.

New England won the Alaska Cup (header photo), for top region, again, with Intermountain close behind in second and Midwest somewhere farther back in third. Athletes from Loppet Nordic Racing scored the most points of any single club, with Alaska Winter Stars second. The top two high school teams in the country were, again, both from Anchorage, this year West first and Service second. My sincere congratulations to all athletes who simply qualified to compete.



The races are a few days gone now, but I was off ski racing all weekend, so here is a better late than never roundup of some photos to close out our Junior Nationals coverage. Notably, there are links here to galleries from three different photographers, not only Eric Engman, whose shots I have previously featured, but also Mark Lindberg and Tobias Albrigtsen. Most of these galleries have very reasonable prices for prints and downloads; consider paying these men for their time spent standing around in cold temperatures last week by purchasing a photo of you or your favorite skier.

— Gavin Kentch

THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA OFFICIAL SUPPLIERS:

New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA)

49 Pineland Drive, Suite 301A

New Gloucester, ME 04260

Phone: 207-688-6503 www.nensa.net

STAY CONNECTED