Greetings NENSA Community ~
Our NENSA Auction is LIVE and we are so excited to be able to offer our New England ski community such wonderful items as we host this important annual fundraiser for NENSA. We hope you will go to our auction site frequently over the next two weeks, and bid! We will be adding more incredible items each day so keep checking in!
Here is what we have for you in this edition of KickZone:
- NENSA's Annual online AUCTION is LIVE!
- Rollerski Season Ends with Success at Greylock and Stowe
- Registration Open for 2022 Women’s Day at Rikert Nordic Center 1/23/22
- Call for Junior National Staff - techs and coaches ~ March 2022 in Minneapolis MN
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From our Partners: From Swix ~ Introducing the JD Swix glove; From U.S. Ski & Snowboard ~ The Davis 2021-22 Cross Country Ski Team is named; From Salomon ~ first woman from Mexico making a quest to ski in the Olympics; From Toko: Ben Ogden interview.
Thank you to all our NENSA Sponsors ~ they are such a HUGE part of our NENSA programing 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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NENSA's Annual online AUCTION is LIVE!
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Please support the organization that supports cross country skiing here in New England, and beyond! |
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Our annual online Action is now live, and will run for two weeks until Wednesday December 1st. This auction is one of our biggest fundraisers. We have 77 fantastic items, with more being added every day, so check back often! There is something for everyone in every category ~ from experiences, food & beverages, ski equipment, items for your home, collectables, bags, clothing, ski clothing, one of a kind items, tons of gift cards, vacations stays, hot off the press new books, and NENSA's brand new custom fabric SKIDA Alpine hats & fleece neck warmers designed by our staffer Kait Miller, available for purchase, and so much more! Go to: https://www.32auctions.com/NENSAAUCTION and start bidding today!
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THANK YOU TO OUR ASSOCIATE SPONSORS
L.L.Bean and SWIX & Salomon!
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Rollerski Season Ends with Success at Greylock and Stowe
The 2021 rollerski competition season ended with back to back weekends — November 7th NENSA hosted our first Greylock Hill Climb and on the 13th we hosted the third NENSA Invitational in Stowe. Both events saw 100 registrations with competitors from all reaches of the Eastern Region. With a little weather luck (hosting rollerski races in November can be dicey) and a lot of preparation, the events went off without a hitch — the competition and camaraderie were palpable and the and there is serious stoke heading into the winter season. It’s NENSA’s goal to build on this enthusiasm through our Popular Race Series this winter with added promotion of events and increased staff presence.
...Click HERE to read the full story of these ls last two race weekends, including full results and lots more great photos!
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Manhattan Nordic / Pastimes crew with big smiles atop Mt. Greylock Hill Climb,
November 7, 2021. (jb photo)
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Ben Ogden climbs up Luce Hill on his way to a second place finish in the NENSA Invitational Rollerski Race. Ogden has raced all three of the events. (John Lazenby photo) |
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THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS: |
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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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THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA SUPPORTING SPONSORS: |
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2022 Call for Junior National Coaches
and Wax Techs
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Help support New England Juniors in their quest for individual and divisional success. We are looking for team players, both wily veterans and aspiring coaches, to create a fun and focused staff. Please direct any questions to justin@nensa.net
Please note all staff and athletes are required to be vaccinated and there will be ongoing additions to our Covid protocols to make this group travel experience as safe as possible.
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Introducing the JD Swix glove ~ with her logo and stars! You can find these great gloves at you local retailer. And if they don't have them, make sure you tell them to get them!
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IN THE NEWS:
2021-22 DAVIS U.S. CROSS COUNTRY SKI TEAM ANNOUNCED
U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced the 21 athletes of the Davis U.S. Cross Country SkiTeam for the 2021-22 season who will kick off the competition season with the traditional World Cup season opener in Ruka, Finland, Nov. 26-28.
The chemistry of this year’s team features an exciting mix of youth and veteran talent, highlighted by an experienced group of World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic athletes, including Olympic gold medalist and 2021 FIS Overall World Cup Champion Jessie Diggins; two-time World Cup winner Rosie Brennan; and 2020 FIS Junior World Championship double-gold medalist Gus Schumacher.
“It’s a young team, which means things are always high energy and exciting but also less predictable with so many racing World Cup for the first time,” Brennan said. “I know everyone has had a good prep season, and so I have nothing but optimism for the season to come. I just hope I can stay hip enough for the young crowd!”
With two in-person camps during the prep season, including a number of club team camps scattered around the U.S. and Europe this past summer, the athletes have had an opportunity to train independently, but come together as a team to push each other, and encourage each other no matter what training plan, training philosophy, or ideas they bring to the table.
The 2021-22 FIS Cross Country World Cup season kicks off with Period 1, Nov. 26-29 in Ruka, Finland. The 2022 Olympic Winter Games are scheduled for Feb. 4-20 in Beijing.
2021-22 Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team
(Hometown; Club; Birthdate)
A TEAM
Women
- Rosie Brennan (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Ski Nordic Center; 12/21/88)
- Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 8/26/91)
- Hailey Swirbul (Aspen, Colo.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center; 7/10/98)
Men
- Gus Schumacher (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Winter Stars; 7/25/00)
- JC Schoonmaker (Tahoe City, Calif; University of Alaska Anchorage/Sugar Bowl SkiTeam and Academy; 8/12/00)
B TEAM
Women
- Julia Kern (Waltham, Mass.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 9/12/97)
- Katharine Ogden (Landgrove, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 11/17/97)
- Sydney Palmer-Leger (Park City, Utah; Sun Valley Gold Team/University of Utah; 2/4/2002)
Men
- Kevin Bolger (Minocqua, Wisc.; Sun Valley Gold Team; 4/11/93)
- Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center; 1/28/92)
- Logan Hanneman (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center; 6/2/93)
DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Women
- Hannah Halvorsen (Truckee, Calif.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center; 2/19/98)
- Novie McCabe (Winthrop, Wash.; Methow Valley Nordic Team/University of Utah; 12/15/01)
- Kendall Kramer (Fairbanks, Alaska; Alaska Winter Stars/University of Alaska Fairbanks; 6/25/02)
- Sophia Laukli (Yarmouth, Maine; University of Utah; 6/8/00)
Men
- Johnny Hagenbuch (Ketchum, Idaho; Sun Valley Gold Team; 10/1/2001)
- Luke Jager (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic SkiCenter/University of Utah; 1/17/00)
- Noel Keeffe (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club/University of Utah; 8/24/99)
- Zanden McMullin (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic SkiCenter/Montana State University; 5/31/2001)
- Ben Ogden (Landgrove, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team/University of Vermont; 2/13/00)
- Hunter Wonders (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center; 8/7/98)
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Mex I Can
My name is Regina Martinez. I am a medical doctor specializing in emergency medicine and an athlete on the Mexican Nordic Ski Team. My goal is to be the first Mexican woman to represent my country in cross country skiing at the Olympic Games.
My Olympic journey began two years ago when I moved to Minnesota for medical school and learned that no woman has ever represented Mexico in this sport. In January 2020, I bought my first pair of skis to see just what skiing was all about. Less than two months later, I skated across the finish line of my first ever 50 km, the Birkie. I was hooked and after a lot of hard work, and despite a global pandemic, I qualified for the FIS World Ski Championships, and had the honor of becoming the first Mexican woman in history to participate in a cross country ski race at this level. My season concluded in Lebanon where I proudly won the first ever medals that any Mexican, male or female, has won in a FIS cross country ski race. Now, I am continuing to train hard with my sights set on becoming the first woman to represent Mexico in cross country skiing at the Winter Olympic Games.
Born in Mexico, my family first immigrated to the U.S. when I was just 2 years old. We continued to move every 2-4 years in pursuit of different work opportunities. I graduated from high school in Costa Rica and then moved back to the U.S. once again, this time alone to begin my path into medicine. Ten years, a bachelors degree, a masters degree, and a doctorate degree later, I am proud to say I am the first doctor in my family. And, if I had not gone into this beautiful profession, I probably would not have ended up in the Midwest and be a skier today.
There are many parallels between medicine and ski racing. Both require hundreds of hours of studying and training to master. Both are physically and mentally demanding. Both require sacrifices. And, in my case, both surround me with imposter syndrome. Every medical student feels impostor syndrome, but I have probably faced more impostor syndrome from trying to ‘infiltrate’ the ski community as an “exotic” 26 year-old Mexican skier where most people are of European descent and have skied for a lifetime. However, I am writing this article to change that. When faced with adverse challenges, I use what some Mexicans call “El Fua”—the will, grit, and resourcefulness to not only build the dreams you’ve imagined, but to surpass them.
Every day I fight to serve the underserved and to increase diversity and equity both in medicine and winter sports. For instance, from March-October 2020, I was serving as a healthcare worker in the pandemic and volunteering as one of three Spanish-speaking epidemiologist and COVID-19 case investigators at the Department of Health. As the president of the Latino Medical Student Association, I helped coordinate the national White Coats for Human Rights rally to fight against human rights violations in border detention camps. Conversely, my ski team submitted a petition to the International Olympic Committee to ask for more opportunities to qualify for the Winter Olympics. Many people don’t know that European, Canadian, and American athletes have multiple races to qualify for the Olympics, but those from “developing ski nations” have only one attempt. Yet, I think it’s about time that the international ski community meets our Aztec warrior fighting spirits, after all, we are MexiCANs, not MexiCANTs!
I was raised under the principle that, “to those whom much is given, much is expected.” Nothing beats feeling like you’re flying as you hear the serenity of nature around you and the crunch of snow beneath your skis. However, the real reason why I ski is to share this beautiful sport with my country and to show the world that nothing is impossible. I want to inspire others to push beyond boundaries to accomplish something that has never been done before. Dreamers, women, and children around the world should know that we can do anything we set our minds and hearts to. Thanks to Salomon and the wonderfully supportive friends that I have met along the way in this two-year journey, we are closer to achieving these meaningful goals. My heart swells with gratitude for you all.
Though you may not get a chance to see my talented ski friends race at the Olympics yet, you can follow their stories under the hashtag #unrealskiers and on my blog (reginamartinez.org). In the meantime, keep working hard and enjoy every second that this winter has to offer! A large majority of the world’s population has never seen or experienced snow before. It truly is a privilege to ski, so don’t let it go to waste.
See you on the Trails this Winter!!
Regina
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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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