Greetings NENSA Community ~

Spring has sprung, even though a few last flurries of snow appeared across New England on May 1st. We hope you will join NENSA this month for the fun and free #25KinMay virtual challenge to kick off our new season and spring training! Full details below and categories for everyone to participate in!

Congrats to our New England and New England based athletes who were nominated this week for the 2021-22 DAVIS U.S. CROSS COUNTRY TEAM including ~ Jessie Diggins, A Team (SMS elite team), Julia Kern, B Team (SMS elite team), Katharine Ogden, B Team (SMS elite team), Sophia Laukli, Development Team (Middlebury College), and Ben Ogden, Development Team (SMS elite team/UVM). With the winter of 2022 being an Olympic year, it will be exciting to follow and cheer on our New England athletes, and the entire US Ski Team on their quest for excellence!

Here's what we have in store for you in this week's KickZone
  • Eastern Cup event bidding opens
  • #25KinMay is on! ~ 2.0 version for 2021 ~ check out the box below for all the virtual fun ~ it is free to join and we have a lot of fun categories to pick from!
  • $25 NENSA memberships are back for the month of May for BKL, juniors, adults and coaches ~ renew your memberships now!
  • 8 lucky Raffle Winners announced from our April Fund Drive raffle!
  • Our top 3 Hall Mark of Excellence Award Club winners share their plans for the prize money and their thanks!
  • From our Partners:
  • U.S. Ski & Snowboard: Looking Back: Cross Country Team Posts Historic Season and Looking Forward: 2021-22 Davis U.S. Cross Country Team Nominations Announced
  • VOICE in Sport May sessions with Rosie Brennan
  • CAMPS!! Yes, it's almost that time of the year again - check out the calendar at the bottom of this newsletter for the start of camp listings for this summer!

Thank you to all of our NENSA Sponsors ~ they are such a HUGE part of our NENSA programing continued success, and we appreciate their support, especially this past year. 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
NENSA News from the Field
Highlights and Notes from NENSA and the Nordic World
Eastern Cup Event Bidding Opens
NENSA is optimistically planning for a 2021-22 Eastern Cup season without travel limitations. We owe a debt of gratitude to our venues for the work they did this past winter whether they eventually hosted their events or not — a ride we all hope we never have to take again.


We also reaffirmed the value of localized racing and hope to integrate this into our Popular Races moving forward — building field sizes and creating another level of development opportunities. We are hopeful that more NENSA involvement with designated Popular events will become an attractive option for venues in years they might not host an Eastern Cup. Bids for Popular races and Marathons will open next week.

The East currently has two proposed SuperTour bids that would be held in combination with Eastern Cup weekends two and three. This schedule will be finalized next week at U.S. Ski & Snowboard Congress. Venues that might be interested in hosting a Super Tour in 2022-2023 should be prepared to submit a Request For Proposal before the end of the winter.

Eastern Cup bids will be reviewed throughout the month and presented to the Athletic Development Committee (ADC) on May 23rd with a final schedule to be announced by the end of May.

We look forward to receiving your bids, and working with you throughout the year to make your event and New England’s premier races the best they can be.

Bids are due by May 22nd. Please direct questions to justin@nensa.net
THANK YOU TO OUR ASSOCIATE SPONSORS
L.L.Bean and SWIX!
$25 NENSA May Memberships are back!
There is no better time than right now to renew your NENSA memberships for the coming year, which runs May 1st, 2021 through April 30th, 2022. NENSA has brought back our $25 memberships for the month of May. That means all BKL, junior, adult and coaches memberships are just $25 each all month long. Get a jump on the season and renew today!

MEMBERSHIP: RENEW or JOIN today, and thank you!
THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS:
#25KinMay is back!
Join the FUN in our NENSA
Virtual Rollerski Event!!

While you might not be as isolated as you were a year ago — this month we again focus on returning to rollerskis! We want you to challenge yourself and utilize rollerskis as a fun tool to access beautiful places! More so we want to build the positive social energy of our summertime programs. In 2020, many folks returned to rollerskiing or tried it for the first time due to the excitement around #25KinMay. Over 200 people participated and we so loved sharing the stories from New England and beyond!

This year #25KinMay is free – simply get out there and report your ski (or ski walking or biking) data to us here.  The event is for everyone and based primarily on participation. There will be raffle prizes and awards for fast times, exceptional routes, and reporting.  The number one rule remains: BE SAFE out there. Skiers must select terrain suitable for their skill level.


NENSA’s mission is to provide excitement to our broader cross country skiing community and continue the momentum of NENSA’s Rollerski Programming. We look forward to unveiling our new fleet of Swenor skis in mid – May and a 2021 Rollerski Race Series in June!  

Recruit friends to join you – use #25KinMay for motivation to get rolling! Let’s see if we can top the 13,126 kilometers we skied together in 2020!!
Entries can be submitted at any point between May 1st and May 31st. NENSA will display and showcase activities throughout the challenge — videos and pictures are encouraged with each event submission as well as tagging @nensa_nordic and #25KinMay on your own socials. Skiers can enter multiple times – and we’ll have an Ironman and Ironwoman award for those special endurance types!

Again there is no cost for #25KinMay
but we are encouraging membership by continuing the promotion we started last year
ALL NENSA MEMBERSHIPS
(BKL, junior, adult & coach) 
in May are $25 ! ! ! 
As an added bonus each entry will receive one raffle ticket (two tickets if you have renewed your 2021-22 NENSA membership) towards a growing prize pool. Membership renewal HERE.

Our 2021 categories will be:
  • Rockstar: For folks who want to ski the full 25km in one go. Participants will be listed by pace per K.
  • Speedy Repeater: For someone who wants to break up 25km into more manageable pieces. We’ll track your K’s through the month.
  • My Own Pace or “Let’s Walk”: This is the touring class or for folks who might not be comfortable on rollerskis and want to ski walk (or bike).
  • BKL: rollerski (ski walk or bike) 10k in May whether in one go or split up into multiple segments
  • Keep Up With Beckwith: This category is geared towards masters skiers to keep pace with our Competitive Program Director as he challenges himself to 250km of skiing throughout the month


Be creative and share your story – the training season has begun – Let’s Have Fun!!
#25KinMay
Questions: staff@nensa.net
THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA SUPPORTING SPONSORS:
Congrats to our April Fund Drive
Lucky Raffle Winners!!

Sam Damon - Rossignol Ski Bag 2/3 pair
Linda Dell - 1-night stay at the Trapp Family Lodge
David and Cindy Glueck - Rossignol Hero boot bag/pack
Linda Haines - LL Bean insulated 1 liter canteen
Phil Lawson - LL Bean NENSA logo'd large Boat and Tote
Sandra and Matthew Meyerson - 1-night stay at the Trapp Family Lodge
Mike Tarakanov - LL Bean NENSA logo'd large Boat and Tote
Jonathan Chaffee - set of two Allagash stainless Kleen Kanteen pint glasses

Watch your mail for your prizes arriving from NENSA shortly!
Hall Mark of Excellence clubs put their winnings to great uses!
1st Place Club Craftsbury Nordic:
"Craftsbury is thrilled to have won the Hall Mark of Excellence Award as a club! It was an exciting battle that required participation on all levels and even coaxed the coaches out of retirement, all in the name of team glory. One of our main goals here in Craftsbury is to make skiing as accessible as possible, and we plan to use the prize money to continue that endeavor: half of it will go to the Kathy Wright Memorial Scholarship Fund here at the Outdoor Center, while the other half will go to the NENSA Athlete Fund and therefore be available to athletes across New England. Big thanks to the Halls and NENSA for sponsoring and coordinating this challenge!"

2nd Place Club Mansfield Nordic:
"MNC is honored to receive this award, and proud of our racers of all ages and abilities who took to the start line this winter. 
In a more normal winter our club hosts several races, with proceeds directly benefiting our scholarship fund. With this generous gift from Kathy and Marty Hall, we will be able to compensate for a lack of events due to COVID-19 with the ability to continue funding scholarships for athlete support. 
Our gratitude also extends to NENSA, whose commitment to safe racing in the 2021/2021 season helped keep our sport thriving and growing despite the odds stacked against it."

3rd Place Club Ford Sayre:
"Ford Sayre is so grateful for the generous donation from Kathy and Marty Hall! We plan to use the $1000 to update and maintain our rental rollerski fleet that we use for BKL and high school summer programming (~30+ pairs!). And we should have plenty left-over to start our junior team race ski fleet. This will allow us to fill in equipment gaps as skiers move through their growth spurts and alleviate some of the financial burden as skiers build their ski collection over the years!"
From our NENSA Partners:
April 30th
Cross Country Team Posts Historic Season:
understatement! This past season, the team racked up two World Cup overall titles; the first American FIS Tour de Ski overall victory, five World Cup victories, and 14 World Cup podiums. ...READ MORE / WATCH SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
2021-22 DAVIS U.S. CROSS COUNTRY TEAM NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED 
PARK CITY, Utah (May 5, 2021) – U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced the Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team nominations for the 2021-22 Olympic season. Nominations include those active athletes who qualified based on published selection criteria in the prior season.

The 2021-22 team is highlighted by an experienced group of World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic athletes, including Olympic gold medalist and 2021 FIS Overall Champion Jessie Diggins; two-time World Cup winner Rosie Brennan; and 2020 FIS Junior World Championship double-gold medalist Gus Schumacher.

Schumacher, who just two years ago was a member of the Development Team, moved from the B Team up to the A Team following a break-out season that included more than a dozen top-30 World Cup results. JC Schoonmaker, who was on the Development Team last season, also joins Schumacher on the A Team this season after posting numerous top 30 World Cup results. Diggins, Brennan, and Hailey Swirbul, who picked up her first career World Cup podium last season, were also nominated to the A Team.

B Team nominations include Julia Kern, Katharine Ogden, Kevin Bolger, Scott Patterson, Logan Hanneman, and Sydney Palmer-Leger, who moves up from the Development Team.
The 2021-22 team features 10 Development Team athletes, including numerous members with junior and U23 World Championships medals to their credit. Zanden McMullen joins the Development Team this season following his results at the 2021 Junior World Championships, including a fifth-place result in the 10 km skate. Also returning to the Development Team are Sophia Laukli, who competed in her first World Cup races, and the 2021 World Championships this past season; and Hannan Halvorsen, who also competed in her first World Cup races - scoring World Cup points in the freestyle sprint events.

Athletes nominated to the team will all be invited to the first training camp of the season May 15-28 at Mt. Bachelor / Bend, Oregon. Team training camps will follow July 25 through Aug. 7 on Eagle Glacier in Alaska; and October 4-18 in Park City, Utah. The 2021-22 FIS Cross Country World Cup season kicks off Nov. 26-29 in Ruka, Finland. The 2022 Olympic Winter Games are scheduled for Feb. 4-20 in Beijing.

Each athlete accepting the nomination to U.S. Ski Team receives world-class program support, along with access to the USANA Center of Excellence, as well as athletic benefits including elite coaching, sport science, sports medicine, and high performance staff, and education opportunities.

An official Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team announcement will be made in the fall.
2021-22 Cross Country Nominations
(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 Ski Team 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; Middlebury College; 6/8/00)
Men
  • Johnny Hagenbuch (Ketchum, Idaho; Sun Valley Gold Team; 10/1/2001)
  • Luke Jager (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center/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 Ski Center/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) 
May VOICE in Sport Sessions:

5/16: Making the most of every training session
5/23: Different pathways to keep skiing through high school, college, and beyond

Voice is Sport is a platform that provides mentoring for females ages 13-23. There are collegiate and professional athletes from all sports on the platform providing mentorship sessions in addition to some field experts that have more education based sessions on various topics. Athletes need to become members to sign up for a session, but once a member, they have access to all sessions. I will be doing 2-4 sessions a month on a wide range of topics. 1 on 1 sessions are also available and athletes can write us directly through the platform if they have specific questions. 

Rosie Brennan
2018 OLYMPIAN and US SKI TEAM ATHLETE
Tel: 435-962-0144
THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA OFFICIAL SUPPLIERS:
Upcoming Events
A Look Ahead at the NENSA Calendar
Upcoming NENSA Events:
Summer CAMPS are starting to schedule dates ~ here is what we have so far!
May 23: NENSA Spring Board Meeting
August 9-12: SMS BLK Camp
August 12-15: SMS Junior Camp
August 12-15: NH Dublin Devo Camp

Full NENSA.net Calendar Listing HERE

Link to our NENSA Virtual Resources Page HERE
Link to our NENSA BLM Resources Page HERE
Link to our NENSA Equality & Diversity Policy HERE
If you already shop Amazon ~ please link to Amazon Smile
with NENSA as your beneficiary!
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!!