KickZone eNewsletter ~ January 21, 2021 Edition

Greetings Everyone ~

Participation is a key ingredient to how our current top three clubs who are all duking it out for the top prizes for this years A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. Currently, Craftsbury, Ford Sayre and Eastern Mass Nordic (EMN) are in the top spots, with SMS, Quarry Road, and MNC nipping at the heals. This week, I asked what this monitory award would mean to the Ford Sayre club, if they were to win the $5000, $3000 or $1000 top prize. Their Executive Director, Hilary McNamee said this ~ "This year, with so many new skiers, used equipment hard to come by and families on tight budgets, we've become more aware of equipment accessibility as a real challenge for our families. This summer, we were able to respond to a surge in interest in our 7th/8th summer programming by investing in 15 pairs of junior rollerskis and were able to use them again in late-fall BKL practices as we waited for snow! Longer term, have dreams of owning a few small fleets of skis: high-quality race boards for our JNT (high school) skiers to share on important race days, in-house rentals for growing kids and/or for community outreach, and skin skis so we can have more BKL classic practices as snow conditions become increasingly unwieldy!" It is easy to see why our clubs and schools are so enthusiastic about this season's A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, and how it would help them improve their junior ski and racing programs!

Here's what we have in store for you in this week's KickZone below ~

Recap and an awesome VIDEO from the Craftsbury VT Rodrigues Cup held Saturday 1/16, as well as some very important RACING UPDATES as of 1/21/21 for Popular/Citizen Racing options and Eastern Cup/VT Cups
U23, Junior World Cross Country Championship Teams announced ~ including 9 New England athletes!
More wonderful BKL Youth BINGO photos ~ our BKL youth are having a lot of fun on the trails!
From our Partners: From Salomon ~ their new SMAX eSKIN SKI (RECYCLED CORE!) ski is here! From TOKO, interviews with Alison Owens Bradley and David Norris. From Share Winter Foundation, athlete blogs with Julia Kern and Jessie Diggins. And Rosie Brennan is hosting another virtual Voice in Sport (VIS) series this Friday.

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, even in these very difficult times. I want to be sure we all acknowledge the businesses who support us and our beloved sport!

Be safe and be well!

Best,

Amie

Amie W. Smith

Executive Director

New England Nordic Ski Association

Amie@nensa.net

www.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

NENSA's first VT Cup ~ Craftsbury's Rodrigues Cup a huge success ~ and lots of important RACING UPDATES

We continue to forge ahead into a winter of change. Many regions have created local solutions to reduced travel and number of competitive events able to be held. We remain strong and committed to keeping our community as safe as possible during a pandemic. We also realize that this comes with understandable frustration, especially for many of our junior athletes. Please read on for the latest updates of whats happening and where we are headed.

It’s also a great time for all to review our New England Cross Country promise and be fully familiar with the resources on our Covid Considerations page. The pandemic is playing out with tremendous force – perhaps stronger than many of us could fathom – and the only way to get back to normal is strict adherence to these guidelines.

The Rodrigues Cup RECAP:

The Craftsbury Outdoor Center was able to host a Vermont Cup for 124 athletes last weekend. The first U.S. Ski & Snowboard sanctioned event in Vermont for the season was further testament to the protocols and participant adherence to NENSA and state guidelines. Bullitt Timing is proving to be an invaluable resource to our community – allowing for touchless timing and precise data management. Competitors were separated throughout the day in 25 (or less) person cohorts keeping distance between individual groups, and embodied the states motto of, “arrive-race-leave.” These protocols will be practices in any Eastern or Vermont Cups we are able to host this winter.

NENSA continues to provide livestream video at events and professional recap videos as we currently have a strict “no spectator” policy at our events.

Full results.

Current Junior Ranking List

Eastern Cup and FIS Racing:

NENSA and the Gunstock Nordic Association have made the difficult decision to cancel the Eastern Cup weekend slated for February 6th & 7th — the joint decision highlights the priority of keeping our communities safe. The remainder of the schedule is currently moving forward as planned. We ask for your continued patience and understanding as we work to provide the highest quality races. There have been many questions about “Bibs & Chips” — these will continue to be sent to larger clubs, or picked up at venues in a sealed bag at the first event an athlete is able to attend. Please note there are no spectators at any of these events and coaches, volunteers and officials all must complete registrations, pre and day-of health screens. Registration pages will open much closer to the events than normal and all will close at 5pm on the Wednesday before the event.

The latest Vermont and Eastern Cup details are posted here.

Craftsbury has calendared a FIS race, The 2021 Kendall Cup, on January 30th. The event will boast generous prize money made possible by Kathy and Marty Hall and also have master racing opportunities. That race will also be scored to the Zak and Club Cup Series which has season-long prize money of $5000, $3000 and $1000 as a part of the A Hall Mark of Excellence.

Current rankings here.

Popular Racing:

Citizen racing has been greatly reduced by the pandemic and associated state guidelines. However through Virtual Challenges and in-person events our skiers have already logged 63,794.85 kilometers – that’s 1.5 times around the earth, and it’s only January!

Upcoming events include a self-recorded version of the Freeman Frost White Mountain Challenge, beginning on the 23rd and running for nine days. The above mentioned Kendall Cup allows for a racing opportunity for Vermont based masters on January 30th — and the winter long Virtual Craftsbury Marathon is open to all. Gunstock has moved its Zak Cup event to February 7th – allowing an in-person race event for many New England athletes. The student led Race for Snow also provides a race experience for all and has a wonderful environmental mission.

Full and updating Zak and Club Cup calendar.

Enjoy the Snow – Stay Safe. We hope to see you out there!

THANK YOU TO OUR ASSOCIATE SPONSORS

L.L.Bean and SWIX!

U23, Junior World Cross Country Championship Teams Announced

(including 9 New England athletes!)

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has named deep and experienced teams to represent the United States at the 2021 U23 and Junior FIS Cross Country World Championships Feb. 8-14 in Vuokatti, Finland.

Last year U.S. athletes earned 10 World Championships medals, including the Junior men who successfully defended their team relay gold medal, while the Junior women won the team relay silver medal. Three members of the men’s team move up to the U23 ranks, including Schumacher, Ben Ogden, and Luke Jager. The fourth member, Johnny Hagenbuch, will compete as a junior for the final time this season. Sophia Laukli, a member of the junior women’s relay team moves up the U23 ranks this year, while Kendall Kramer, Sydney Palmer-Leger, and Novie McCabe will all compete as juniors this season - all of whom are considered medal contenders.

“The current strength and depth of our ski nation are represented in this team of athletes,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Cross Country Development Coach Kate Barton. “I am most excited to see an experienced group of U23 athletes leading this team into a championship event, supported by an equally strong, determined, and capable group of junior athletes.”

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has presented some challenges in selecting this year’s teams. In September, the cross country community decided to cancel all national-level competitions in favor of a more regionally focused competition calendar. This decision allowed athletes the individual choice to travel, or not, based on individual circumstances. Thus, U.S. Ski & Snowboard maintained the written objective selection criteria such as top 30 World Cup, and sub-50 FIS performances for men and sub-60 FIS performances for women. For the remaining nominations, U.S. Ski & Snowboard committed to a discretion-based system where both historical and current seasonal performances through January 3, 2021, would be included in the selection evaluation.

The following athletes have been selected to represent the United State at the upcoming FIS U23 and Junior World Nordic Championships.

U23 World Championship Team

Women:

Hailey Swirbul (APU Nordic Ski Center/El Jebel, Colo.)

Sophia Laukli (Middlebury College/Yarmouth, Maine)

Alex Lawson (Middlebury College/West Burke, Vt.)

Hannah Halvorsen (APU/Anchorage, Alaska)

Renea Anderson (Loppet Nordic Racing/Golden Valley, Minn.)

Alternate 1: Leah Lange (University of Utah/Park City, Utah)

Alternate 2 Annika Landis (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, Hailey, Idaho)

Men:

JC Schoonmaker (Auburn Ski Club/Tahoe City, Calif.)

Gus Schumacher (Alaska Winter Stars/Anchorage, Alaska)

Hunter Wonders (APU Nordic Ski Center/Anchorage, Alaska)

Benjamin Ogden (University of Vermont/Landgrove, Vt.)

Luke Jager (University of Utah/Anchorage, Alaska)

Alternate 1: Peter Wolter (Middlebury College/Hailey, Idaho)

Alternate 2: Kai Meyers APU Nordic Ski Center/Anchorage, Alaska)

Junior World Championship Team

Women:

Novie McCabe (University of Utah/Winthrop, Wash.)

Sydney Palmer-Leger (University of Utah/Park City, Utah)

Kendall Kramer (University of Alaska Fairbanks/Fairbanks, Alaska)

Ava Thurston (Mansfield Nordic/Waterbury, Vt.)

Nina Seemann (Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club/Craftsbury, Vt.)

Haley Brewster (Ski and Snowboard Club Vail/Avon, Colo.)

Alternate 1: Waverly Gebhardt (University of Vermont/Steamboat Springs, Colo.)

Alternate 2: Garvie Tobin (Dartmouth College/Anchorage, Alaska)

Men:

Johnny Hagenbuch (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation/Ketchum, Idaho)

Zanden McMullen (Montana State University/Anchorage, Alaska)

Will Koch (University of Colorado/Peru, Vt.)

Wally Magill (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club/Steamboat Springs, Colo.)

Finn Sweet (Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club/Waterbury, Vt.)

Michael Earnhart (APU Nordic Ski Center/Eagle River, Alaska)

Alternate 1: Brian Bushey (Green Mountain Valley School/Waitsfield, Vt.)

Alternate 2: Walker Hall (Methow Valley Nordic Ski Educations Foundation/Winthrop, Wash.)

ALSO: Check out this FasterSkier article on the team with some great photos!

THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS:

BKL XC Ski Bingo Photos!

We keep LOVING the activity photos we’ve received so far but are no longer requiring them on the Bingo Entry Form. Do include them if you have photos and want to share. Otherwise, no worries!

We’ll have raffles all winter long (another 8 LL Bean USST hats mailed out this week!) so there’s plenty of time to play and send in a card! Visit our website to print your own MA, ME, NH, NY, or VT Bingo card!

THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA SUPPORTING SPONSORS:

NENSA COVID-19 Considerations ~

Contingency Planning

for our Events and Races

this coming season

The Covid-19 pandemic poses significant challenges to NENSA’s 2020-21 winter event schedule. We are committed to hosting races and will make every effort to safely put on events in whatever form they might take. Our first objective is to ensure the health of our community in New England. Our second objective is to host our major events: Eastern Cups, Popular Races, U16 and Eastern High School Championships, the Bill Koch Festival, and Women’s Day as scheduled. To further foster excitement and an inclusive and community-centric atmosphere around skiing, NENSA will also be organizing some new fun season long challenges and goal-oriented activities. Skiers are encouraged to limit their travel and attend events that are within their region and state.

....click HERE for the current NENSA plans for Eastern Cups, Popular/Citizen Racing, U16 & EHS Camps, BKL Festival and Women's Day

Venues, event hosts and event organizers, BKL Club Leaders check out:

NENSA COVID-19 XC Ski Event Host Guide

BKL COVID-19 Best Practices Guide

No-Contact Game recommendations

From our NENSA Partners:

SALOMON UNVEILS THE NEW S/MAX ESKIN SKI

+ PROLINK SHIFT-IN BINDING

New nordic pack for classic practice. It will be available at retailers in early January 2021.

The S/MAX franchise is built to address one of the largest Nordic skiing consumer groups, the race-inspired skiers. For them, performance is a basic necessity. They need a product that enables them to progress. They are attracted to grab-and-go, easy-to-use solutions. They want to focus their time on doing their sports. Finally, as they become more sensitive to environmental issues, they are also searching for more sustainable products.

BUILD ON S/LAB CARBON CLASSIC MOLD

The S/MAX is built in the S/LAB CARBON CLASSIC mold our World Cup ski.

The thickness profile and sidecut are the same in order to maximize kick, glide and acceleration.

ESKIN TECHNOLOGY

With the eSKIN, you don’t need kick wax. It’s about waxless grip and silent glide.

PROLINK SHIFT-IN BINDING

With the SHIFT-IN binding, you can adjust the performance of your ski to the snow condition, the track profile or your physical shape of the day. And you can do all of these things while staying on your skis.

...read the full story HERE

U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team Athletes Help Share Winter Raise $10,000

For a More Inclusive

Winter Sports Community

By Team Share Winter, January 18, 2021

Based on athlete interviews by Whitney Gardner

It is easy to forget, while watching someone charge a gate, drop a cliff, or spin through the air, that even the most decorated Olympian has to take their first steps on snow. Before reaching a podium, or starring in an edit, or even grabbing their first on-mountain job, every skier and rider has to bundle up, step outside, and fall in love with winter.

For anyone learning to ski or ride for the first time, it is comforting to know that pros had to muster up the courage, face the cold, and sustain more than a few wipeouts. Just like us, they’ve put in the work to end the day with smiles so big that their faces can hardly contain the joy.

With this in mind, in an effort to welcome everyone to the joy of skiing and riding, U.S. Ski and Snowboard athletes partnered with Share Winter Foundation on Giving Tuesday 2020. They used their platforms to throwback for a cause, share winter, and highlight the winter sports community with the hashtag #everyonestartedsomewhere. The result was a flood of adorable photos, heartfelt messages, warm welcomes, and over $10,000 in donations for Share Winter....read full story HERE, (including great photos and stories from the athlete's platforms, including XC's Julia Kern and Jessie Diggins, and more!)

TOKO interviews with Alison Owen Bradley and David Norris

Rosie Brennan's Voice in Sport:

Voice in Sport (VIS) is a (free) membership platform that provides mentoring for females ages 13-22. 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, you will have access to all sessions.

Once you are accepted as members (it can take a bit because they do screen everyone) you will have access to a calendar that has all the available sessions and can sign up that way.

Rosie 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 her directly through the platform if they have specific questions.

Mark your calendars!