| Alex Harvey and Louis Bouchard Reach out to Newfoundland and Labrador |
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Despite the rain, drizzle and fog which surrounded the west coast of Newfoundland, members of the Newfoundland & Labrador Ski Team's spirits were booming!
CCC's Community Outreach Ski Program sent three-time World Junior medallist, Alex Harvey and Quebec NTDC Coach, Louis Bouchard to Canada's East coast to attend a dryland training camp. The team used their new training tips when they headed to Menihek Nordic Ski Club in Labrador City for their annual snow camp at the end of November.
"This is a fine example of Cross Country Canada reaching out to Divisions across the country, and helping to further develop and enhance the training opportunities for aspiring young athletes and coaches," said Lee Churchill, head coach, Newfoundland/Labrador. "Alex and Louis' attendance this past weekend was inspirational to both the athletes and coaches. It gave our young athletes a true perspective of what it takes to be a high-performance athlete. I believe we'll see dividends at future national championships and at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax as a result of these programs."
During the camp, athletes worked on elements of dryland training, roller skied, reviewed technique through video analysis and participated in ski stride intervals.
"The camp this past weekend was a great experience for both Alex and I," said Bouchard. "We were delighted to witness such enthusiasm and team spirit demonstrated by these young athletes. Lee's group showed a very good technical level and a strong determination to the sport."
 Louis provides a helping hand during training |
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Did You Know...
Before rejoining the national program in 2005, Stefan Kuhn took six years off from competitive ski racing to travel the world with his wife Erin and take a full-time job as a Chef.
Stefan enjoyed his best World Cup result ever in November where he was 15th in the classic sprint race in Kuusamo, Finland. |
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Coaches Corner with Dave Wood 
At this time of year, I will assume most are starting to have snow and can ski regularly. The most important early-season focus should be on technique. Even the best skiers must get reacquainted with skiing in the fall.
Key things to work on include: balance, timing, and weight shift; skiing without poles, especially in classic technique; and staying relaxed and trying to glide without high effort.
Remember to concentrate on body position. And good technique comes from thinking about it, understanding it and making yourself do it!
Enjoy the season! |
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CCC E-Store Product of the Month:
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Help us celebrate this past year by purchasing the 2009 Project Podium Calendar for your fundraising efforts or home.The inclusion of a free pullout poster featuring the 2009 National Ski Team and Para-Nordic Ski Team and the 2008-09 National race calendar makes the calendar a must have for all ski enthusiasts.
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Quote of the Month 
"I am a big fan of human-propelled travel in the winter. There are so many options, whether it be track skiing at the Nordic Centre or ice skating on Vermillion Lake. In the spring, I love backcountry ski touring. Growing up at Assiniboine instilled the love of powder. The backcountry is very accessible from Canmore and it's important to make sure the challenge is comparable to the experience level."
.... Sara Renner, Olympic Silver Medallist
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Cross Connections December 2008
Co-editors: Chris Dornan, Cathy Sturgeon and Ashley Wright |
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Dear Cross Connections Subscriber,
I hope you enjoy our new look to Cross Connections. It will be a work in progress for the next few issues so don't hesitate to offer ideas that will make it work better for you.
Thank you,
Ashley Wright
Assistant Administrator
Cross Country Canada
info@cccski.com |
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Colette Bourgonje Simplifies Life to Focus on Gold 
Colette Bourgonje is the consummate professional: fiercely dedicated to training, a performer on race day and a community leader off the snow.
The thriving Alberta mountain town of Canmore, home to the National Ski Team, will now benefit from having the energy and spirit of the five-time Paralympian over the next 15 months. Bourgonje recently made the move to Canmore to fully prepare for the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver-Whistler.
"When I decided to continue competing until 2010, I committed to myself that I am going to give everything I've got into this journey," said the four-time Paralympic medallist who hails from Saskatoon. "In order to do that I really believe I needed to be in the best training environment in the country, and that was Canmore."
Bourgonje has definitely simplified her life with the move.
"Living and training in Saskatoon worked for many years and I'll always return home, but for me I needed to have access to everything right at my doorstep," said Bourgonje. "I am living at Spray Village minutes from the Nordic Centre, I have the best roller skiing out my front door in the proper altitude, and the best facilities in the country are minutes away."
The 46-year-old school teacher at Fairhaven Elementary School in Saskatoon also took a two-year leave from her day job to take the critical steps needed to win a gold medal for her country.
"I really feel more relaxed now having everything at my fingertips and being able to just train, and not balance so many different things in my day," said Bourgonje. "But I do feel I have more time now, and have already started looking into volunteer opportunities in the community because I feel it is important to get away from skiing sometimes."
Outside of skiing, Bourgonje has a passion of working with animals, and has committed many hours of her day working with the SPCA in Saskatoon. She plans to do the same in her new community.
"I started doing this a long time ago and it actually ended in me bringing home a training partner that I have had for the last 16 years," said Bourgonje of her dog Briscoe, a 16 year old terrier who she unfortunately had to put down because of old age.
Training independently most of the time, it was Briscoe that put Bourgonje through the paces to prepare her for the World Cup circuit.
"We put on a lot of miles together on the trails so it was sad to see her go, but it was time. I look forward to having an impact at the SPCA in Canmore now."
Bourgonje is no stranger to knowing what it takes to overcome adversity, and get to the top of the podium.
As an able-bodied athlete, Colette reached the national level in cross-country running. After her car accident in 1980, her goals focused on wheelchair racing and then cross-country skiing. Her first exposure to cross-country sit skiing was in 1991, when fellow disabled athlete, Joe Harrison, encouraged her to try a sit-ski brought over from Europe. This has led her to numerous national championships, three world championships and five Paralympic Winter Games dating back to Albertville.
Focused on making her way back to the podium in 2010, Bourgonje will not get ahead of herself and take a balanced approach.
'I really need to concentrate on what I can only control today and not worry about the end right now," she said on the phone while preparing for the Haywood NorAm races in Sovereign Lake, B.C. earlier this month where she finished on top in the sit-ski division. "You can't miss the steps in the middle of the journey or you'll never reach your end goal."
And now she doesn't even have grading report cards to get in the way of the finish line.
We wish Colette a succesful season and trust she will achieve her goals through continued hard work. |
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Guaranteed Whale of a Ski Outing in Newfoundland
 Whaleback Nordic is not the largest club in the country. It isn't the most competitive and the trails are not the most difficult. But it likely is one of the most enjoyable.
"We like to think of ourselves as Canada's Club," said Graham Oliver, membership chair and trials committee member. "We put strong emphasis on the social aspect of skiing and are very proud of the friendliness of our club."
Originally an all-encompassing ski club including alpine and cross-country skiing, located minutes from Stephenville, Nfld., Whaleback Nordic embarked on its humble beginnings in 1968. In the late 1970's the club was dedicated totally to Nordic skiing.
Now, almost four decades old, Whaleback's 325 club members are guaranteed to have an enjoyable ski outing on its more than 23-kilometres of groomed trails with gently ascending hills.
"Our club offers such a wide variety of skiing for all levels from jackrabbits to back-country tours," said Oliver after recently walking the trails with an excavator while preparing for an early season snowfall. "We generally have some of the best snow in Canada thanks to the Gulf and just a friendly group of people who enjoy the outdoors, and that is what we are most proud of."
In true Nordic fashion, the friendly folks at Whaleback Nordic are also taking part in Cross Country Canada's newly-created Sea-to-Sea-to-Sea program in an effort to spread the Olympic spirit across the country. With the program starting last year, in partnership with Canadian Pacific, teams young and old formed within a club will collectively log the kilometers skied on their club/regional trails over three seasons until 2010. Along the journey are lots of exciting awards and incentives to keep the kilometers rolling.
"We have been quite involved in this event, but maybe not in a competitive way like many clubs," said Oliver. "We are encouraging all of our members to take part in it and we've created about eight to 10 teams now with skiers young and old participating."
It won't just be members of Whaleback watching their Sea-to-Sea-to-Sea participants clocking the kilometers to Vancouver-Whistler.
Whaleback Nordic also opens its doors for free skiing to any skier of a club in the province.
"We are a welcoming matt to all skiers and proud of the friendliness we offer here," said Oliver.
And who can ask for anything more in a day of skiing.
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Oustanding Growth in Para-Nordic Skiing at Nordic Racers Ski Club 
Nordic Racers Ski Club is giving Vancouverites with a disability a unique opportunity to get involved in Para-Nordic sport at the grassroots level.
The Vancouver-based club created a Para-Nordic program for skiers with a disability in 2007.
"While I would love to take credit for the vision, the reality is it fell on our lap," said Tony Chin, Para-Nordic club coach.
Chin quickly got involved in the starting up of a Para-Nordic program when he was approached by two Vancouver-based athletes inquiring about such an initiative.
Like any proposed business development, money was key.
"After researching, we realized that equipment for Para-Nordic athletes was very expensive and we had to have it readily available to reach out to people and give them the opportunity to try it," said Chin. "We also knew there was grant funding but needed a club and program in place to apply for them."
The pieces were quickly assembled and grants were applied for and received from Cross Country Canada and the Canadian Paralympic Committee. As a result, equipment was purchased and the nation's first Para-Nordic program at the Club level was implemented.
During its pilot year, Nordic Racers Ski Club reached out to the community with a Learn-to-Ski Club that attracted 18 aspiring athletes who came to try the sport.
"We were completely overwhelmed at that response," said Chin. "This is not like running a Jackrabbit program where you rely on parents to bring the kids. It is very unique so you really need to reach out and provide opportunities for disabled athletes to try it."
With a trail of volunteers who assist with driving skiers to-and-from the ski area, Nordic Racers Ski Club has reached out and now have six athletes on their high-performance race team, which also has three guides for blind skiers and two extremely committed coaches.
The goal for the second year of the program is to create a feeder development team that will help to continue to strengthen the level of racing.
Not to mention, encourage the rest of Canada's clubs to follow its lead. |
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Club Volunteer of the Month: Richard Lay from Eden Mills Jackrabbit Club 
Richard Lay is an incredible volunteer for Nordic skiing in Ontario. A competitive skier in the past, he started the Eden Mills Jackrabbit Ski Club 15 years ago. That effort involved getting the community on side to make trails in overgrown bush land, welding together grooming equipment, getting parents up to speed on basic coaching, and helping many kids to acquire ski equipment. For many years, Richard coached kids and adults, and led coaching workshops, but he also remained the driving force behind making and maintaining ski trails. Over the past 15 years, the Eden Mills Jackrabbit Ski Club has been displaced many times from former trails to yield to "development" and golf courses, necessitating recurrent fall efforts to make new trails from scratch on land owned by supportive community members. Richard, tirelessly, annually wields chain saw, shovel, pick axe and any other equipment required to make new trails, aided by a faithful but small core of other volunteers. The result is a challenging course for the Guelph Gryphon Nordic Ski team (for whom Richard is the coach), but also sheltered sections suitable for young bunnies. The effort given by volunteers such as Richard Lay is outstanding, and comprises a big patch of the grassroots support for Nordic skiing in Ontario. |
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Heroes of Tomorrow: Heading North with Emily Nishikawa
Name: Emily Keira Nishikawa
Hometown: Whitehorse, Yukon
Family: Mom- Joan. Dad- Bob. Brothers- Graham and Marty, Dog- Boz
Age: 19
Years on National Junior Team: 1
Club Affiliated With: Whitehorse Cross-Country Ski Club
Best Result? Winning the Junior Women's Sprint at 2008 Nationals
Career Goals? Win a medal at the World Cup/Olympics
How did you balance high school academics with athletics? Pretty well. I had understanding teachers for the most part, and it was really nice to have teammates that were also my classmates on trips... made doing homework easier!
School Average? 85%
What is a typical training day? Wake up, eat breakfast, hop into the van for a nap/ride to Callaghan Valley, workout, get back into the van for another snooze back to Squamish, get home, eat lunch, take a real nap, then I'll head out for a second workout usually to the gym.
When Not Skiing I am likely? Napping or Eating
Favourite Vacation Spot? Hawaii
Favourite Athlete? Charlotte Kalla
I'd rather go to a movie or Read a book? Go to a movie
Favourite book? The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
Favourite Movie? Crash
Favourite Olympic/Paralympic Moment? Nadia Comaneci' s perfect 10. I know it was before my time, but still it's very inspiring.
Inspiration? Our only limits are the ones we place on ourselves
Favourite Colour? Red
Cats or Dogs? Dogs, for sure
Before a race, I will listen to what song? Usually some kind of gangster rap with a good beat
Favourite musician? Ben Harper
Biggest accomplishment in life or sport? Racing in the World Cup, but I hope there are more big accomplishments to come! | |
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A reminder that the Athlete Forum is now open. Please click here to register or login.
Thank you,
Ashley Wright
Cross Country Canada |
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