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In This Issue
Junior Athlete Profile: 10 Things You Don't Know About Collin Abbott
CCC E-Store Product of the Month
Cross Country Canada Invests In Club Coaches Through AltaGas Club Professional Coach Support Program
Bliz Active Eyewear Supplier to Canada's Nordic Skiers
Club Profile: Yellowknife Ski Club
Junior Athlete Profile:10
Things You
Don't Know
About Collin
Abbott
Colin Abbott-2 

 

 
 
 
Career Goals
Compete internationally
for Canada at the World
Championships,
World Cup
and/or Olympics.
Ski as
long as I can walk. Keep having fun
while skiing!
 
Career ambitions
outside of cross-countryskiing?
Postpone having a desk
job for as long as possible. Travel the world. Work
and live in the North,
or somewhere that
has snow for at least
six months of the year. Continue going on
adventures until I'm
old and grey!
 
When not training/competing
I am likely?
Working my way through
a degree in physical geography at Carleton University, Orienteering, Camping/hiking/fishing/
hunting/canoeing somewhere.
 
When finished with
my cross-country skiing career, I want to?
Stay involved in skiing by coaching junior athletes, volunteering
at ski events and
working to promote skiing in Canada.
 
Favourite Vacation Spot? The top of any mountain in the Yukon. Preferably on a sunny day.
 
Favourite Book? 
His Dark Materials
by Phillip Pullman,
anything by Terry Pratchett.
 
Favourite Movie? 
Fight Club
 
Favourite Olympic/
Paralympic Moment?
I would have to say
seeing Beckie Scott
win gold at the 2002
Games, and later
hear about the race
 first hand from my
coach, Alain Masson,
would be my favourite
memory. 
 
Before a race, I
will listen to what
song?
This depends on my
mood, and how
pumped up I am
already. Numb/
Encore by Jay-Z and
Linkin Park.
Monsters by
Matchbook Romance.
Run by Gnarls
Barkley.
 
My Olympic
hero is?
All the Yukoners
that have competed
at the Olympics...
Alain Masson,
Zach Bell, Jeanne
Lassen and Lucy
Steele to name
a few.
 
If I could rule the
world for a day I
would? 
Hmmm. Make it snow
more, bring free health
care and education
to everyone, pass
laws making sustainability
a priority in our society,
end the wars/genocides
of the world. While I'm
dreaming, I'd like a
couple of pairs of really,
really fast skis. And
a nine-foot long
Steinway Grand
Piano.

One thing people
don't know about
Collin Abbott?
In addition to competing
 for Canada on the Junior
National Ski Team, I
have raced for Canada
twice at the Junior
World Orienteering Championships.
CCC E-Store Product of the Month:   Retro National Ski Teams (NST) package  
 Retro NST package
 
 
 
 
 

The items in this package where based on the NST design. When you purchase the package you will be supporting our National Cross Country Ski Teams to Target the Podium in a stylish way. 

 

Click here to check Out the New CCC E-store

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Valued Partners and Sponsors

Funding Partners: 
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  • Jemini Foundation
  • National Cross Country
    Development Association

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Cross Connections
October 2009 
Co-editors: Chris Dornan, Cathy Sturgeon and Nadia Smith 
Dear Cross Connections Subscriber,
 
Enjoy the news! We welcome your feedback anytime.
We wish to remind you to please consider the environment before printing this email.
 
Thank you and happy reading!
Nadia Smith
Assistant Administrator
Cross Country Canada Invests In Club Coaches Through AltaGas Club Professional Coach Support Program
 George Grey & Alex Harvey-Whistler World Cup
Nearly 100 of the nation's top up and coming junior cross-country skiers, training at three targeted clubs across Canada, will benefit from increased coaching capacity and athlete development as their clubs are the 2009 recipients of grant funding from the AltaGas Club Professional Coach Progam, Cross Country Canada announced on October 23rd, 2009.
 
The Highlands Trailblazers in Duntroon, Ontario, along with Chelsea Nordiq and Club Nordique Mont Sainte-Anne in Quebec, were all selected to receive the AltaGas grants of between $8,000 and $12,000.
 
The AltaGas Club Professional Coach Progam was created in 2007 as part of AltaGas' multi-year commitment to support the growth of Canada's high-performance cross-country skier development program. The AltaGas program is aimed at improving the outlook for more full-time professional club coaching positions in order to increase Canadian clubs capacity to deliver quality competitive programs, year-round.
 
"We firmly believe that investing in the development of quality full time professional coaching positions across this country will produce long-term benefits to the success of our sport 
internationally well into the future," said Stéphane Barrette, assistant director of high performance-development, Cross Country Canada. "This unique program initiated by AltaGas provides exactly the type of support that the clubs need to create sustainable long term professional coaching positions which ultimately result in increased retention of coaches while escalating the chances of developing young athletes across the country into world-leading performers."
 
Clubs eligible for the annual grant were required to be registered within a division of Cross Country Canada, were committed to hiring a full-time head coach who is NCCP certified at the level 2 or introduction to coaching level, and were also required to offer year-round programs to a significant membership of junior age racers. Please click here for full article.
Bliz Active Eyewear Supplier to Canada's Nordic Skiers
Blizactive
Canada's top cross-country ski athletes will have a more clear focus on the finish line, and ultimately the international podium, thanks to a new partnership struck on Thursday between Bliz Active Eyewear and Cross Country Canada.
 
Bliz Active Eyewear, which is a leading supplier of eyewear to the world's elite Nordic athletes including Sweden's Emil Joensson, will join Cross Country Canada's pool of sponsors and provide specialized sports glasses and visors, which are used in different sport activities.
 
"Bliz  Active glasses are among the best in the industry for cross-country skiing," said Sara Renner, who is a 10-year veteran of the national squad and 2006 Olympic silver medallist. "The fit is really comfortable, and I don't have to worry about them bouncing off my head when I'm double poling. The removable visor will be really useful when we are training and racing in heavy snow which is typical of the Callaghan Valley Olympic site,"
 
Distributed by Diamond Head Sports Inc. in Whistler, B.C., Bliz Active technical sports glasses are specially designed to feel safe and to lighten the practice of the enduring sport activities. Normal sunglasses are not designed to manage different kinds of pressure and do therefore not live up to the demands put on them. Bliz Active eyewear is tested in some of the most grueling conditions by world class athletes. 
 
After serving the European market for 25 years, Cross Country Canada will serve as Bliz Active Eyewear's first partner in North America.
 
"Working with Canada's best cross-country skiers presents a tremendous opportunity for us to introduce our product into North America," said Joze Sparovec, president, Diamond Head Sports Inc. "The feedback from athletes on the World Cup team has been very positive, and we look forward to helping these world-leading athletes gain a competitive advantage through better vision to the podium.

With Bliz Active Eyewear now added to the lineup of products supplied to the national team, the two organizations first connected three years ago when Diamond Head Sports Inc. introduced Halti outerwear to Cross Country Canada.
 
Bliz product will be available on line through the Cross Country Canada e-store https://store.cccski.com/shop.php?lan=0  in November, just in time for the exciting season ahead.  Information on Bliz Active Eyewear can be found on their web site at: http://www.blizeyewear.com/blizactive/t_eyewear/pursuit_xt.html    
 
Bliz Active joins a growing list of industry suppliers and retailers committed to the growth of cross-country skiing in Canada, and the team's preparation for the coming season.  The Canadian Team has just finished their final team training camp before the 2010 Olympic season.  The first wave of athletes depart for Europe in mid-November, while others will remain at home in preparation for the first Haywood NorAm race, scheduled for December 12 at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre in Vernon, B.C. The 10 & 15 km free technique race will double as a World Cup and Olympic qualifier.
Club Profile: Yellowknife Ski Club (credit: Rhonda Buckland)
Yellowknife Ski Club
 
The Yellowknife Ski Club was established in 1968.  Over the past 40 years, the Club has provided exceptional ski and biathlon instruction to children and adults, hosted quality events for fun and competition, and built and maintained a 14 kilometer trail system that offers challenges for all ski abilities, yet is easily accessible to the community.  Our season starts in November and continues through to April (and occasionally May!), when longer daylight and beautiful temperatures prevail.  Many dedicated volunteers have contributed to the success of our Club in the last 4 decades.
 
Easter weekend 2010 will be busy for our Club.  We are proud to be hosting a Fast & Female event with National Ski Team member and northerner Sarah Daitch as our ambassador. The following day will be our popular Northwestel Loppet, where participants can enjoy skiing up to 25 km of varied trails, great home-made refreshments and northern hospitality.  Please join us - April 2-4th, 2010!
  www.skiyellowknife.com
Cross Country Canada's Living History Project! (credit: Jean Bristow)
 CCC logo colour
We want to reconnect with as many people as possible who have been involved at one time or another with Cross Country Canada, going back as many years as possible.
 
Have you ever been a member of the National Ski Team?
 
Were you on the CCC Board of Directors at any time?
 
Were you the chair or a member of a national committee?
 
If the answer is yes to any of those questions, or if you know someone who could answer yes to those questions, please click here to register in CCC's alumni database. 
George Grey & Alex Harvey-Whistler World Cup
 

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