Interview: Bill Simpson

The nordic ski community will find it no surprise that this highly successful coach emphasized the accomplishments of the skiers he's coached over any recounting of his own honors. Bill retired from the Stillwater schools in June, but is still an active volunteer with the Pony Nordic team and the youth programs around the St. Croix area. Bill taught for twenty-nine years in Stillwater and had four years in St. Paul, along with some time at the U of M.

It's appropriate that this interview just precedes the high school Section meets, as Stillwater has been such a power in Section 2 and at the State for so many years.

• Skinnyski: You once told me that you were a "slow, small right winger in hockey." How did you get started in skiing?

  Simpson: There was a ski shop above the store in Marine in 1970. It must have been one of the first in the state. Norm Oakvik's basement was the import center for wood skis that Norm was importing from Norway at the time. It seemed like everyone in Marine skiied. I remember looking out my window and seeing people skiing down the main street in Marine. They needed a coach at the high school and people knew that I skiied, so I got the job.

• Skinnyski: Sports Illustrated once called the Stillwater program the most successful in the country. What led to that?

  Simpson: The girls won six straight State championships in the 80's, and most of those girls were from Marine. They went to Marine Elementary together and many are still friends and still skiing. Many of them came from skiing families.

• Skinnyski: I asked you years ago how much time you and the assistant coaches spent teaching technique, because it seemed that your racers all skiied alike. You said that very little time was spent on technique because the kids just seemed to learn from each other. As you look back, does that still hold true?

  Simpson: Yes. We do some but don't dwell on it. We don't analyze every move. There are about a half dozen things that seem to be basic and that transfer from classic to skating, so we emphasize those.

• Skinnyski: You always seemed to have the kids at winter camp at The Ridge out on the Gold and Silver nearly all day long, with almost no time spent in the stadium teaching fundamentals. When lunch time rolled around, the Stillwater kids would come out of the woods, eat and then go right back out till dark.

  Simpson: Those were long, cold days sometimes, but that's where they learn to ski--out on the tough courses.

• Skinnyski: Many of the Stillwater kids have gone on to ski in college at the national level. Many are still competing, and I know that many of them are or have coached. Any idea how many?

  Simpson: There were about 8-10 coaching in the state every year. Siiri Carver is down at Carleton-St. Olaf right now. They just seemed to love it.

• Skinnyski: Many coaches now want their kids to train for skiing year around, but I know you don't necessarily endorse that.

  Simpson: We really wanted multi-sports/activities. It's important not to narrow down too soon.

• Skinnyski: An academics were emphasized too.

  Simpson: The GPA's for some of these teams are phenomenal, six or seven kids deep. You can't make All-State Academic with one "B" on your transcript for high school.

• Skinnyski: The other coaches we've talked to have mentioned that girls seem to come out for Nordic more than boys. Was that true at Stillwater?

  Simpson: It started out pretty even in the early years, but it's true that the girls seem to outnumber the boys now. The MSHSL books show that there are almost a thousand more girls than boys competing in the state.

• Skinnyski: Speaking of numbers, how did you manage those huge squads you had?

  Simpson: We averaged about 120-150 kids a year for eight to ten years, but I didn't do that coaching alone. There have always been great volunteers with the program. This year there are a dozen volunteers along with a half-time assistant for 148 kids.

• Skinnyski: How did you keep them all going? When it comes to Conference, Section and State, they had to know that their chances of making the varsity were pretty slim.

  Simpson: It seems that just being on the team with their friends was enough for many of them. We emphasized attendance and participation a lot. After two seasons in good standing, they would letter. We had lots of letter winners each season.

• Skinnyski: I've asked the other coaches in this series about pressure from parents about their kids making varsity and so on. Did you run into much of that?

  Simpson: I really didn't. Maybe about five parents in twenty-five years.

• Skinnyski: Speaking of pressure, who succeeded you? Rol Ring-Jarvi was followed by one of his skiiers, Sheri Swedal. How about you?

  Simpson: Kris Hanson and Jason want to succeed and keep the traditions going, but I don't think they feel any undue pressure.

• Skinnyski: Part of the Ponies' tradition included some really close, tough races with Paul Virgin's good Central teams, John Strand's Roseville squads and later on with Duluth East under Dave Johnson.

  Simpson: They were tough, and we had some one-point wins and losses with Forest Lake under Kevin and Marta and the Mounds View teams too.

• Skinnyski: Any still stand out in your memory?

  Simpson: The most exciting high school race I ever saw was between us and Jefferson in the relay. The kids literally slid across the finish line together.

• Skinnyski: Now that you're retired from teaching, what's up? I know you are a canoer.

  Simpson: Canoes and kayaks too. We made a backpack trip to Baffin Island. (or may be going this summer--SS).

• Skinnyski: And you've canoed Hudson Bay too, I think.

  Simpson: Yes, along with trips on other rivers, Mountain hiking, trips to the Arctic and so on.

• Skinnyski: Any new adventures? Are you off for Soldier Hollow?

  Simpson: I am really excited about that. I'll be there for twenty four days working twenty ten hour days on the course crew, right out there in the middle of the action. Sounds like a lot of shoveling and fence repair, but we're right in the thick of it.

• Skinnyski: One final quesion: Any changes you'd like to see in high school racing?

  Simpson: Not right now. I do like the fact that we got back to classic skiing in the past several years.

• Skinnyski: Bill, good luck at the Olympics. Maybe we'll see you on TV at 2:00 some morning when they put Nordic on.

  Simpson: It's going to be a thrill to be out there.

Dennis (Denny) Nelson coached at Coon Rapids High School for 18 seasons before retiring. He's still very active in the ski community, volunteering at Champlin Park and area races, and can usually be found in the Fall working out with the WAM-XC group. Denny has graciously offered to do a series of interviews for us with some of the legends in high school nordic coaching.