FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fall Coaches Meeting and Education Opportunity

Hello Coaches:

It's that time of year to begin thinking about the upcoming Nordic season and our Fall meeting. This year our meeting will take place on Saturday October 25th at the usually place (Mora Nordic Center) in Mora. As usual, we will have vendors available to show their wares from 9:00--9:30 AM with our main meeting running from 9:30 until everyone gets hungry for lunch (12:00-12:30 depending on how things go).

There are a number of issues that I'd like to place on the agenda the most important of which is having a discussion about the state meet and how we can most effectively integrate 40 additional girls and 40 additional boys in to our competition in a manner that still allows the meet to run smoothly. There are, of course a number of additional things I'd like to see on the agenda (report on the state of college skiing discussions; integration of skiers with disabilities in to our competitions, etc.) but I'll first wait to see what everyone else wants to discuss so we can finish on time. If you have items that you would like to place on the agenda, please e-mail them to me by October 11th.

One of the activities that I believe should be an important aspect of our fall meeting is coaches education. Right now, we have a number of head coaches (n = approx. 40) who have gone through the USSA Level-100 Coaches Certification program. I'd like to see that number grow with additional head coaches and more assistant coaches receiving this training.

Fortunately, Yuriy Gusev and the people at CXC have the same goal. If there are a sufficient number of interested coaches, they will be willing to conduct a compressed Level-100 certification training during the afternoon immediately following the conclusion of our meeting and lunch. All aspects of the training would be included in order to receive Level-100 certification EXCEPT the CPR training that most of us can receive at little or no cost through of school districts. Coaches completing the training and an eligible CPR class offered by their school would meet all certification requirements. The cost of taking part in this session would be $200, but I believe that for new coaches as well as old ones the benefits of getting USSA licensure far outweigh the costs. I have already talked to my district and they are willing to kick in for some of my assistants to receive this training. I suspect other districts would be willing to do the same.

If you are interested in taking part in the CXC training, please e-mail me directly at [email protected] by September 30th to indicate your intention to participate and provide your contact information. Use the subject line - CXC Training. Once we have a sufficient number of coaches signed-up I will forward this information to CXC and they will contact you with additional details. Once again, I think this is a relatively painless way to get some great ideas about training, technique, drills etc. in a very cost-effective manner that goes far beyond the general coaching education we receive through the MSHSL. I hope those of you who are head coaches can also use this opportunity as a carrot to convince more of your assistant coaching staff to attend our meeting.

For those of you who already have Level -100 certification, CXC will be conducting a Coaches Conference with Level - 200 Certification training, as well as a specific hands-on session for Adaptive coaching on October 17th-19th at the Lakewoods Resort in Cable, WI. Coaches will be able to complete full Level-100 or 200 certification during the weekend.

I look forward to seeing everyone again, in late October at Mora.

Brian Abery