Racing Program Committee Update July meeting 2009
In an attempt to improve communication with skiers and families the racing committee has decided to post a summary of its monthly meetings on the Nakkertok website. The purpose of this summary is to strive for more open communication between the committee and racing families. We hope that this will give you a sense of some of the issues being addressed and decisions being made by the racing committee.
The first order of business has to be to thank Cindy Lyon for all the hard work that she did over the last few years as our Racing Director. During Cindy’s time as Racing Director, the program grew exponentially and much of that is as a result of her vision and devotion to the racing program over the last few years. We also would like to thank Judi Agnew for accepting to be our interim Racing Director for the 2009-2010 race season. We all know how much Judi has already given to the Nakkertok racing program over the years, so for Judi to accept this interim role is extremely generous of her. The racing committee is equally excited and appreciative of Jen Tomlinson’s willingness to take on the Racing Director role starting in the spring of 2010. Jen has many years of experience in the racing and will be a huge asset to the racing program.
With the help of Cindy, a new structure for the racing committee has been implemented in an attempt to distribute some of the work more evenly. A summary of that structure along with the new roles and those who are filling them will be included in our next update.
Finally, below you will find the summary of our committee minutes. As mentioned earlier, we are trying to improve communication with skiers and families, so if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions for improvement, please to do not hesitate to contact Judi Agnew via email at
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.
NOTE: For athletes planning to attend Nationals 2010 please review #6 carefully.
Summary July 2009 meeting:
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1. NCD Training Camp (August 6 - 9th) for juveniles and juniors is being coordinated by Sabrina McTaggart and Mike. Information was sent out to all eligible skiers, which included other clubs across Ontario and Quebec.
2. Midget Training Camp (August 22nd) is being planned; two parents have offered to coordinate the camp. All midget skiers, including stage 1 skiers, will be eligible to participate. Midget skiers from other clubs will also be invited to participate, with the condition that they provide some coaching and volunteer support. The adult to skier ratio will be 1 adult for every 5 skier. Training camp details and welcoming note for stage 1 skiers to the T2T program will be sent.
3. Adventure Race (Sept. 20th) at Lac Phillippe is being planned for RRs and T2T skiers. Kevin has traditionally coordinated this event, but I think we can all agree that he has done his fair share when it comes to this event.Two parents have offered to coordinate the race, but we will need more parents to help them out. Needed: A volunteer with orienteering experience to assist with marker set up and maps. If you can help, please send an email to Carolyn Johnson-Grall (
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).
4. Adirondak weekend (October 3rd-4th) is a GO!! Despite the passport concerns, most parents and coaches want to proceed with the trip. Concerns were voiced regarding the 12-14 age group, i.e. some parents can't keep up with those skiers. Decision:Skiers old enough to hike in a group without a parent need to have a map, know the route and check-in and check-out before and after the hike. Coaches will meet with parents prior to the hike and discuss the rules, i.e. no one is left alone.
5. Racing Rabbit's Training Day (full day) is being planned for October; date to be confirmed next meeting.
6. Planning for Nationals in Whitehorse has begun. Denise has booked 15 condos with kitchens at the High Country Inn and 30 flights have been booked from Vancouver to Whitehorse on Air North. The plan is to make a group booking with Westjet in the early fall. The decision to utilize the group booking was made to reduce the costs for everyone participating in the trip (one free flight for every 15 bookings) and to ensure that all equipment can be transported to Whitehorse without additional charges.
7. Gwen Avery presented the updated Out of Town Trip Guidelines and the Consent to Terms and Conditions of Athlete Transportation Consent Formto be implemented as of September 2009, pending approval from Board of Directors.
8. Away Race and Trips Calendar for skiers Juvenile and older was circulated to the committee and coaches. Additional information will be added and the final document reviewed in August. The document will then be distributed and posted on the website.
The committee decided that this year mini-midget and midget skiers would be attending only one out of town race and that this year they would continue to attend the Quebec Midget Championships (Norams) rather than the Ontario Midget Championship. It was agreed that the three day Norams Race has traditionally been a very positive experience for our skiers.
9. Ian Lennie has offered to take on the role of Parkway Closure Coordinator for the season. Some parents were frustrated last year when they had to close the Parkway when practice was being held elsewhere. Every effort will be made to have Nakkertok practices in Gatineau Park when Nakkertok is responsible for closing the Parkway. Watch for an email from Ian and plan to sign up.
10. Suggestions were solicited by Nathalie to improve communication across the program. The following changes will be made:
· This Week at Nakkertok (TWAN) will be posted weekly on the Nakkertok website to provide more accessibility to weekly programs for skiers and parents.
· A monthly update of the racing committee meeting minutes will be posted on the Nakkertok website to inform parents of racing committee decisions and issues being addressed.
· Coaches and planners will enter any upcoming activity information being planned into the Google calendar; regardless of how much detail is known, details will be added as they are planned.
· Google link will be included on TWAN weekly, to encourage better use of calendar.
11. Fundraising: Committee approved a Nakkertok buff fundraiser coordinated by Debbie Davis. These buffs will be sold at various events, i.e. open house, races, etc. A number of ideas were suggested for fundraising at the club and racing team level, but it was determined that we will ask the Board of Directors for a framework or guidelines before we proceed.
12. Education and training: Sabrina asked the committee for any suggestions on education session topics for the skiers to be held this fall. To be discussed at the next meeting.
There will be a T2T dry land coaching course at Mooney’s Bay from August 28-30th. Contact Geoff Tomlinson for details.
13. Staffing: Mike was granted a request for a Leave of Absence for a High Performance Coaching Experience at the Dachstein Glacier with CNEPH. He will be away from Sept. 28th - Oct. 10th. Additional coaching support during his absence, will be provided by Peter, Lisa Patterson (CCC Eastern High Performance Coordinator) and Audrey.
Pavlina is off to the Yukon for 5 weeks and being replaced by Audrey.
The committee agreed that we ask our senior athletes who have taken the ICC coaching course if they would be interested in doing some technique sessions, during Mike’s absence or any other time we may need extra coaching support.
Next Meeting: August 24th
