Community Outreach

Bill Koch League Coaching

GRP members work as coaches three days a week for the Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club's Bill Koch program. Skiers from the surrounding area ages nine to thirteen meet for structured training sessions led by the GRP skiers. Sessions include instruction on how to scull, bounding, rollerskiing, and strength sessions.

Additionally the GRP runs two week-long summer camps for BKL aged kids. These camps are open to all interested skiers, regardless of experience. Kids from surrounding programs like Memphramagog and Morrisville have attended, expanding the outreach efforts of the Center. In addition to ski-specific workouts, campers also participate in a nature walk, an orienteering race, an introduction to biathlon, and a day-long team adventure race that includes canoeing, mountain biking, and sculling.

Craftsbury Academy Girls Soccer

At the end of August, the Athletic Director at the local high school, Craftsbury Academy, contacted Green Racing Project athletes in desperate need of a soccer coach for the fall season. With only a few days to go before preseason was scheduled to begin, two skiers agreed to run the team for the season. They are working five to six days a week with a squad of committed girls to prepare for the Division IV high school soccer season in Vermont, which kicked off on September eighth. From there, they will coach the girls through the end of the 14 game season in mid-October. Although not directly related to the environmental mission of the team, this project is a good example of one of the other goals of the Green Racing Project and the Craftsbury Outdoor Center: direct outreach projects with the people where we live in Northern Vermont.