Training week of 9/29

EVERYONE:

  • The training plan is here and below. Don’t forget to fill out the attendance form.

  • Program registration opens Tuesday, September 30th, at 8:00pm. Head over here for more info and make sure your membership is up to date/that you can login smoothly well before registration happens. You will register in that same place. Reminder that all the info about this winter’s programs can be found here. A note: if you are concerned about registering quickly, don’t worry about renting equipment just yet. That can happen in another transaction.

  • Scholarships: remain available for programs (see plug below for fundraising help!). More info here.

  • Rollerloop safety: this time of year we blow off the rollerski loop as often as we can, but sometimes it’s very leafy even just a couple hours later. Remember to check for slippery leaves if skiing on your own outside of practice times.

  • Club uniforms and jackets: we’re working on a redesign this year and switching up our supplier. More to come soon. Thanks for your patience.

  • Do you like slingin’ burgers & dogs? And do you like raising money for the junior scholarship fund? Sunday, October 19, we are putting together an all-star grilling crew to sell burgers and hot dogs to attendees of our VTYC mountain bike XC race. Feed people and raise money for kids’ ski racing at the same time! We still need one person for each shift, either 11:00am-12:30pm or 12:30pm-2pm. If interested, reach out to jrskiing@craftsbury.com.

  • Tickets to World Cup Finals are now on sale: head here. Juniors, if you’re traveling with the team, you will still need to buy your own tickets.

  • If anyone is interested in coaching programs this winter and you haven’t in the past, reach out to Anna!

JUNIORS:

  • Off days: take them. If it means taking a Sunday off and not coming to Craftsbury, take the dang day off. A recovery day a week will do more for you than grinding out eleventy days in a row of cross country then ski practice then soccer then bike racing.

  • Pop-Up Yard Sale: we have a small number of junior parent-sized skis to unload in lieu of the ski swap this year. This Sunday, Oct. 12, they will be put out at the clubhouse for sale.

  • Don’t stress about training hours this time of year. If you’re doing a fall sport, do it, and focus on that! Your ability to squeeze in extra training is limited, typically comes at the cost of rest and recovery, and usually doesn’t make you much faster. Talk to coaches with questions or concerns.

  • Licensing: if you are planning to race much outside of the high school circuit this year, you’ll likely need one or more licenses. US Ski & Snowboard licenses get more expensive Oct. 15th and some of you are old enough that you’ll need to complete SafeSport training, which takes a while. Now is a good time to get licensing taken care of!

    • Check out our distillation of license needs here. Reach out to coaches with additional questions.

    • NENSA Membership (required to participate in Eastern Cups, U16 Champs, Eastern High Schools)
      You will need to become a NENSA member to participate in Eastern Cups, though not all members of this group may want to do that. Register yourself online for NENSA here. A NENSA membership is not required for those not racing in those events, but is a good way to support the New England ski community. 

    • US Ski & Snowboard Membership (required to participate in Eastern Cups)
      You will need a US Ski & Snowboard membership to race in Eastern Cups. You can read about US Ski & Snowboard membership types here and register here. For juniors racing in Eastern Cups, there are two main options:
      1. A "general" membership for those interested in the racing experience but unconcerned with scoring points toward Junior Nationals, etc. (A “short-term” membership is also possible for those who only want to do ONE Eastern Cup race.)
      2. A “Competitor U13 and over” membership for those who ARE interested in scoring points

  • Looking ahead at some dates:

    • weekend of 10/18-10/19: we will be offering a van to a rollerski race at Jericho that Saturday 10/18 (confident rollerskiers only). There will not be practice Sunday 10/19, but Craftsbury is hosting a VTYC bike race that day.

    • A reminder about other dates looking ahead: toggle to the “25-26 year” tab at the bottom of the training plan to get a better sense of what’s ahead this winter.

U14s:

  • Looking ahead at some dates:

    • weekend of 10/18-10/19: we will be offering a van to a rollerski race at Jericho that Saturday 10/18 (open to confident second year U14 and older rollerskiers only). There will not be practice Sunday 10/19, but Craftsbury is hosting a VTYC bike race that day.

BKL:

  • This week is likely our last BKL practice of the summer. We’ve had an amazingly nice fall so far, but soon the other shoe will drop! And our coaches start getting tied up with various other things this time of year.

BIATHLETES:

  • Winter race opportunities- read over for what we know so far.

  • U17+ planning to race Junior Nationals in Lake Placid in December, add your name here. Still not sure? Chat with coaching staff.

ADULTS/MASTERS:

  • Sunday: no organized practice here on campus due to a real coach shortage this weekend, but you’re welcome to come along with the juniors/U14s for some hiking on the Long Trail in the Johnson/Waterville area. More details to come!

Here’s the TRAINING PLAN for the week, or check below:

Ooooo it’s getting foliage-y

Anna Schulz