Cross Country Yukon (CCY) welcomed the technical co-ordinator of Coaching Development Stephen Novosad from Cross Country Canada, to Whitehorse last Tuesday. While here Novosad provided a variety of workshops and clinics for CCY. It also meant that he was able to partake in the second annual Celebration of Snow on Saturday.

“We started this last year, when we started our snow-making experiment,” said Alain Masson, CCY Sport Coordinator and Yukon Ski Team head coach.

“We wanted to celebrate the start of our ski season. Without snow making we wouldn’t have this event.”

The clubs snowmaking venture almost did not happen this year, as their water pump was stolen in mid October.

Having found the pump the club was able to produce the snow, making the celebration even sweeter.

“For a week we were scrambling, not knowing if we could get another pump to make the project happen,” said Masson. “We are so happy things worked out. We were lucky we got cold temperatures, so we were able to make snow for four days, and with the help of our sponsors we got it spread quickly.”

This is the second year the club has had snowmaking. Masson says being able to make snow allows the riders and the coaches to get onto the trails earlier; as well it makes them safer to use.

“It is so important to get kids skiing, and the coaches educated,” said Masson. “The reason we got snowmaking is because snow can be unreliable. Now we can provide safe trail conditions in November. We really want our kids on skis as early as possible because the month of November is one of our better months as far as light and temperatures. It’s really crucial for us.”

Having snow on the ground in early November meant the club could invite someone like Novosad, who was on his first visit to Whitehorse, to come and run clinics for the coaches.

“What a treat, you guys have a gem,” said Novosad. “This is one of the halcion competition clubs in the country, they’ve produced so many national team athletes, and have incredible coaches. The resources here are fantastic. With the new snow… it’s ironic because people think of the north and they think it’s snowbound, but that’s not the case. They saw the necessity for snowmaking, not a lot of clubs in Canada have that.”

Novosad travels to different clubs across the country with one mandate, to develop higher coaching capacity throughout Canada.

“Athlete development is directly related to good coaching,” said Novosad.

“Motivationally, technically, knowledge base providing a challenge, providing a vision, providing a fun environment, and creating a culture.”

Across any sport, the keys to development and growth are young athletes and good coaches, inspiring lifelong commitment to the respective sport.

“It is something we are encouraging and more and more,” Novosad said. “We are trying to keep people in skiing for the long run. Of course we are looking to create the competition model and produce the elite, but let’s face it what we are able to produce is a ski culture. We will see kids come in and drop out of skiing, but we are seeing more and more people coming back, and bringing their kids and it’s how we grow our mass.”

Novosad says that another key to coaching is keeping it fun, but redefining what fun means as skiers reach different ages, something he believes the CCY is doing well.

“It needs to be fun, but remember fun evolves based on age. What is fun for a six year old is not going to be fun for a 16-20 year old. You have to be able to adapt that fun as you go, and adjust to challenges, what success means and what the objectives are. I think this club really has that mindset. If we can provide that ‘I can’t wait for the next training’ for any skier then we succeeded.”

The CCY will be travelling in two weeks to Canmore Alta. for their first national race. Then two weeks after that they will be doing their trials for the national team for the World Championships.