The third phase of my coaching career began somewhere around the outskirts of Seattle on Tuesday, January 24th, 2023.
I am sure 17 year old Adam would’ve had a total brain meltdown at the scene which kicked off this new phase, a reflection which made me realize a new chapter was opening up.
To kick off phase one I was nervously pacing the SLU ski locker room on my first day as an assistant coach, wondering what to say and how to act for the first day of training. To kick off phase two I was putting on a new MNC uniform in my mom’s living room, realizing the pressures that would come with being a head coach.
Phase three began on the bench seat of a Ford Transit van. I was draped in a US Ski Team parka for a blanket, drifting off to sleep as Bryan Fish drove me, two other coaches, and 17 boxes of World Cup waxing supplies and test skis north to British Columbia.
Let me get this straight right away: I’m not planning to jet off and join the US Ski Team staff, or leave Vermont, anytime soon. But that van trip through the pacific northwest represented the final few hours before a new step in my career involving nerves, stress, and trepidation the likes of which I hadn’t felt since those other two key phases of my coaching.
I was embarking on a two week stint as one of the lead kickwax techs for Junior/U23 World Championships in Whistler. What was I about to learn? How would I perform? Was my current toolbox of intrapersonal skills, technical awareness, waxing abilities, and emotional intelligence up to the task ahead of me? What would be similar or different from our own coaching and waxing lives on the Eastern Cup? One of the most psychologically demanding aspects of my work with MNC is balancing my own introverted personality with the need to be direct and assertive in certain coaching and leadership situations. It’s a balancing act that often brings me to incredible emotional highs when I’m “in the trenches” on a race weekend, followed by a massive crash on Mondays, manifested by hiding from the world and all responsibilities for about 24 straight hours.
In Whistler, we had four classic race days in a row, with some athletes and coaches I was just meeting for the first time. There was really no time for an emotional low or a crash: it was game time all day, every day! And I had a blast getting to meet new people, work with athletes both familiar and fresh, and take in as much as I could. It was a big stressor to leave MNC during this time, and one of my key goals was to bring what I could back to the club, helping everyone benefit even if I had a bit of an absence.
One thing I feel I’ve done well is reflect on past experiences and use that knowledge to influence future decisions. In a training sense this is carried out most weeks…often the intervals we do in one week are a response to something I noticed about out team’s skiing, collectively, over the most recent races. On a personal level, there’s many reflections on what has been planned, said, done, or been carried-out within race events especially, and in Whistler it was nothing but one race experience after another.
So what were some takeaways?
- We have a really connected coaching group who understands one another and communicates
While there was only minimal tension at times among our Whistler staff, it was clear that it’s tough to bring a bunch of people together who may not know each other, shove them into a high pressure environment, and expect fantastic results. It made me so appreciative of our coaching group on the Eastern Cup, who is able to openly talk about positives and negatives, laugh and have fun naturally, and feel disappointed as a group as well. We’re cohesive and engaged with each other, and can actually read each other pretty well I’d say. It was very sad to lose Rick with his move a few towns over, but coaches like Kristen and Dana seem to have been able to jump right into the mix with shared perspectives and processes. That wouldn’t happen without our group being flexible and welcoming (as well as being open to change and the sharing of ideas) and I’m so grateful for that.
2. The best athletes in the world are just like our team, with a range of personality types and “roles” within the group
Did you know that Olympian Luke Jager is, from my perspective, “the Geo of the US Ski Team”? The hilarious vibes from this kid radiated through both the coaching and athlete groups all week. Whether it was full group messages about Call of Duty screennames to the entire staff and team, or just a sarcastic request for me to “test all his 20 pairs of race skis by 8am at the furthest point of the tourist trails” you could easily mistake Luke for the class clown…until you see him ski. Things felt just like our group at home, even though we’re talking about World Cup regulars and some of the fastest Juniors in America (or the world). Some athletes are quiet and focused, some are laughing and silly. Skiers had bad races and sat against the fence with their heads down, and others had great races and were literally bounding down the media zone. And there was everything in between.
3. Waxing does not need to be complicated to work well
The number one paraffin used all week? Swix HF8. That is, until testing helped us learn that no paraffin at all was faster…it was simply better to just use a glide cleaner, start with a totally “empty” ski, and spray Helx Yellow on it.
Many coaches had their own “homebrew” waxes on them, and they were tried frequently. But they never were the best. You know what was on the skis for the U20 women’s classic mass start? One layer of Start klister binder, followed by Swix KX30 blue klister. You could walk into the doors of Skirack right now and pick up the klister to give yourseld a “World Championship Wax Job” and that’s something very refreshing about our often overcomplicated sport.
4. Perspective matters in coaching and racing
It is worth reading some of the recap articles on Nordic Insights or Fasterskier about these races. Almost all of them contain quotes and reflections from the athletes, often captured RIGHT after the race and before athletes may even be aware of their final placings. Just like an Eastern Cup or race in Vermont, there is a wide range of emotions and thoughts…some skiers who had big goals didn’t achieve them, others who expected to get crushed ended up doing the crushing themselves, and everything in between. The really amazing thing to read is just how consistently honest, vulnerable, and realistic these athletes all are in their own analysis of their race, their skis, their expectations, and their realities. It’s something all athletes at every level should strive for, and something all coaches should aim to foster.
I’m not sure how many phases of my coaching career there will be, but I’m grateful to have experienced all of them thus far and I hope that I can share the knowledge and lessons more as I go forward!
