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We had a great turnout and a lot of fun at this year’s first Learn-To-Rollerski clinic in Williston! 13 young skiers took part, and it was great to see a “dad squad” get out for a group ski while we were underway.

Several in this crew had never rollerskied before, and everyone was able to confidently get around the 1km loop at the Village Community Park (WCS) by the end of our day. A pretty sizeable chunk of skiers even ventured safely out into the neighborhoods for a quick trip around some familiar cul-de-sac pavement.

It’s always tricky to know just how to approach a group rollerski lesson…the ability levels do vary quite a bit, even among those who have never rollerskied before. That’s because balance, confidence, and spatial awareness play such a huge role in what we do, and those things can range on a wide spectrum before even clicking into a pair of bindings.

To that end, the focus usually follows a consistent pattern…start off skis, work on body position, and incorporate some bands to get the muscles warmed up.

Next, progress to skis but no poles yet! It’s time to work on general movement, turning, and importantly how to slow down and stop.

Then the distance can be extended, still without poles for a time. Poles can be added gradually after this, with a focus on V1 since it less balance-dictated than V2.

It was great to have a handful of Juniors with us to help coach, since this meant we could divide up groups a bit based on ability. Thanks to Anders, Niko, and Taylor for helping out! All-in-all, the progression mentioned above doesn’t sound too different than a regular MNC Juniors training session, albeit just on a slightly different scale. Proof that there really isn’t any magic after all.

We’ll be having another clinic like this on Saturday, July 29th so keep an eye on this site for more info!

Mansfield Nordic Club Head Coach Responsibilities

Mansfield Nordic Club Masters program includes coached training sessions twice weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays from the beginning of December through mid March.  Masters skiers may choose between the early session 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM and late session 6:00 – 7:30. Masters may also participate in weekend events including one day training “mini” camps, races and group ski/tours. These weekend events, when possible, are coach guided. Ideally, the Masters Head Coach would be able to be involved one day on most weekends to organize and be present at these events.  However, as outlined in the below description, we will also consider candidates who are not available on weekends.

Tuesday/Thursday sessions are primarily held at the Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho VT which is run by the Vermont National Guard.  However, due the snow conditions or conflicts with other National Guard use, training sessions are sometimes moved to other locations in the area including Sleepy Hollow Nordic in Huntington, VT.  Coaches must have flexibility in adapting to different locations.

Required Responsibilities

Be the ‘go to’ person for overall Masters Training – take over organization of training sessions, report to BOD at 3 yearly meetings (usually fall winter and spring). 

Recruiting and organizing the scheduling of masters coaches pre season. 

Lesson plans for Tues Thurs sessions. Post practice plans on website, make changes as necessary and communicate these to masters.

Periodically post other info or reports for Masters on the MNC website. 

Respond to emails from master skiers regarding registration, equipment, wax, program, etc.

Coach one session, oversee other session OR coach both sessions. Could coach early session and then stay for the start of later session to meet skiers, help skiers and coaches organize into groups – not stay for whole later session – just the start of it.

Have familiarity with all masters skiers, their abilities and goals, even if you are not directly coaching them on Tues/Thurs.

Communication and organization of master’s coaches during season – Assign coaches to groups, Assign skiers to appropriate groups.  First few practices of season will need more organization, then it should fall more into place.

Decide on, and announce to coaches and masters, alternate locations and plans, should Range be not available for whatever reason.

If no snow in Dec (or any other time during winter), organize dryland practices and locations for early and late masters sessions. 

Optional Responsibilities (preferred but not mandatory)

Organize early season dry land training – Oct-Nov.

Organize masters Mini training camps – ½ day camps on weekend at least once (early Dec) hopefully twice during season.

Support Skiers who wish to race with wax help (verbal – not necessarily physically waxing for them) for upcoming races.

Attend several key races (could pick the closer locations such as Craftsbury and MNC Skiathlon) help with waxing, and skier support.

Organize and participate in one or more weekend ski tours. (Example:  Highland Lodge to Craftsbury Outdoor Center)

MNC members and skiers,

Once again, Skirack has put together some special pricing for us with rollerskis! You can order Swenor skis from Skirack at the link below, with submissions due April 20th.

Note the inclusion of some #2/#3 speed wheel options. While these are Coach Adam’s preferred speeds for training, all of the NENSA rollerski races take place on matched #2 wheels…so, like it or not, it does benefit us to choose speed #2 for the sake of having pretty standardized wheelspeed among many of our fellow NENSA teams and competitors.

On the order form, you can check out specific notes on models and descriptions which I put together (included as a hyperlink in the form).

Skirack Rollerski Order