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Dave Mayo-Kiely November 11th 04 05:28 PM

Future of Skiing
 
There have been a few threads lately about how to renew interest in our
sport. There is a piece on Teamtoday.org by Rebecca Dussault that I believe
is the kind of thing that needs to happen to get kids more involved in
skiing. This alone is not the answer but it is the kind of thing we need to
be doing.

As a side comment, most of the talk on this subject has focused around
racing, I think we have to broaden our focus. I think the vast majority of
people that ski regularly are not racers and when we focus our efforts on
racing we alienate the masses. I think we need to think about this when we
look at our junior programs around the country. Some kids and adults are
just not that interested in racing. I think (but could be wrong) that many
junior programs are totally focused on racing once kids reach a certain age.
We need to give kids a choice at some point but still provide them with
opportunites to be involved in a "ski club". I know that some of the kids
I have worked with have loved to ski but get turned off by racing (for
various reasons). They
reach an age where the ski club focuses on racing and they leave the sport.
I think our junior programs need to have a track the focuses on fun and the
pure enjoyment of recreating on snow and not racing. I think this will help
in keeping more youth in our sport. For many kids whose parents are not
skiers, their only reeal opportunity to be involved in the sport is through
the club/junior program, if they do not provide purely recreational
opportuites, the get lost in the shuffle.

Dave





Marsh Jones November 11th 04 07:18 PM

Dave Mayo-Kiely wrote:
There have been a few threads lately about how to renew interest in our
sport. There is a piece on Teamtoday.org by Rebecca Dussault that I believe
is the kind of thing that needs to happen to get kids more involved in
skiing. This alone is not the answer but it is the kind of thing we need to
be doing

As a side comment, most of the talk on this subject has focused around
racing, I think we have to broaden our focus. I think the vast majority of
people that ski regularly are not racers and when we focus our efforts on
racing we alienate the masses. I think we need to think about this when we
look at our junior programs around the country. Some kids and adults are
just not that interested in racing. I think (but could be wrong) that many
junior programs are totally focused on racing once kids reach a certain age.
We need to give kids a choice at some point but still provide them with
opportunites to be involved in a "ski club". I know that some of the kids
I have worked with have loved to ski but get turned off by racing (for
various reasons). They
reach an age where the ski club focuses on racing and they leave the sport.
I think our junior programs need to have a track the focuses on fun and the
pure enjoyment of recreating on snow and not racing. I think this will help
in keeping more youth in our sport. For many kids whose parents are not
skiers, their only reeal opportunity to be involved in the sport is through
the club/junior program, if they do not provide purely recreational
opportuites, the get lost in the shuffle.

Dave


Dave,
Great observations. We've found much the same 'point', but maybe for
differing reasons. The Minnesota Youth Ski League has between 700-1100
kids (depending a lot on how much snow we get in a given winter)
involved in XC skiing each year. Disclaimer: I'm on the Board for
MYSL The MYSL program is based purely on the idea of teaching skiing
thru fun, rather than teaching ski racing. Our program engages kids as
young as 3-4 and basically runs out of kids/interest about the time they
hit 12-13. We have a separate, more engaged program called Silver Skis
that is oriented towards the middle school aged kids, but the numbers
tend to peak around age 10 and decline steadily as the kids get older.
I see several reasons for this, mostly involving peer activities and
school. Younger kids tend to be involved more in activities that their
parents pick: If their parents ski, or like skiing, that's where
they'll be. If their parents play/played hockey - they'll have a stick
in their hands at age 2 and will probably never ski. By the time they
reach 4th grade, they are starting to rebel/pick things their friends
are interested in. It isn't even a 'cool' question for a lot of kids,
just what their buddies are doing. It is a rare kid who would rather go
out and ski 10K with 5 other kids on a bitterly cold afternoon, than
blast over a rail in the back yard on their snowboard with 10 or 15
kids. That's a fact of 'kid life'. Through making the program
inexpensive ($25/yr) and available through many communities (all
volunteer) plus some outreach via the ski trailer, we try to keep the
exposure and interest high.
The kids that tend to stick with skiing are special. There is something
in them that gives them that fire - either self-fulfillment, a strong
support system, or just a need to be a little different. I personally
know a couple of kids whose parents have 'forced' them to keep skiing.
The results aren't pretty. OTOH, most of the JO skiers are self-driven
by a love of the sport. They 'get it', and I fully expect to see a few
of them skiing for the National Team in a few years, but more
importantly, I'll be surprised if most of them aren't still racing in 20
years.
The one other item I'll add is that we are actually adding a couple of
BKL style races to the MYSL calendar this year, with the specific hope
of keeping more kids engaged as they head towards the high school ski
programs in Minnesota. And HS skiing here has several thousand kids
involved - again, peer acceptance and association helps.


Marsh Jones
New Brighton, MN

BarryT November 11th 04 09:54 PM

"Dave Mayo-Kiely" wrote in message
...
As a side comment, most of the talk on this subject has focused around
racing, I think we have to broaden our focus. I think the vast majority
of
people that ski regularly are not racers and when we focus our efforts on
racing we alienate the masses.


Where I ski most of the time, up to 3,000 skiers may show up on very busy
days. From that number, maybe a dozen of them will be kids from the racing
club and about thirty, maybe forty, citizen racers.

I think we need to think about this when we
look at our junior programs around the country. Some kids and adults are
just not that interested in racing. I think (but could be wrong) that
many
junior programs are totally focused on racing once kids reach a certain
age.


That is also the situation around here. Race or drop out.

We need to give kids a choice at some point but still provide them with
opportunites to be involved in a "ski club". I know that some of the
kids
I have worked with have loved to ski but get turned off by racing (for
various reasons). They
reach an age where the ski club focuses on racing and they leave the
sport.


When you are a teen, racing meant mainly one thing: winning. Kids who cannot
consistently win or finish in the top positions slowly get dissastified with
their skiing. There is no satisfaction to gain from not winning, aka
losing...

I think our junior programs need to have a track the focuses on fun and
the
pure enjoyment of recreating on snow and not racing. I think this will
help
in keeping more youth in our sport. For many kids whose parents are not
skiers, their only reeal opportunity to be involved in the sport is
through
the club/junior program, if they do not provide purely recreational
opportuites, the get lost in the shuffle.


In my part of Canada, if the parents do not ski, forget it, the kids won't
either. Public schools do not offer sports programs after regular school
hours. Unlike in the US, sports are left to the municipalities. Since x-c
ski trails are usually oustide urban areas, municipalities have no interest
to promote activities held outside their territory...

BarryT

P.S. In the early seventies, 1.2 millions pairs of x-c skis were sold in
Canada each year. This number dropped to about 280,000 pairs in 1989 and
bottomed out at 50,000 in the mid-nineties. In the last 3 years, sales are
up, totalling 82,000 pairs in 2003 (don't know if telemark and back-country
are included in these figures). It simply shows that there is a certain
growth in the sport. However, this growth does not and will not come from
racers.



xc_skier November 12th 04 02:38 PM

Nordic skiing has nearly limitless possibilities. We have to start to
put the fun and eXCitement back into the sport. Much of what can be
done on a snowboard, you can do on race skis - given the right
conditions and how highly caffinated you are. Check out what elite
Nordix racers are doing now.

www.xczone.tv
www.xskifilms.com

You'll see xc racers doing backflips, 360's, 720's, 1080's, rodeo,
cross-grabs etc.

Ken Roberts November 12th 04 04:35 PM

I think you're on the right track.

We have to start to put the fun and eXCitement back into the sport.


In addition to gymnastic tricks, some other things to consider adding might
be:
-- genuine teamwork (like in football, not relay-races)
-- body contact? battle-simulation?
-- exploration and navigation
-- real adventure in the snow with real consequences for screwing up

You'll see xc racers doing backflips, 360's, 720's, 1080's, rodeo,

cross-grabs etc.

Yes a few super-athletes can do amazing things on super-light gear. That
works as a way to prove how "super" you are. But if you're not busy proving
something about light XC gear, it's generally easier and more fun to do on
heavier gear that's actually designed for aggressive use -- and much easier
to _learn_ on heavier skis and boots (or snowboard).

Much easier to learn with the purchase of lots of lift tickets.

I suspect there's a strong correlation between "Teenagers who do lots of
cross-country skiing" and "Parents who will not or cannot pay for lift
tickets and transportation for downhill skiing and snowboarding".

Ken



J999w November 12th 04 06:09 PM

So what's _ cross country _ about doing a back flip?

I just think Americans, in general, aren't into sweating unless they're laying
on some tropical beach in January.

"OH ! You're taking your vacation in January? How wonderful ... where are you
going? Jamaica? Mexico? Bahamas? "

.... Houghton, MI.

HA !

jw
milwaukee




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