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 |
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 |
"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. |
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. |
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 |
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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