2009 Youth Ski Prgram begins Jan 6th

I hope that everyone is enjoying the holidays. More snow is in the forecast this week, the conditions should be great for the start of the youth ski program on January 6th. As mentioned in the meeting, the sessions will run from at 3:30pm 5:00pm. Please have kids dropped off at 3:25 at the new building on the Tuttle Road entrance of Twin Brook (this is opposite of last year). We will be skating for to start off the season.

For the program to run smoothly, we will need 6-8 coaches per session. You don't need to have any experience to coach, enthusiasm is the main ingredient. If you're interested and have never skied, no problem. We've had great coaches in the past who have only used snow shoes. I'm going to have a simple coach clinic on Saturday, January 3rd, from 9:00-10:30am at Twin Brook. We will meet at the new red building, as mentioned above. We'll talk about some skate drills, safety, and general logistics. The session is designed for coaches only.

I'll send out updates weekly during the seasons. Feel free to email me with any questions. If you are interested in coaching, but cannot attend on Saturday, please let me know, I need to get a list started. Have a great rest of the week! Coaches, hopefully I'll see you Saturday and I'll see everyone else next Tuesday.

Thanks!
Morgan

Week of 3/4 Update

Dear Youth Skiing Families and Skiers

We are on track to have our second to last practice tomorrow at Twin Brook. After skiing we’ll have our annual end of year celebration at 5:15, it’ll take place at the Wilson School. To help out Cumberland Recreation, please RSVP at recreation@cumberlandmaine.com.

Mother Nature is again making things challenging weather wise. If it’s pouring rain, we will move the practice and party to Thursday.

If the weather is questionable on Tuesday, please check www.cumberlandyouthskiing.blogspot.com, I will try to update the blog at noon. If there is no update, assume everything is on as planned.

It’s been a great season. Thanks for everything!

Cumberland Youth Skiing Wrap-Up

The Youth Ski Program is winding down for the season. The last day of the program will be Thursday, March 6th. On Tuesday, March 4th, we will have a year end program wrap-up/pizza party at the Wilson School cafeteria in Cumberland. The party will start after the Tuesday practice; it’ll run approximately from 5:30-6:30. For the party, please ensure that the kids are wearing shoes, not ski boots.

Pizza will be supplied for the event. Molly Montgomery will be sending out an email to see if anyone wants to contribute additional items such as salads, juice, or desserts. For accuracy, please RSVP via email to recreation@cumberlandmaine.com.

We have had a great season! Kids who were beginners are now very comfortable with the aspects of skiing. Several kids who never on skied prior to the program and are now able to enjoy the sport, hopefully for many years to come. Many of these new skiers have brought their parents out to ski to enjoy the outdoors. In addition, thirteen kids from Southern Maine will attend the Bill Koch Ski Festival held this weekend at Gunstock, New Hampshire.

We had sixty six skiers signed up for the program and we averaged fifty-five skiers per practice. We had twelve parent/mentor/coaches that need to be thanked for their efforts. The coaches were there to provide support, instruction, and served as snowball targets throughout the season. At the conclusion of the season, the Cumberland Youth Skiing program will have had over 700 cross country skier visits to Twin Brook throughout the session.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the success of the program including Cumberland Recreation and Healthy Hometowns for facilitating the ski lease program.

Week of 2/18 Update

We had two great days of skiing last week. The snow conditions were excellent, the kids had a great time. There will not be any Youth Skiing sessions this week during vacation. We will reconvene again on Tuesday, February 26th.

2/7/08 Ski Practice Cancelled

With the school cancellations, slippery roads, and high winds later today, practice for today will be cancelled. I've always been bull headed about driving in slippery conditions, especially to go ski! In light of recent circumstances, I need to be reminded that driving in the winter is dangerous. Have a good day, be safe. If you have a little bit of space outside, put on your skis, build a jump, and have fun!

Some Photos from 2/5

It was a great day of skiing yesterday and the conditions will vastly improve with the snow today! The new snow yesterday made for some fun times!

Snowballs were flying Taking Shelter
I've been hit!
The skiing snowman, they named him Morgan

2/5 Youth Skiing Practice is On!

We'll see you at 3:30

Youth Skiing for 2/5/08

Dear Cumberland Youth Skiers and Families:

I hope you all enjoyed the Spring Weekend. It was nice but it has put a damper on the skiing. I spoke with Bill Landis today (Monday). The skiing has improved since last Thursday and the conditions are safe. However, there is a forecast of sleet, changing to a wintery mix, and finally changing to all rain on Tuesday morning. Bill Landis will check Twin Brook at Noon on Tuesday. He will make the determination on whether we'll have practice on Tuesday. I will send out an email at that time. It will also be posted at www.cumberlandyouthskiing.blogspot.com. If you're unable to access a computer please call Cumberland Recreation at 829-2208 after 12:00 on Tuesday to see if the Youth Skiing session will happen. I appreciate your patience and I apologize for any inconvenience.

1/31 Youth Skiing Practice Cancelled

Youth Skiing Skiers, Families, and Coaches:

I just spoke with Bill Landis at Cumberland Recreation. Twin Brook still has snow but the conditions are very icy today. There is a 2.5k loop that is being groomed for a middle school race today. The loop is the only skiable area for today and with there being a race, the youth skiing kids will not have a lot to ski on. So the 1/31 practice is cancelled. With the wintery mix coming this weekend, I think we'll end up in the positive with snow gain. We will plan on having practice next Tuesday.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

A great day 1/29

We had 62 kids show up today for 1/29 edition of Cumberland Youth Skiing. We had awonderful day, the skiing was great. The kids continue to improve. The kids now have an understanding of the fundamentals and all seem to enjoy the exercise. They also like the speed element and a lot of them really like jumping. Jumping is a real challenge on cross country skis. The jump we use is small but it builds confidence. Here are a few photos from today.



Joe went for it. He took a spill but he came up smiling. Note the line in at the top of the hill

2nd year Youth skier Alex got some air

Wilson found the way up

And this is why we do it! The essence of skiing. Tell me Nathaniel isn't psyched to be on skis!!

Pictures from 1/24

In Limbo

Week 2 Recap

Week 2 of Cumberland Youth Skiing was great! After a huge storm on Monday we had great conditions for Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday, all three groups went over to the Tuttle Rd side of Twin Brook and skated the B & C loops. We had 59 attendees. Our new skiers, Team USA, no longer has any fear on the downhills. Canada and Norway discovered the jump that was being built by some of the Yarmouth Middle School Skiers. All of the kids demonstrated an amazing ability to manipulate the coaches when told that we needed to ski rather than jump. One skier told me that she left something at the top of the hill. I watched her ski up the hill, she picked up nothing, and proceeded to take the jump. They love the jump. On Thursday, we classical skied for the first time. We started a little late as we were busy applying kick wax for 51 skiers. Bill Landis set some great tracks for us and the kids got a taste of kicking and gliding. A few of the kids really enjoyed it but the majority of the kids like the speed of skating. With that being said, many of the kids will have kick wax remaining on their skis. If attending the race Saturday, its a skating race, rub some wax remover over the kick zone of the ski. I gave Ted Hall, the Saturday race director the heads up, he'll have some wax remover at the race as well. For week 3 we will skate ski on Tuesday and Thursday. Have a great weekend!

Photos from 1/15/08

Week of 1/14 Youth Skiing Update

Everything is on business as usual with the youth skiing program this week. Plenty of snow now, back to Winter. The conditions should be amazing this week. We will skate on Tuesday and we will classical ski on Thursday. It looks like the conditions for Thursday will be extra blue conditions. If anyone has kick wax please put a couple of thin layers on the skis for Thursday. If you don't have any wax, no problem we'll apply it on Thursday. Be on the lookout for details from Ted Hall this week regarding the race this coming Saturday at Twin Brook. The races will be very low key and a lot of fun for the kids, they'll will have a blast! Coaches, check your email tonight, I send you out a lesson plan for Tuesday.

Addional Ski Events for Cumberland Youth Skiing

Many of you probably saw the Ted Hall. Ted is the Chairperson in Southern Maine for the Bill Koch ski league. He previously sent an email about additional opportunities in Southern Maine. Here is a listing of races/ski events that Ted noted:

Saturday, 1/19/08, 10:00am Skate Race Twin Brook, Cumberland

Sunday, 2/3/08, 1:00pm Classic Race, Pineland, New Gloucester

Saturday, 2/9/08, 10:00am Tennis Biathlon, Twin Brook, Cumberland

Sunday, 2/24/08, Cape Elizabeth Trails, details tba

Saturday and Sunday 3/1 and 3/2/08 TD Banknorth Bill Koch Ski Festival
Gunstock Nordic Center, Gilford, New Hampshire
www.bklfestival.nensa.net
For Lodging: contact The Margate on Winnipesaukee
76 Lake St
Laconia, NH 03246
1-800-margate www.themargate.com
Mention Bill Koch festival

Week 1 Recap

Week 1 of the Youth Skiing program was very successful. On Tuesday, we had 66 skiers attend our practice. From what I understand, this was a record turnout. We had several skiers attend who had never been on skis before and many others who had only been on skis two or three times. We did some drills without poles and also performed various balance drills. Our USA and Canada groups stayed on the Greely Rd side of Twin Brook while our Norway group ventured over to the B & C loops on the Tuttle Rd side of the park.

On Thursday, we had 58 skiers attend. We started the practice with some drills to recap what we learned on Tuesday. The Norway and Canada groups explored some of the longer loops. The USA group took a few minutes to sharpen their downhill and turning skills. Later, the USA group ventured onto the other side of the park where there was a middle school race. We unfortunately missed seeing recent Cumberland Youth Skiing Alumni Kellan Humphries, Ian Moore, and John Burgess who are now racing at the middle school level.

It was a great first week. The kids enjoyed themselves, we had great weather, and everyone got some good exercise. If you know of any other kids who are interested in skiing, send them our way. I’d really like to see the group grow to 75 skiers before the season ends.

A special thanks needs to go out to the coaches that made this first week happen.

Week of 1/8 Youth Skiing Update

Youth Skiing Program
It's definitely a January thaw outside but there is still plenty of snow. We will practice at 3:30pm on Tuesday and Thursday this week. As mentioned previously, our meeting point will be at Twin Brook on the Greely Road side. The drop-off point will be at the far side of the Greely Road parking lot. All skiers need to look for the person with the orange vest who will be taking attendance. Skiers will then walk over to the picnic tables behind the back stop to get a name tag. At the end of the practice, the tag needs to be returned to the board where it was retrieved.

Coaches
We have a lot of coaches who have committed to assisting with the program. We will be especially stacked with coaches this week. Please keep up the commitment; we can never have too many coaches. We’ll be sending out a coach schedule next week.

Equipment
If anyone still needs equipment, try these resources:

Play it Again Sports: it’s hit or miss, keep checking, the inventory changes frequently

Maine Winter Sports Center: this is a great program, for $50.00 a winter skiers can get outfitted with equipment that works beautifully with this program. Contact Mike Yeo at mike@mainewsc.org or 207-318-7550 for additional info.

Peak Performance Sports:

Gorham Bike and Ski:

Youth Skiing Coach Clinic Sunday, January 6th 10:00AM

Happy New Year! The youth skiing program is scheduled to start on Tuesday, January 8th.

For coaches/volunteers, there will be a clinic this Sunday, January 6th, at Twin Brook. We’ll start at 10:00am and it’ll last 90 minutes.

For the first 15-20 minutes, we’ll discuss some of daily tasks such as arrival, attendance, departure, and overall safety. After that, I’d like to go over the basics of skating and some of the drills that we’ll cover this season. If you have only waxless or classic skis, please still attend. We’ll meet on the Greely road side at the baseball field, you’ll see the dugouts. This may end up being our "official" meeting place for the entire winter session, Bill Landis will let us know this week. If it is our meeting place, he plans on having adequate grooming on the Greely road side of the park.