Expressions of interest for 2017-2018 international program coaches

Updated May 31

The Ski & Snowboard Australia Cross Country Committee (SSA XC) is seeking expressions of interest from coaches and managers to work with the Cross Country Skiing High Performance Program at the following events/tours during the 2017/2018 season:

• 2018 World Junior / U23 Championship, Goms, Switzerland
• 2017/2018 Junior / U23 Tour, Europe (predominantly Davos, Switzerland)

Additional information is provided in the job description linked below. Interested persons should apply via email to SSA Cross Country Skiing Program Director Finn Marsland (finn.marsland@gmail.com) by Sunday June 11, briefly addressing the key selection criteria and supplying a CV. Applicants may be invited to supply additional information and/or to attend an interview. The appointment will be made by a panel appointed by SSA XC.

• EOI – 2017-2018 AUSXC International Program

2017 Australian Race Calendar

The preliminary 2017 Australian Race Calendar has recently been released by the SSA XC Committee and posted to the Calendar Page on this site. The schedule of the major championships and events are as follows:

• July 15/16 – State Championships at Falls Creek and Perisher
• July 22/23 – AUS Championships & FIS Races at Perisher
• July 29/30 – AUS Junior Championships at Falls Creek
• August 5-12 – NSW Cross Country Week at Perisher
• August 19/20 – AUS Championships & FIS Races at Falls Creek
• August 26 – Kangaroo Hoppet at Falls Creek

The full calendar in PDF is also available for download here (Feb 17 version 2.0).

The main change is the moving of the Australian Championships at Perisher back into July. This has freed up the start of the NSW Cross Country Week from a championship event, which NSWXC have been requesting for several years because a clash with a long standing club event. Concurrently a clash between an Australian Junior Team Selection race and the Victorian Interschools has also been removed. This shift was enabled by moving the Victorian Junior Championships into the last weekend of the Victorian School Holidays, which in turn was only made possible with the cooperation of Victorian club race organisers. While several compromises have had to be reached, SSA XC believes that the overall outcome has been worth the effort.

This timing of events is for 2017 only, and the 2018 calendar will be put together later this year following a review of the scheduling of races within the NSW Cross Country Week. It should be noted that SSA XC will continue to lobby to have the Victorian Interschools Cross Country event moved to a mid-week schedule, as is the case with the NSW and Australian Interschools events.

SSA XC would like to thank all race organisers for their assistance in putting this race schedule together.

New AUSXC.com in the Wings in 2017

Hello Ski-friends!

Regular visitors to AUSXC.com will have noticed (and a number have contacted us) about the absence of news on the site over the past two months, indeed the minimal amount of updates since the Australian winter. Please be reassured that this isn’t the beginning of the end of AUSXC.com, rather that our focus has been on preparation for a new chapter.

Throughout 2016 a huge amount of predominantly volunteer effort has gone into the design and content generation of a new online home for Australian cross country ski racing. The new AUSXC.com site will continue to feature Australian winter news and to chronicle the performances and activities of Australian athletes throughout the year, but will also play a greater role in the development of the sport. The intention is for more information to be readily available in areas such as athlete pathways, coach education, volunteer opportunities, sport administration, race rules and selection policies, and in general to provide advice on how to become more involved in XC ski racing. At the same time our partner site DiscoverXC.com will focus on the grassroots development for recreational and introductory aspects of the sport.

During this interim period, the best way to keep up to date with the progress of the Australian Team racing overseas is via social media. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the main ones to follow, @ausxc is our handle across all platforms. Individual athletes from the team have also for the most part shifted their activity updates to their social media accounts (though PK’s blog is still going strong!).

A quick plug before a proper post goes up – save the date of Saturday April 8 for the 2017 Australian Rollerski Championship and AUSXC Awards Dinner in Canberra!

Thanks for your patience, and all the best wishes for 2017.

– The AUSXC.com Team

Provisional National Teams for 2016/2017

The provisional Cross Country Skiing National Teams for 2016-2017 have been released by SSA XC, the cross country committee of Ski & Snowboard Australia.

Two athletes have been invited to join the World Cup Team, Jessica Yeaton and Phillip Bellingham, based on their results over the past year. An additional seven athletes are invited to join the Continental Cup Team. All of these athletes have also already qualified to compete at the 2017 World Championship in Lahti, Finland.

The full provisional team list is available in PDF format below. Team selection is subject to acceptance of the team invitation by the athletes.

• National Teams 2016/2017 Provisional Selection

A record 16 athletes are being invited to join the Junior Team, with three athletes invited to the U23 Team. The 2017 World Junior/U23 Championship will take place in Soldier Hollow in the USA at the end of January, and it is expected that an Australian Team of up to 10-12 athletes will compete.

FIS TD Seminar at Falls Creek on August 18-21

A FIS Technical Delegate (TD) Seminar will be held at Falls Creek from August 18-21. The seminar will be led by FIS World Cup TD Allan Serrano from the USA, and held in conjunction with the FIS Australia – New Zealand Cup races on at Falls Creek on the August 20-21 weekend.

Seminar Details

Venue: Falls Creek Resort Management Boardroom and Falls Creek XC Trails

Start: Thursday  18 August @ about 1:00 pm

Finish: Sunday 21 August @ about 2:00 pm

Lead presenter: Allan Serrano (USA)

Cost: No charge to attend and participate in the seminar

Accommodation: YMCA Howmans Gap have a special offer for TDs and TD Candidates – see below.

Travel:  International TD’s requiring travel advice should contact finn.marsland@gmail.com

Australia is in need of new TD’s at both National and FIS level. The most suitable candidates are usually ex-athletes who have competed at a high level, or experienced race organisers.

Waxing For Victorian Juniors

Attention coaches, athletes and parents preparing for the Victorian Junior Championship at Falls Creek this weekend July 16/17.

You may have seen the SSAXC low-fluor waxing protocol that was published on this site earlier this week, which is designed to level the playing field and reduce costs for lower levels of competition.

While all coaches contacted have expressed support for this protocol in principle, there have been some requests for coaches to have more time to discuss the protocol with parents and athletes in order to explain the reasoning behind it. For this reason, race organisers and the Victorian Junior Squad manager/coaches have determined that this waxing protocol will not apply for the Victorian Championship this weekend. Individuals can choose to wax no-fluor, low-fluor or high-fluor as they see fit. Notwithstanding this decision, because of the new snow and cold conditions forecast for Friday night, it is expected that the snow will be relative dry and high-fluor waxes will likely not provide much of an advantage anyway.

For the ACT/NSW junior championship at Perisher this weekend, it is expected that all participants will follow the low-fluor waxing protocol as information has been available all season at the Perisher Nordic Shelter and has been distributed to the ACT/NSW squads.

If there are any questions regarding the SSAXC waxing protocol they can be directed to:

Finn Marsland
SSA Cross Country Skiing High Performance Manager
finn.marsland@gmail.com – 0408147940

New AUSXC Award Categories and Nominations

As announced earlier this year, the inaugural AUSXC Awards Dinner will be held in Canberra on April 9, following the Australian Rollerski Championships and Level 0 Coach Course earlier that day. In addition to recognising the XC nominees for the SSA Awards, which will be held in Melbourne on April 28, four new XC award categories will be presented at the AUSXC Awards.

The traditional SSA Award categories that will be recognised at the AUSXC Awards are:

• Athlete of the Year
• Junior Athlete of the Year
• Outstanding Achievement
• Rising Star
• Coach of the Year
• Development Coach of the Year

The new categories are:

• U23 XC Athlete of the Year
• XC Young Achiever
• Masters XC Skier of the Year
• Volunteer of the Year

In this final category, three volunteers will be recognised, one each for NSW, ACT and Victoria. The nomination criteria for each of the awards, including the SSA awards, are posted here:

•  2016 SSA & AUSXC Award Nomination Criteria

Expressions of interest wanted for Athlete Representative

It is time to elect new athlete representatives to the SSA Cross Country Committee (SSAXC) for the 2016/17 and 17/18 seasons. The role of the athlete representative is to:

• Bring an athlete’s perspective to general committee discussion and decisions;
• Advise the committee on athlete specific issues such as selection policies, race calendars, athlete support mechanisms;
• Consult with current national team athletes and wider athlete community;
• Ensure that relevant committee decisions are well communicated to the national team and wider athlete community;
• The athlete representative may also have an active role on other sub-committees depending on their personal skills and experience.

Any current or recent (within 2 years) national team athlete is eligible to apply. Previous athlete representatives are welcome to reapply provided they meet the above criteria. EOIs should be 1-2 paragraphs in length and should briefly outline why the applicant feels they would be suitable for the position and the issues that the applicant feels are most important for the Australian cross country skiing athletes.

Seeking New Australian Head Coach

The Ski & Snowboard Australia Cross Country Committee (SSA XC) is seeking expressions of interest for a Head Coach with the Cross Country Skiing High Performance Program. The intention is for this to be a full-time year-round position.

The Head Coach will primarily be responsible for coaching and leading athletes on the Australian National Team. This includes at major international events, during international tours, on-snow during the Australian winter, and during dryland training periods between winters. Coaching of athletes includes overseeing year-round physical, technical and psychological development.

A significant part of the Head Coach role will also include working with SSA XC and state sporting bodies to develop cross country skiing in Australia, including providing direction to underpinning programs, promoting the sport domestically, and supporting athlete/coach development pathways.

The key roles of the position and desired skills and qualifications are provided in this linked PDF:

• SSAXC_Head-Coach_Job_Description

Remuneration will be dependent on the experience of the successful applicant and whether the position ends up being full-time year round. All travel and living expenses will be covered during training camps and on international tours, as well as other negotiated expenses.

For additional details or any questions contact SSA Cross Country Skiing High Performance Manager Finn Marsland on finn.marsland@gmail.com or +61 408147940. Interested persons should apply via email to jobs@skiandsnowboard.org.au by Friday March 18, 2016, briefly addressing the key selection criteria. Applicants may be invited to supply additional information and/or to attend an interview. The appointment will be made by a panel appointed by SSA XC.

 

2015 XC Towards 2018 Fundraising Wrap-Up

As 2015 draws to a close it seems like a good time to give a wrap-up of the XC Towards 2018 fundraising efforts for the past year. The major team fundraiser of the year was the AUSXC Cocktail Party in Melbourne in October, hosted for the third year in a row at the house of Mandy Milne and Patrick Montgomery. By all accounts it was a very successful night, both from the perspective of fundraising and a social occasion. Approximately 120 people attended the event, which raised over $15,000 towards National Team athlete expenses.

 

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Special guests for the night included Michael Kennedy, the Ski & Snowboard Australia CEO, and Jo Prothero from the Falls Creek Resort, which is the National Team’s major partner and home of the National Training Centre throughout the winter. Features of the evening included silent and loud auctions, a video presentation of the 2015 winter put together by Paul Kovacs, and short speeches by national team athletes.

The other two major annual fundraising activities for XC Towards 2018 are the Sundeck Cup at Perisher and Kangaroo Hoppet ski-waxing. Once again Cliff Wallis and the NSW XC race committee put on a great handicap race and lunch back at the Sundeck Hotel, raising $6,000 for the team. Numbers were up at the Hoppet with over $4,500 raised from the ski-waxing efforts of team coaches and athletes.

The final amount in the bank at the close of the SSA financial year on November 1 was just over $27,500, all of which will go towards National Team athlete expenses in the 2015-2016 international program which is already underway. Though slightly short of the $30,000 fundraising target set earlier in the year, it was very close and additional money is still coming in from Cocktail Party auction items.

Many thanks to everyone who supported all of the XC Towards 2018 fundraising activities, by donating auction items (donors listed below), attending events or getting their skis waxed, or who donated directly via the Australian Sport Foundation. website.

Cocktail Night Donors:

Falls Creek Resort	Eastern Mountain Centre	Merlin Ski Fields Falls Creek
Aimee Watson	Evelyn Helmer	Montgomery Family
Allan Marsland	Fuel Brothers Café	Oz Wood Giftware
Arctic Fit	Geneovese Coffee	Paddy Pallin Jindabyne
Balwyn Sports and Physiotherapy Centre	Geraldine Blanch	Palace Cinemas
	Gillian Hillman	Phillipa’s Bakery
Books In Print	Globe	Paul Family
Bounce	Henry Buck’s	Roof Carrier Systems
Brown Brothers	Jean Claude Legras	Sally Marsland
Bursill Sports Gear	Jessica Yeaton	Simone Perele
Cable Knitwear	Jewellry Plus Ulladulla	Snow, Trek & Travel
Casey Wright	Kat Paul	The Muesli Company
Clive Tutt	Lake Mountain Alpine Resort	Treats Café
Dewez Family	Louise Ajani	Willow
	Lullaby Children’s Wear