Classificação taça calforex

Classificações da Taça Calforex
23 a 24 de janeiro de 2016.
Canmore BMW IBU Copa do Mundo.
Torne-se um membro do Biathlon Alberta:
2015 CAMPO DE VERÃO CAMP (13 de maio)
Os Augustana Vikings têm o prazer de continuar a mais antiga tradição juvenil de biatlo de Alberta e convidar os biatletas de todo o país para Camrose para um treinamento de verão de alto desempenho de 13 a 17 de julho de 2015.
A cidade de Camrose, o Campus Augusta da Universidade de Alberta e o Camrose Ski Club têm orgulho de mostrar mais de onze quilômetros de trilhas de esqui de patins, outros 25 quilômetros de trilhas pela cidade e uma bem equipada Biathlon Range. Todas as trilhas são acessíveis diretamente do Campus. Atletas de todas as províncias e territórios são convidados a participar. O Camrose Camp está aberto a atletas entre 12 e 17 anos de idade, que participaram do biatlo por pelo menos uma temporada completa, pois as atividades de treinamento incluem práticas diárias de tiroteio e tiro ao alvo.

Classificações da Taça Calforex
(Lançamento cortesia do Canmore Nordic Ski Club)
O Clube de Esqui Nórdico de Canmore tem o prazer de anunciar que Rachel Koroscil foi nomeada a partir de 25 de maio como treinador principal de Biatlo. Koroscil substitui Jeff Lodge, que se aposentará nesta primavera.
"Estamos ansiosos para dar as boas-vindas a Rachel no Canmore Nordic Ski Club, & rdquo; disse Jim Hendry, presidente do Canmore Nordic Ski Club. "Estamos confiantes de que ela fornecerá liderança sólida no desenvolvimento contínuo de nosso programa de biatlo".
& ldquo; Queremos agradecer a Jeff Lodge por sua dedicação e contribuição ao programa de biatlo de Canmore, que viu atletas se apresentarem para representar o Canadá nacional e internacionalmente no esporte. & rdquo;
Koroscil é Bacharel em Educação e Bacharel em Educação Física pela Universidade de Manitoba. Ela tem uma série de certificações de coaching e tem sido o Head Coach Provincial da Associação de Biatlo de Manitoba desde 2009, e no verão passado atuou como assistente técnico do Centro de Treinamento Biathlon Alberta localizado em Canmore, Alberta.
"Estou ansioso por ingressar no Canmore Nordic Ski Club", disse Koroscil. "Estou ansioso para compartilhar meu conhecimento, experiência e entusiasmo pelo biatlo, e trabalhar e viver em um dos lugares mais bonitos do mundo".
Para entrevistas ou mais informações, contate Sarah Fabbri.

Classificações da Taça Calforex
(Lançamento cortesia do Canmore Nordic Ski Club)
O Clube de Esqui Nórdico de Canmore tem o prazer de anunciar que Rachel Koroscil foi nomeada a partir de 25 de maio como treinador principal de Biatlo. Koroscil substitui Jeff Lodge, que se aposentará nesta primavera.
"Estamos ansiosos para dar as boas-vindas a Rachel no Canmore Nordic Ski Club, & rdquo; disse Jim Hendry, presidente do Canmore Nordic Ski Club. "Estamos confiantes de que ela fornecerá liderança sólida no desenvolvimento contínuo de nosso programa de biatlo".
& ldquo; Queremos agradecer a Jeff Lodge por sua dedicação e contribuição ao programa de biatlo de Canmore, que viu atletas se apresentarem para representar o Canadá nacional e internacionalmente no esporte. & rdquo;
Koroscil é Bacharel em Educação e Bacharel em Educação Física pela Universidade de Manitoba. Ela tem uma série de certificações de coaching e tem sido o Head Coach Provincial da Associação de Biatlo de Manitoba desde 2009, e no verão passado atuou como assistente técnico do Centro de Treinamento Biathlon Alberta localizado em Canmore, Alberta.
"Estou ansioso por ingressar no Canmore Nordic Ski Club", disse Koroscil. "Estou ansioso para compartilhar meu conhecimento, experiência e entusiasmo pelo biatlo, e trabalhar e viver em um dos lugares mais bonitos do mundo".
Para entrevistas ou mais informações, contate Sarah Fabbri.

404 Página Não Encontrada.
A página que você está procurando não foi encontrada.
A página que você está procurando não existe. Pode ter sido movido ou removido completamente. Talvez você possa voltar à página inicial do site e ver se consegue encontrar o que está procurando.
O Calgary Biathlon Racers é um programa de treinamento de alto desempenho durante todo o ano para atletas com 11 anos ou mais. Oferecemos um caminho para jovens e aspirantes a biatletas realizarem todo o seu potencial em um ambiente sem pressão, solidário e divertido, com foco no desenvolvimento pessoal.
Para consultas gerais sobre programas, admissões, horários e taxas:

Classificações da Taça Calforex
XC - O site australiano de esqui cross country.
Relatórios da equipe australiana 2009/2010.
Australian Team Reports 2009/2010 15 de março - Finalmente uma atualização!
Em fevereiro, as Olimpíadas de Inverno tomaram conta de tudo e as atualizações da internet ficaram em segundo plano. Esperançosamente, os espectadores puderam acompanhar o progresso da equipe australiana através de nossas atualizações no Twitter e em outras mídias mais importantes em casa. Finalmente, agora, aqui está uma breve atualização sobre o mês passado, com os eventos não-olímpicos em primeiro lugar.
Phillips vence a Maratona de Esqui de Sapporo em 14 de fevereiro.
Em meados de fevereiro, Belinda Phillips tornou-se a primeira australiana a vencer um evento da Worldloppet fora da Austrália, a Maratona de Esqui de Sapporo, no Japão. Phillips brincou com ele, vencendo o evento de 50 km Freestyle por quatro minutos e meio à frente da segunda mulher. O último australiano no pódio na principal distância de um evento da Worldloppet fora da Austrália foi Ben Derrick em segundo lugar no Keskinada no Canadá em 2000 (ele também foi o segundo lugar nos 50 km Freestyle no Konig Ludwig Lauf em 2004, embora o clássico evento no Konig é considerado o evento principal). Phillips fez um retorno à equipe australiana para 2009/2010 depois de dar um passo para trás da equipe nacional depois de 2003.
Sim 11º na Maratona de Esqui Engadin, 14 de março.
Ben Sim terminou em 11º lugar na Maratona de Esqui Engadin, na Suíça, a maior maratona de esqui freestyle do mundo. Sim estava a apenas 16 segundos do vencedor, medalhista de ouro olímpico e favorito em casa, Dario Cologna, e estava com os líderes quase até o final. Um grande pacote permaneceu junto durante grande parte da corrida, Sim estava em uma briga depois de Pontresina, mas o bando se juntou novamente, e quando os 6 melhores esquiadores finalmente se separaram, Sim inicialmente foi com eles, mas não conseguiu aguentar firme. Correndo para a linha, ele estava logo atrás de Jerry Ahlin, da Suécia, e à frente de Thomas Freimuth, da Alemanha. O técnico Finn Marsland também competiu e terminou em 299º, depois de quebrar um poste e trabalhar muito duro por 5 km antes de receber uma substituição, ele estava na caixa de lesões para a última parte da corrida.
Murray in the Hurt Box em Vasaloppet, 7 de março.
O erro de Paul Murray no Vasaloppet, além de não treinar muito em janeiro / fevereiro, foi o primeiro na corrida. Entre os 150 primeiros até a segunda estação de bebida em Mangsbodarna e alguns minutos depois dos líderes (depois de quase uma hora e um quarto), os cotovelos de Murray cederam ao redor da marca de 35 quilômetros, e apesar disso foi descida de lá para ele infelizmente a faixa não foi. Murray terminou em 740º lugar na corrida de 90km, tendo parado em todas as estações de bebida na segunda metade da corrida para reabastecer o suficiente para manter o corpo em funcionamento.
O breve resumo das Olimpíadas de Inverno para os esquiadores de cross country da Austrália: Ben Sim correu bem em todos os seus eventos e ficou feliz com suas performances. Esther | Bottomley ficou desapontada com o resultado no sprint clássico, mas ficou satisfeita com a temporada e deu um grande passo em frente na corrida clássica. Paul Murray também ficou desapontado com suas corridas nas Olimpíadas, mas teve algum consolo no fato de que ele conseguiu chegar a um nível em que ele foi capaz de dar o seu melhor tiro depois de estar fora de forma antes do Natal e doente no final de janeiro. Resultados e citações de cada um dos atletas estão disponíveis no site do Comitê Olímpico Australiano. Espera-se que relatórios mais detalhados estejam prontos para a próxima edição do Australian Cross Country News.
10 de fevereiro - Late Canmore Report.
Copa do Mundo, Canmore, Canadá, de 5 a 6 de fevereiro.
A Copa do Mundo de Canmore foi um grande sucesso para a equipe australiana antes das Olimpíadas de Inverno. Paul Murray e Esther Bottomley registraram seus melhores resultados da temporada no Campeonato Mundial de Sprint, e nos 15 km Freestyle Ben Sim teve sua melhor Copa do Mundo desde sua estréia em Beitostolen em dezembro. Todos os três atletas da equipe olímpica australiana parecem estar em boa forma na hora certa. Aimee Watson também teve uma ótima corrida no clássico Sprint, marcando seu melhor resultado de sempre, enquanto Chris Darlington fez sua estréia na Copa do Mundo nos 15 km Freestyle.
Sim terminou em 46º nos 15km, 2:12 atrás do vencedor Giorgio di Centa da Itália. Até os 12km, Sim ainda estava no top 40, mas caiu na última volta e perdeu tempo e lugares nos quilômetros finais. Depois de um sólido treinamento, Sim ficou feliz por sua forma estar indo na direção certa. Darlington assinou a lista em 78º lugar, a 6:42 do ritmo, tendo uma batalha com Andy Pohl da Nova Zelândia até o final. Nos 10km das mulheres, Watson estava em 62º, 5º atrás de Charlotte Kalla, da Suécia.
No contra-relógio do sprint, Bottomley terminou em 40º, cerca de 5,5 segundos fora do top 30 e da final frente a frente. Watson foi apenas mais 7 segundos de volta, em 54 lugar de 63 iniciantes. Bottomley estava pensando em não começar por causa de uma dor de garganta, mas se concentrou bem na corrida depois de decidir competir (por sorte, a garganta do tipo foi embora no dia seguinte). O tempo tiral e a final foram vencidos por Justyna Kowalczyk da Polônia. No contra-relógio masculino, Murray e Sim estavam separados por 1,5 segundos, na 46ª e 50ª posição. Murray estava 15,4 atrás do qualificatório mais rápido e vencedor da corrida, Emil Jonsson, da Suécia. Para Murray, foi um grande alívio encontrar alguma forma de corrida antes dos Jogos Olímpicos de Inverno, depois de uma média da temporada da Copa do Mundo antes do Natal e quase duas semanas de treinamento muito limitado no Canadá devido a um resfriado. O resultado de Sim foi o seu melhor em um sprint da Copa do Mundo, embora ele não vá disputar o evento em Vancouver, pois entre seus dois principais eventos estão os 15km Freestyle e os 30km Pursuit.
Os três atletas olímpicos estão agora em Whistler se preparando para os próximos eventos da semana que vem. O Sim subirá primeiro nos 15 km na segunda-feira, 15 de fevereiro, com Bottomley e Murray correndo dois dias depois no Classic Sprint. Os relatórios neste site serão muito limitados. Para mais informações sobre as performances da equipe australiana em Vancouver, veja o site olímpico australiano e até mesmo a página da equipe australiana no Facebook, que pode ter atualizações curtas e fotos ocasionais.
25 de janeiro - Atualização Assorted.
Devido a dificuldades técnicas, não houve nenhuma atualização aqui por quase duas semanas. Naquela época, houve um pequeno acontecimento - incluindo dois resultados do pódio na competição e seleção da FIS para dois grandes eventos. Leia!
Taça da Alemanha, Hinterzarten, de 16 a 17 de janeiro.
Em seu desempenho mais impressionante da temporada, Esther Bottomley venceu a Sprint da Copa da Alemanha em Hinterzarten em 16 de janeiro. Bottomley foi o segundo no contra-relógio e depois de passar pelas quartas-de-final teve que trabalhar muito para passar pelas semifinais. Na A-final, ela saiu do 4º lugar para a primeira no segundo morro e atravessou o campo passando por cima do campo, e apesar de Dabudyk da França e Grygorenko da Ucrânia terem voltado na última colina, Bottomley tinha o suficiente para levar segure na reta final. Ben Sim aproveitou um ótimo contra-relógio para chegar em décimo no sprint masculino, com o 20º lugar de Mark van der Ploeg o colocando nas mesmas quartas-de-final. Infelizmente, nem chegou às semifinais.
No dia seguinte, as corridas clássicas de distância foram difíceis. Alguns dos australianos foram com zero esquis e alguns com klister, mas ninguém realmente teve um grande dia.
Campeonato Suíço, Marbach, 14 a 16 de janeiro.
A forma de Aimee Watson deu um grande salto no Campeonato Suíço em Marbach. Watson ganhou uma medalha de bronze no clássico de 10 km em 14 de janeiro, atrás dos esquiadores suíços Silvana Bucher e Lucy Pichard. Dois dias depois, nos 10km, o Pursuit Watson voltou a correr bem, exceto por algumas quedas, terminando em 8º, mas apenas 4 segundos fora do 4º lugar.
Selecção do Campeonato do Mundo Júnior / Sub-23.
O Campeonato Mundial Júnior / Sub-23 de 2010 acontece em Hinterzarten, na Floresta Negra, na Alemanha. As primeiras corridas foram hoje e relatórios e resultados e relatórios da equipe australiana serão publicados nesta página especial do WJC / U23. Os atletas australianos do U23 foram selecionados bem antes da competição, com Aimee, Ewan e Callum Watson se classificando de resultados na Europa na última temporada. A equipe júnior foi confirmada após os resultados do último mês, com Robert Jones se juntando a Phillip Bellingham depois de bons resultados na competição da Copa da Suíça. Paul Kovacs estava com a equipe na Europa tentando se qualificar no entanto não cumpriu o padrão de qualificação do ponto FIS.
Equipe Júnior Australiana: Phillip Bellingham, Robert Jones.
Equipe U23: Aimee Watson, Ewan Watson e Callum Watson.
Treinadores: Fabian Mauz, Marc Frey.
Apoio: Paul Kovacs, Dr. Olaf Schumacher.
Seleção Olímpica de Inverno de Vancouver.
Como esperado das corridas de seleção da Copa do Mundo relatadas em 20 de dezembro, três esquiadores australianos foram selecionados para a Seleção Australiana para os Jogos Olímpicos de Inverno de 2010 em Vancouver. Ben Sim, Esther Bottomley e Paul Murray estão agora no Silver Star no Canadá, em fase de preparação final para os jogos. A possibilidade de um quarto lugar-quota se tornar disponível para a Austrália agora parece muito remota, já que a próxima cota da Austrália está no número 54 na lista de alocação do FIS e provavelmente apenas 20 ou mais lugares serão realocados.
13 de janeiro - BC Cup - NSW Junior Report.
A equipe da NSW viajou para West Kelowna no fim de semana de 9 e 10 de janeiro para competir na série de corridas Premier Junior do BC, chamada BC Cup. Esta é uma série de três corridas que cobrem corridas de velocidade e distância, largada de intervalo e de massa e técnica de nado livre e clássico. As corridas da Copa 1 da CB incluíram uma largada de intervalo de distância clássica e uma largada de massa de nado livre de distância, onde os competidores foram alocados posições de começo em três pontas de seta em uma base de sorteio casual.
Dez competidores da NSW se alinharam para começar a correr no fim de semana, em diferentes faixas etárias e distâncias que variam de 1,5 km a 5 km no sábado e de 1,5 km a 10 km no domingo. Cada faixa etária teve uma média de 30-40 pilotos começando e mais de 300 corredores competiram em cada dia do fim de semana.
Darcie Morton foi o primeiro piloto fora da marca em ambos os dias na divisão de idade meninas Pee Wee e correu 1,5 km em ambos os dias. Darcie correu bem no sábado na corrida Classic Interval terminando em 7º e no domingo, apesar de ter começado em 3º devido ao processo de sorteio aleatório, esquiou em uma corrida tremenda contra pilotos muito maiores que ela e terminou em 6º.
Matt Bull e Max Glanville esquiaram em seguida nos meninos Pee Wee Division e como Darcie correram 1.5km. No sábado, na corrida Classic Interval, Max e Matt fizeram grandes corridas com Max terminando em 4º e Matt terminando em 5º. No domingo, no início do Freestyle Mass, Matt foi sorteado cerca de 10 lugares à frente de Max no sistema de ponta de flecha e os dois esquiaram tremendamente até o final com Matt cruzando a linha a 0,20 à frente de Max e na corrida Matt terminou em 8º e Max 9º.
Damon Morton e Hamish Roberts fizeram fila para a categoria de Midget Boys e obviamente há algo na água em BC, pois alguns desses garotos eram maiores que Jackson Bursill! Estamos engarrafando a água e trazendo-a para casa para todos os esquiadores australianos e NSW!
Apesar de sua desvantagem de tamanho, Damon e Hamish conseguiram bons resultados. Na Corrida Clássica de 3.5km no Sábado, Damon terminou em 6º e Hamish em 8º. No domingo e novamente correndo 3.5km, Damon esquiou uma grande corrida e levou a medalha de prata com Hamish também esquiando bem para terminar em 6º. Lugar, colocar.
Lachlan Porter competiu bem no final de semana terminando em 7º no sábado e depois melhorando para o 5º lugar na corrida livre no domingo. Lachlan provavelmente teve uma das divisões mais difíceis no fim de semana, cobrindo 95, 94 e 93 anos de nascimento. No entanto, o sistema canadense reconhece a grande diversidade nessas faixas etárias e grupos, ou seja, o ano de nascimento de 1995 e os resultados de Lachlan refletem seu desempenho em relação àqueles de sua própria idade. No entanto, foi uma competição acirrada, já que vários desses pilotos estão obviamente bebendo muita água na BC e havia uma grande variedade de tamanho na faixa etária de Lachlan.
Lucy Glanville continuou com seus ótimos resultados no Canadá neste fim de semana. Com um campo de quase 40 garotas na divisão Juvenile Girls, Lucy foi bem sucedida em vencer as corridas Classic e Freestyle de 5 km. Estes foram bons resultados para Lucy e será interessante ver como ela vai para a Europa, deixando a equipe de NSW no Canadá para se juntar a Nick e Alex Almoukov na Alemanha e Itália em algumas corridas de Biatlo antes de ir para a Suécia com Nick. e Alex para World Biathlon Juniors no final de janeiro.
Jackson Bursill correu bem durante o fim de semana e terminou em 20º na sua corrida Classic 5km no sábado, e melhorou para terminar em 17º na corrida de 5km no Freestyle no domingo. Jackson continua a melhorar enquanto está aqui no Canadá e seus melhores resultados estão refletindo sua forte ética e foco no treinamento.
Meredith Harvey e Laura Bull voltaram na pista de corrida no domingo e competiram nas corridas de 5 km Juvenile e 10 km Junior Freestyle. Ambas as meninas voltaram à competição e foi uma boa sessão de treinos para eles, com Meredith acabando de voltar de uma pausa de Natal de duas semanas e Laura finalmente se recuperando de sua dor no pé e os efeitos de um resfriado.
A esquiadora de NSW, Siobhan Jones, também correu no fim de semana por seu Canadian Club Golden Nordics. Correndo na mesma faixa etária que Lucy Glanville, Siobhan terminou em 5º no 5km Classic e 8º no 5km Freestyle. Siobhan tem mais alguns meses no Canadá, enquanto os nossos esquiadores de NSW vão voltar para casa no Dia da Austrália, a fim de estar de volta à Austrália para o início do ano letivo de 2010.
Ao todo era um fim de semana bom para os corredores de NSW e uma experiência fantástica para eles e só pode ajudar as carreiras de ato de esquiar de XC deles / delas.
NSWXC e NSWIS XC e Biathlon Coach.
Com o NSWXC e o Biathlon Juniors na Silver Star BC.
12 de janeiro - OPA Cup Report.
Ben Sim e Esther Bottomley lançaram mais alguns bons sprints na OPA Cup em Oberwiesenthal na Alemanha no último final de semana. Bottomley se classificou em 22º lugar no evento Freestyle Sprint no sábado, depois subiu para o 10º lugar na final. O Sim qualificou-se em 12º lugar foi 4º em quartas de final. No dia seguinte, nos eventos à distância, Ben Sim foi o excelente atleta australiano com 14º lugar no clássico de 15 km. As condições eram frias, com temperaturas em torno de -10 impulsionadas por um vento frio no topo da.
Bottomley foi 16 segundos fora do ritmo no contra-relógio de 1,1 km, mas foi seu desempenho de quartas de final que foi mais impressionante. Virando para a reta final em 4º lugar de seis atletas, Bottomley trocou um sprint que quase pegou os três competidores à sua frente. Apenas 0,3 segundos separaram os quatro primeiros, todos com um tempo mais rápido que o vencedor dos outros quatro heats. Consequentemente qualificando-se para a semifinal a tempo, Bottomley superou um atleta suíço na semifinal para assegurar seu segundo Top 10 da OPA Cup. No contra-relógio masculino de 1.3km, Sim estava 7,3 segundos atrás, com Mark van der Ploeg na próxima Australiano 13 segundos atrás e fora do topo 30. Callum Watson foi 21 segundos fora do ritmo e Ewan Watson 27 segundos. No contra-relógio dos juniores masculinos, Phillip Bellingham estava 31 segundos atrás do homem júnior mais rápido, com Paul Kovacs e Robert Jones a mais cinco segundos de volta. Sim estava lá em cima lutando durante as quartas-de-final, mas não conseguiu puxar algo extra na reta final para chegar às semifinais, e terminou em 18º no geral na contagem regressiva. Os vencedores da A-final foram Daria Gaiazova, do Canadá, e Fulvio Scola, da Itália.
No clássico de 10 km feminino no domingo, Aimee Watson e Esther Bottomley ficaram em 29º e 33º, 2:21 e 2:28 atrás do vencedor Laurence Rochat da Suíça. Foi uma corrida sólida de ambos os esquiadores sem ser excepcional. Sim começou conservadoramente para a primeira volta de seis nos 15km Clássicos masculinos, ficando em 26º lugar nas divisões de tempo, então trabalhou firmemente até o 14º lugar, 1:21 atrás do vencedor Dietmar Noeckler da Itália. Foi um desempenho forte e, apesar de Sim estar desapontado por não estar no topo da lista, ele está em um sólido bloco de treinamento de volume desde o Natal. Callum Watson esquiou rápido na última volta para saltar do 49º lugar para o 45º, 3:26 do ritmo. Mark van der Ploeg largou rapidamente com divisões perto de Callum Watson, depois desvaneceu-se no meio da corrida para chegar ao 55º lugar às 4:32, com Ewan Watson na 60ª posição a 5:41 atrás. Os pontos FIS de 116 e 138 de Van der Ploeg e Ewan Watson foram os seus melhores pontos de distância da temporada até agora.
Nos 10 km dos juniores masculinos, o clássico Phillip Bellingham e Robert Jones terminaram em 41º e 44º, 3:46 e 4:36 atrás do vencedor, com pontos FIS de 180 e 204 respectivamente. Apesar de os pontos não terem sido tão bons quanto nas respectivas corridas na Taça da Suíça em Campra, eles ainda estavam apenas entre 12,5% e 15% dos melhores esquiadores da Europa central que provavelmente competiriam no Campeonato Mundial Júnior em duas semanas.
A próxima corrida para todos esses esquiadores será a Copa da Alemanha em Hinterzarten no próximo final de semana.
8 de janeiro - Canadá Junior Report # 2.
Foi um grande dia nas corridas para o NSW Junior XC Team no domingo, 3 de janeiro, na Zona 2 BC Winter Games Trials realizada no Larch Hills XC Ski Club em Salmon Arm. As corridas foram uma corrida de seleção Clássica para os Jogos de Inverno da Zona 2 aC com 107 atletas competindo em faixas etárias de 5 a 18 anos.
Uma equipe de sete pilotos de NSW se alinharam para correr com Laura Bull infelizmente sendo incapaz de começar devido a uma dor no pé, Lachlan Porter optando por ficar na casa da equipe para o dia devido a uma dor de estômago e Meredith Harvey ainda longe em seu feriado de Natal . Os pilotos saíram aos 15 segundos e Darcie Morton foi o primeiro piloto da NSW a começar. Darcie terminou um muito louvável 9º entre 14 pilotos, apesar de ser o piloto mais jovem na faixa etária.
Em seguida foram Max Glanville e Matt Bull. Matt terminou em 4º e Max terminou em 6º na categoria Mini Midget. Foi um ótimo resultado para Max, já que foi sua primeira corrida XC. Darcie, Matt e Max esquiam 3kms.
Damon Morton e Hamish Roberts tiveram um bom desempenho na corrida clássica de 5 km do Junior Boys. Apesar de esquiar contra esquiadores muito maiores que ele, Damon mostrou como é importante a técnica e terminou em 3º, com Hamish terminando 4 segundos atrás em 5º lugar. Jackson Bursill, esquiando em sua primeira corrida no exterior na categoria Junior Boys e contra esquiadores quase 18 meses mais velhos do que ele, atuou com credibilidade para terminar em sexto lugar.
O melhor resultado do dia provavelmente veio de Lucy Glanville na categoria Juvenile Girls. A corrida de Lucy foi de 5 km e ela chegou em 1º, 1,37 minutos à frente do 2º lugar. A margem de vitória de Lucy foi a maior do dia e lhe valeu um comentário do apresentador de medalhas de ganhar em "um momento empolgante".
Foi um grande dia nas corridas para os juniores de NSW e será interessante ver como eles continuam a se apresentar neste fim de semana quando se alinham contra os melhores esquiadores XC no BC na Copa do Canadá n º 1.
NSWXC e NSWIS XC e Biathlon Coach.
Com o NSWXC e o Biathlon Juniors na Silver Star BC.
Relatório Post Script de Toni Hulme.
Apenas algumas coisas extras que Cameron não mencionou neste relatório!
Parabéns deve ir para Cameron por suas grandes habilidades de ensino como Max Glanville tinha apenas sendo esquiar clássico por 4 dias antes desta corrida! E depois de lidar com os sete atletas, Cameron então se enfileirou para a corrida de 10km do Classic Fun e estava confortavelmente comendo seu sanduíche na hora do almoço quando o 2º lugar cruzou a linha!
3 de janeiro - Fischen Night Sprint.
Nem tudo foi planejado para a equipe australiana no Fischen Night Sprint, na Alemanha, no sábado, 2 de janeiro. O principal problema foi a quantidade ridícula de tráfego em quase todas as estradas entre Seefeld, na Áustria, e Fischen, na tarde de sábado. A planejada viagem de duas horas levou cinco horas e meia, resultando na chegada da van da equipe meia hora após o início da corrida. Os atletas que chegaram da Suíça (Esther Bottomley, Phillip Bellingham, Robert Jones, Paul Kovacs e Ewan Watson) estavam lá a tempo, mas não havia nenhum técnico para fazer testes de cera e Bottomley teve que raspar um par de esquis de treinamento para correr . Os organizadores da corrida e o Delegado Técnico foram incrivelmente receptivos e permitiram que os atletas mais recentes (Ben Sim, Mark van der Ploeg e Callum Watson) fizessem seu contra-relógio pouco antes do início da fase final, embora os três não tivessem tempo para se aquecer ou para ver o curso. O percurso foi curto, com o homem mais rápido a esquiar em 1:30 e a mulher mais rápida em 1:43.
Então, como os australianos se comportaram? Bottomley se classificou em 7º lugar, 6 segundos atrás da mulher mais rápida, Lucia Anger, da Alemanha. Van der Ploeg entrou na final em 16º lugar, 7 segundos atrás do ritmo de Andreas Waldmeier, da Suíça, e Sim ficou em 18º lugar, 9 segundos atrás. Bellingham esquiou bem para ser o próximo australiano a 12 segundos atrás, à frente de Ewan Watson e Callum Watson, com Kovacs e Jones um pouco mais atrás. Todos os juniores do U20 correram na classe aberta, então apenas Bottomley e van der Ploeg fizeram as finais. Na semifinal, Bottomley desequilibrou-se no começo e se apoiou em um poste, assim como todos os outros começaram. Última fora do início e com chances limitadas de ultrapassar ela foi para baixo na reta final, mas acabou em 4º no seu calor e 7 geral. Van der Ploeg estava mais perto no início, mas ainda estava em 4º lugar na primeira curva e, apesar de estar em contato até o final, não conseguiu ultrapassar a seqüência.
Felizmente, o tráfego diminuiu para a viagem de volta a Seefeld.
30 de dezembro - Podium + Top 10s em Campra.
Taça Suíça, Campra, 29 a 30 de dezembro.
Foi um bom par de dias de corrida para a equipe australiana na Copa da Suíça em Campra. No clássico Sprint Esther Bottomley marcou seu primeiro pódio da temporada, Ben Sim marcou seus melhores pontos de FIS sprint e terminou em sexto lugar depois de perder por pouco a A-final, e Mark van der Ploeg marcou seus melhores pontos de sprint da temporada . Nos Sims Classic de 10km e 15km Sim, Bottomley e Aimee Watson chegaram ao top 10, e os esquiadores Australian Junior Team Phillip Bellingham e Robert Jones ambos se classificaram para o World Junior Championship em sua primeira corrida FIS na Europa.
Bottomley ficou em segundo na prova de sprint, menos de um segundo atrás de Laurien Van Der Graaff, da Suíça, e depois passou pela final do campeonato para ficar em terceiro lugar atrás de Bettina Gruber e Van der Graaff. Os 71 pontos FIS de Bottomley foram os melhores de sempre em um sprint clássico e reforçam o passo que ela deu no inverno. Aimee Watson esquiou bem nas quartas-de-final depois de cair no contra-relógio, esquiando até o terceiro lugar na bateria e na 12ª colocação geral. O ex-atleta australiano KT Calder foi eliminado nas semifinais e terminou em 5º lugar no geral. Sim e van der Ploeg qualificaram-se para as finais em 7º e 13º lugar, marcando 68 e 107 pontos FIS, respectivamente. Sim lutou muito para chegar às quartas-de-final e depois novamente para chegar à final, terminando em terceiro na semifinal, logo atrás dos dois primeiros esquiadores. Van der Ploeg foi o terceiro nas quartas de final a subir para o 12º lugar no geral. Callum e Ewan Watson ficaram de fora da 21ª e 22ª posição, enquanto Bellingham, Jones e Paul Kovacs também ficaram aquém das finais juniores. O A-final masculino foi vencido por Valerio Leccardi da Suíça (que também venceu o campeonato australiano Sprint no inverno passado).
Aimee Watson teve um pouco de azar no 10km Classic feminino, tendo seu poste quebrado por um dos juniores logo após iniciar sua segunda volta. Ela recebeu um poste de substituição do treinador espanhol, em seguida, esquiou para ocupar o 8 º lugar apenas dois minutos atrás do vencedor suíço Seraina Boner. Bottomley teve uma boa corrida para ficar em 9º lugar 18 segundos atrás de Watson. , as duas australianas pontuando FIS de 102 e 109, a primeira de Bottomley abaixo de 120 em evento de distância e a segunda de Watson nesta temporada. Bellingham, Jones e Kovacs se saíram bem no clássico de 10km do junior men, terminando em 33º, 35º e 42º de 51 partidas, com Bellingham 3:34 atrás do vencedor Jonas Baumann. Baumann venceu uma corrida da OPA Cup na temporada passada e foi 11º no clássico de 10km no Campeonato Mundial Junior de 2008. Os pontos de Bellingham e Jones de 159 e 162 estavam sob o padrão de qualificação da equipe australiana de 195 pontos para o Campeonato Mundial Júnior de 2010, que acontece em Hinterzarten na Alemanha no final de janeiro.
Nos 15km masculinos, Sim sentiu-se cansado desde cedo, mas cavou fundo para subir para o 5º lugar nos últimos 5km e manter-se no final. Sim foi pego por trás pelos eventuais esquiadores de 1º e 2º colocados, Remo Fischer e Thomas Diezig, mas só perdeu mais 29 segundos para Fischer acabar em 1:29 do ritmo. Callum Watson também lutou no início, mas empurrou a barreira de querer sair e esquiou até o 13º lugar, pouco mais de dois minutos atrás de Sim. Os pontos FIS de 89 de Callum também ajudarão sua média. Ewan Watson em sua primeira corrida da temporada depois de chegar na Europa há uma semana terminou em 21º, e apesar de achar que a corrida foi dura, ficou razoavelmente feliz com o resultado depois de um tempo tão curto na neve.
A maioria do Esquadrão Olímpico está agora em Seefeld, na Áustria, com exceção de Paul Murray, que está na Suécia, e Bottomley, que está passando a véspera do Ano Novo em Davos, na Suíça. Ewan Watson e os juniores ficaram em Campra junto com a equipe britânica de juniores.
Pódio de Campra Sprint - Van der Graaff, Gruber, Bottomley - Dezembro de 2009.
28 de dezembro - Bits do Canadá.
Canmore 50km Classic, 23 de dezembro.
Na semana passada, a seleção olímpica canadense realizou uma seleção de 30 / 50km de eventos clássicos em Canmore, onde Chris Darlington está morando durante o inverno setentrional. Darlo disse: "Foi um dia difícil. A corrida foi de 10 voltas do percurso possivelmente mais montanhoso em que eu já corri. Andei de forma conservadora e fiquei feliz por tê-lo organizado tecnicamente e consegui esquiar nas pistas toda a corrida." Foi muito divertido fazer uma corrida de início de intervalo de 50 km, já que quase todas as corridas longas realizadas na última década são agora um começo fácil. "
Darlo terminou em 20º de um pequeno mas forte campo de 28 homens. Brian McKeever venceu a corrida masculina e Madeleine Williams venceu o evento feminino de 30 km. Andrew Pohl, da Nova Zelândia, fez uma corrida forte terminando em 17º lugar, especialmente considerando que ele experimentou um problema de equipamento quando a sola de sua bota direita quase caiu e ele teve que parar e substituir sua bota quando um treinador lhe entregou um substituto.
Resultados completos podem ser encontrados no site da Zona 4.
Os juniores de NSW começam a competir na estrela de prata.
O técnico da NSWXC e da NSWIS, Cameron Morton, está atualmente no Silver Star BC, Canadá treinando e competindo com 10 NSW Juniors, incluindo os membros da equipe júnior australiana Lucy Glanville, Jackson Bursill e Laura Bull. A equipe tem treinado muito com muito foco no trabalho de técnica.
Juniors Lucy Glanville, Meredith Harvey and Lachlan Porter had their first weekend of racing at the NorAms at Sovereign Lake on 12/13 Dec. They were joined by senior Australian racer Chris Darlington, who had come across from Canmore where he is working and training.
It was an interesting challenge for the juniors who were still adjusting to the cold and altitude after having been in Silver Star for just over a week. Nevertheless, they took up the challenge and achieved some promising results in what was their first overseas racing experience.
Meredith and Lachlan raced well in the Juvenile Girls and Boys competition with Meredith achieving a 16th position out of 22 starters in the 5km freestyle and 17th out of 25 starters in the Freestyle Sprint time-trial, qualifying her for the quarter-finals where unfortunately she was grouped in the same heat as Lucy. Lachlan found the racing a little tougher being the younger age of a three year age grouping, but still enjoyed and learned from the experience and put the race training to good use at Canmore the following week at a Calforex Cup biathlon race.
Lucy Glanville skied to a pleasing 20/38 in the 10km Junior (up to 20yrs) Freestyle event. Lucy was one of only three 1994 born racers in the field, as the Canadians have adopted a new racing model whereby they recognise the earlier development of female XC racers and permit the elder of their Juvenile Division (14/15yrs) to races as Juniors if appropriate. In finishing 20th Lucy finished ahead of some 18 Canadian and US juniors all older than herself. Lucy commented that she felt the altitude about half-way though the race and the mid part of the race was tough, but rallied to finish strongly.
In the Sprints Cameron opted for Lucy to revert back to her age group (as did the other 1994 racers) to race the Juvenile event. Lucy achieved 4th place in the time-trial and then maintained this form to finish 4th in the A final. It was a good result for Lucy, said Cameron, as she closed the gap quite significantly on the 3 racers in front of her in the A Final as opposed to the Time-Trail. It should be interesting to see how she goes in a number of upcoming races as she gets into a training rhythm and acclimatises better.
The next series of races are the BC Winter Games Trials and BC Cup No 1. These weekends of racing are followed by a more relaxed Citizen Classic Loppet event at Salmon Arm on the weekend of 16 January. The team is now focused on some strong training sessions with the local Sovereign Lake juniors and some upcoming time trails amongst themselves.
Cameron wishes to express his great thanks to Chris Darlington for his fantastic assistance with the Juniors over the 4 days of the NorAms. Chris bunked in with the team. and not only cooked, mentored and skied with the team, but also assisted with waxing and team captain meetings. Come back anytime Darlo!
More news to follow in the new year after the next weekend of racing.
NSWXC and NSWIS Coach.
With the NSW Junior XC Team in Silver Star BC.
December 20 - Vancouver Selection Ranking.
World Cup, Rogla, Slovenia, December 19-20.
Ben Sim had one o f his best ever World Cup classic races on Sunday, finishing 43rd in the 30km Classic mass start in Rogla in Slovenia. Sim was in the lead pack for the first three 2.5km laps then dropped off as the pace picked up into the first intermediate sprint. Through the middle of the race he skied up past other skiers who had dropped off the pack before finishing the last 7.5km solo to end up just over five minutes behind the winner Petter Northug from Norway. Callum Watson put in a great effort in the same race to make it through to the 23km mark before he was overlapped by the lead pack and had to withdraw. With a large numbers of skiers being overlapped or withdrawing Callum ended up ranked 51st, his best World Cup place even though he recieves no FIS points as an overlapped skier. Watson skied most of the race with the sole Slovenian skier, ensuring that he received a lot of crowd attention. The temperature was around -14 for most of the race and it was a tough race with the men having to ski up the major climb 12 times on the the short loop.
In the women's 15km Classic Aimee Watson finished 61st out of 66 starters, eight minutes behind the winner Justyna Kowalczyk from Poland. It wasn't a great race from Aimee and she was disappointed with the result. She skied much of the race see-sawing back and forth with Johansen from Slovakia, with Slovak pulling away on the downhills and Aimee coming back on the uphills.
Esther Bottomley scored her best classic World Cup result in Rogla, finishing 44th out of 61 starters in the Classic Sprint. Conditions were challenging with snow falling steadily and strong winds, however Bottomley stepped up to her best result of the season. Bottomley was 25 seconds behind the fastest qualifyer Kowalczyk, which would normally be a large time gap however with this course the winner's time was 4:10 and all the times were spread out. 30th place was over 16 seconds behind, when the last qualifier for the finals is normally around 10-12 seconds. Bottomley raced on German skier Claudia Kuenzel's skis, having arranged with the Atomic service team to test Kuenzel's second pair after she had selected her best pair.
Things weren't so rosy for the Australian men in the Classic Sprint. Paul Murray was 66th and Mark van der Ploeg 68th from 69 starters. Both athletes found it hard going on the long course, with Murray 26 seconds and van der Ploeg 35 seconds behind the fastest qualifier Andy Newell from the USA. While Murray is likely to make it onto the team for Vancouver because of his performance in Stockholm in March, he has been racing well below his normal standard all winter so far and will need a big turn around in form if he is to reach his goal of making the Olympic Sprint finals.
Vancouver Selection Ranking.
30.00% - Ben Sim (Beitostolen 15km Freestyle, November 2009)
43.30% - Paul Murray (Stockholm Sprint Classic, March 2009)
72.13% - Esther Bottomley (Rogla Sprint Classic, December 2009)
75.00% - Callum Watson (Rogla 30km Classic, December 2009)
88.52% - Aimee Watson* (Lahti 10km Freestyle, March 2009)
95.83% - Nick Grimmer (Trondheim Sprint Classic, March 2009)
96.70% - Mark van der Ploeg (Kuusamo Sprint Classic, November 2009)
*Aimee Watson needs one more result under 100 FIS points to reach the Vancouver A-Qualifying Standard. The other six athletes have already met the A Standard.
Currently the Australian quota for cross country skiing is three athletes, including one of each gender. This quota is based on FIS world rankings and will be finalised between January 18 and January 24. There is a small chance that the Australian quota could go up to four athletes depending most likely on the rankings of Bottomley and Sim.
December 13 - Davos World Cups.
World Cup, Davos, Switzerland, December 12-13.
Mark van der Plo eg and Esther Bottomley started to find some sprint form today in the World Cup in Davos, however for Paul Murray a good race this season remained elusive. Van der Ploeg's 80th place from 99 starters in the Davos Freestyle Sprint was his best World Cup result, Murray's 95th place was definitely not. Bottomley's 62nd place from 77 starters was a step in the right direction, her best World Cup in Europe since the 2006 season. The Davos sprint course was tough, 1.7km for men and 1.4km for women, with a long hill taking up the first half of the race. All three Aussies had to pace the race well to stop from going under before the top of the course. Van der Ploeg and Murray were 21 seconds and 28 seconds behind the fastest male qualifier Petukhov of Russia. Bottomley was 17 seconds behind the fastest female qualifier Follis from Italy. Dahl from Norway won the men's A-final, Majdic from Slovenia won the women's A-final.
Ben Sim had another strong result in the 15km Freestyle in Davos, finishing in 67th place 2:15 behind the winner Heikkinen from Finland. Sim started the race maybe a little fast, within 14 seconds of the top 30 after the first 5km, then found it tough through the middle of the race before latching on to another Finnish skier and skiing solidly with him to the finish. Callum Watson was 87th of the field of 93 starters, 4:56 behind Heikkinen. He too suffered through the middle of the race, going too hard on the second lap trying to hand onto a skier on their first lap. Aimee Watson was 77th out of 94 in the women's 10km Freestyle, 4:50 behind the winner Khazova from Russia (recently back on the circuit after a two-year doping ban). Aimee wasn't completely satisfied with her race, she felt she skied a lot better in the Swiss Cup the previous weekend.
Special thanks to Anthony Evans who joined the waxing/testing team for the Davos World Cup, and also to his wife Carla Zijlstra-Evans for her physiotherapy assistance.
The team will stay in Davos until Wednesday, then head to Slovenia for the final pre-Christmas World Cups in Rogla.
Aimee Watson and Mark van der Ploeg racing in Davos.
The team in Davos: Anthony Evans (test pilot), Markus Walser (technician), Esther Bottomley, Callum Watson,
Aimee Watson, Mark van der Ploeg, Ben Sim, Paul Murray, Finn Marsland (coach).
December 6 - Goms Races.
Swiss Cup, Obergoms, Switzerland, December 5-6.
Aimee Watson achieved her best ever FIS points in the Goms Swiss Cup on Saturday December 5. Watson was 8th in the 5km Classic, 1:04 behind the winner Yulia Tchekaleva from Russia, scoring FIS points of 87.7. This was Watson's first race under 90 points, which gives her full qualification for World Cup. Esther Bottomley was close to Watson in the time splits after 3km but then her legs went under up the largest hill and she ended up 1:50 off the pace in 17th place - still however with reasonably good FIS points of 126.5. There was a strong international field in the women's event with Russians, Belorussians, Romanians, and a lot of Polish and Croatian juniors. Interestingly there was only one Swiss ahead of Watson and only four ahead of Bottomley. KT Calder skiing from New Zealand was 9th. Waxing conditions were relatively straight forward with blue stick variations common and the Australians were both happy with their skis.
The next day in the 10km Freestyle mass start Watson and Bottomley ended up in the same chasing group after 10 or so skiers went off the front. Watson was strong on the hills but Bottomley and others in their group were coming past on the downhills. Watson lead a group of five over the last hill, then Bottomley came past with momentum and won the group sprint for 13th place 2:18 behind the winner, with Watson overtaken on the line for 17th place 2:22 behind. Belorussian skiers took the top two places, KT Calder was 9th. Of interest again, only two Swiss skiers were ahead of Bottomley. In the 15km Freestyle Mark van der Ploeg finished 49th, 6:04 behind the winner Remo Fischer of Switzerland. Fischer left the field behind already after 1km, stretching the field apart quickly, and won by 50 seconds ahead of Slepov of Russia. Van der Ploeg had a bit of frustration similar to Watson with skis a little slower than skiers around him.
All of the Australian Team are now back in Davos, where the next World Cup events take place on December 12/13.
Mark van der Ploeg takes a corner in the 15km Freestyle in the Goms.
December 3 - Quick Ruka Postscript.
World Cup, Ruka, Finland November 29.
All three Australians had pretty solid results in the distance races in Ruka last Sunday. Ben Sim finished 59th in the 15km Classic, and while that's not as exciting as the World Cup points the previous week the result underlined that he has stepped it up a notch this winter. Sim was 1:41 behind the winner Petter Northug of Norway, and 42 seconds outside of the top 30. Callum Watson scored his best World Cup result finishing 88th out of 98 starters in the 15km, with FIS points of 73.5 a new PB. Another milestone for Callum was that at 3:15 behind Northug he was under 10% behind the World Cup winner for the first time. Aimee Watson had her best result of the season so far, finishing 77th out of 85 starters in the 10km Classic and scoring FIS points of 122. All three were happy with their grip and the way that they skied.
The team is now in Davos in Switzerland, where snow fell just in time on Monday. Aimee Watson, Esther Bottomley and Mark van der Ploeg will travel to the Obergoms tomorrow for Swiss Cup races on the weekend, while the rest of the team will remain to train in Davos.
November 28 - Not Quite Rocking in Ruka.
World Cup, Ruka, Finland November 28.
Today's World Cup Classic Sprint in Ruka was nothing exciting to write home about. Esther Bottomley was 74th out of 79, Paul Murray and Mark van der Ploeg were 81st and 88th out of 91. All three were a little light on for grip. The wax was okay during testing but the track became a bit wetter after more traffic during the qualification and all three slipped at least a few times on the main hill back in the stadium. For the guys it was also apparent that they'd had to work harder to make their skis grip on the first hill and they were already more tired than they should have been before they hit the last hill. Bottomley was 27 seconds behind the fastest qualifier Aino-Kaisa Saarinen of Finland, while Murray and van der Ploeg were 24 and 30 seconds behind Emil Jonsson of Sweden. Justyna Kowalczyk from Poland won the women's A-final, Ola Vigen Hattestad from Norway won the men's A-Final.
A more personal view is available on Paul Murray's website: paulmurray. cc.
Tomorrow the Ruka action continues with Aimee Watson racing the 10km Classic and Ben Sim and Callum Watson competing in the 15km Classic. Don't hold your breath for a post race report as the service team will be packing up mid-race for a quick departure as they begin the drive south to Switzerland. Look instead to the FIS site.
November 21 - World Cup Points!
World Cup, Beitostolen, Norway November 21.
World Cup Points! You'd better believe it! Ben Sim became the second Australian cross country skier ever to score World Cup points, and the first to do it in a distance event. Sim finished 30th in the opening World Cup 15km Freestyle in Beitostolen in Norway, just 1:07 behind the winner Ronny Hafsaas of Norway. It was tight race - ten seconds quicker and he would have been 25th place, 5 second slower and he would have been 35th.
Conditions were fast, with rain overnight freezing and creating a track composed of ice and sugar. Sim started with bib number 31 and on the time splits was sitting around 30th place the entire race. With a kilometre and a half to go there were six skiers all with a chance of taking places 29 and 30, and Sim seized the opportunity to take one World Cup point. The feeling was that he had just missed out, so when the results appeared on the screen in the stadium and on the TV in the athletes' room the Australian Team reactions were such that spectators would be forgiven for thinking that Simbo had won the race. Paul Murray is the only other Australian to score World Cup points, he finished 29th and took two points in the Reit im Winkl sprint in 2005. For full results and to see all the big names behind Simbo look to the FIS site.
In the same race Callum Watson finished 94th out of the field of 100 starters. He was 3:46 behind Hafsaas, scoring personal best FIS points of 86.9, and was also ahead of one Norwegian which is always good.
Unfortunately not everything went to plan today. Aimee Watson struggled with the icy conditions in the 10km Freestyle and was frustrated and disappointed with her 85th place out of 91 starters. Aimee was 5:22 behind the winner Marit Bjorgen of Norway, who won by 30 seconds. Full results on the FIS site.
World Cup relays are on tomorrow in Beitostolen but instead the team will begin transit towards Kuusamo. The athletes will fly from Oslo and Stockholm (the sprinters in Sweden) on Monday, while the service team will drive through over the next two days. Special thanks to Duane Butcher for his waxing support for the Norwegian events, and also thanks and welcome to Markus Walser from Switzerland who has joined the service team from now until the World Cup in Rogla.
World Cup points on the big screen in Beitostolen!
November 15 - Season Openers.
"Beitosprinten", Beitostolen, Norway, November 14-15.
Ben Sim made a great start to the season with two impressive results in the Norwegian cross country premiere at Beitostolen in Norway. Sim was 36th in the 15km Freestyle on Saturday November 14, and then 42nd in the 10km Classic the next day. As any Australian that has raced in a Nowegian Cup before will know, the starting fields in Norway are just about as tough as they get outside of World Cup. In addition to the strong Norwegian fields the national teams of Switzerland, Slovakia, Japan, Italy and the USA were competing, plus also the Russian men's distance team. Sim's results caught the attention of spectators and other athletes in Beitostolen, and bode well for the World Cup coming up next weekend on the same track. He was 2:19 behind Petter Northug of Norway in the freestyle event and 2:17 behind Martin Sundby of Norway in the classic.
Aimee Watson and Callum Watson also had quite good opening races. Aimee was 57th out of 69 in the 10km Freestyle, and 55th out of 76 in the 5km Classic. The classic race was the better one, with Aimee 2:02 behind the winner Marit Bjoergen of Norway who was 23 seconds clear of second placed Kristin Steira. Callum finished 102nd and just under 15% behind the winner on both days, out of 117 starters in the 15km Freestyle, and from a field of 125 in the 10km Classic. His start in the classic was only confirmed the evening before the race, as the organisers bowed to pressure from Nowegian coaches to allow withdrawn athletes to be replaced.
Classic waxing for the Sunday races was a little tricky, with snow overnight and then rain during the morning. A lot of skiers went on micro-based skis, but there were also some racing on klister. Sim and Aimee Watson opted for the micro skis and were happy with their choice, while Callum Watson went for klister - his grip was very good but his glide was lacking a little. With one week now to the World Cup all three are reasonable satisified with their preparation.
Bruksvallsloppet, Bruksvallarna, Sweden, November 14-15.
Difficult waxing predictions for Bruksvallarna came true on the weekend, and the Australians racing didn't quite nail it. In the men's Classic Sprint on Saturday November 14 most of the finalists opted to double pole on skating skis in the qualification, while Paul Murray, Mark van der Ploeg and Leon Spiller opted for classic wax. They ended up 40th, 58th and 92nd, not too bad out of a field of 92 starters but not where they wanted to be. Esther Bottomley qualified for the women's finals in 30th place, then after switching to skating skis and double poling her quarterfinal finished in 20th place. Similarly to the races in Norway there were many other national teams competing, including Canada, Poland, Czech, and China. Here's Paul Murray's report from the race.
Today's classic sprint in Bruks was a decent hitout for the three of us. With snow dumping down just before qualifying there was lots of talk the last few days of people double poling on skate skis. None of the Aussies backed themselves enough to double pole, but in the end it would have been the smarter option for today as grip wax was very slow and almost dragging on the downhills. Esther was the only one to make the finals in 30th place and opted to chance it and double pole her quater final. She smoked and ended up 4th in her heat. 20th overall. The final for the men were all duelled out on skating skis.
Mark Vandy, Leon Spiller and I all opted for grip. None of us made the finals. Only a handful of guys who made the top 30 used wax and all of them have previously been in a world cup final. Standing in start area it was evident that there were not many guys with wax. None the less the boys had a good workout. It wasn't the start we were looking for, but we'll have a chance to get some back in two weeks in Kuusamo. Tomorrow's race is a 15km skate for men, 10km skate for women.
Es " Wax skis were not ideal, so double poling the heats seemed like a good idea."
Mark "I did well considering 4 minutes of double poling is not my specialty"
Paul " Lucky I did all that double poling the last 6 months to use wax on my skis today. "
The next day in the freestyle distance races Mark VDP and Esther Bottomley had reasonably solid races, Mark finishing 4:45 behind the winner in the 15km Freestyle in 83rd place out of 140 odd, and Esther 4:10 behind the winner in the 10km Freestyle in 40th out of 67. Unfortunately Paul Murray lucked out with the skis again, finishing in 128th place in the 15km over eight minutes back. Not sure if it was the wax or the structure, but the glide wasn't good. What is good that all three are healthy and motivated for the World Cup sprint in Finland in two weeks' time.
November 13 - First Races Tomorrow.
This weekend the Australian Team takes on competitions in two different countries. In Beitostolen in Norway Ben Sim, Aimee Watson and Callum Watson are racing in the "Beitosprinten", not a sprint event at all but the general Norwegian season opener with different races over three days. There are individual freestyle races tomorrow and classic races on Sunday. In Bruksvallarna in Sweden Paul Murray, Mark van der Ploeg and Esther Bottomley race a classic sprint tomorrow and distance freestyle races on Sunday. At both locations it is expected to snow in the morning, quite heavily in Norway. The classic waxing could be tricky. In Bruks the new snow will likely change the conditions from covered klister to straight stick, and the Aussie athletes there also have no-wax microbase skis ready just in case the snow comes in closer to zero than forecast. In Norway on Sunday the microbase skis will be ready as well, as it it forecast to snow/rain just above zero. Interesting times, may we live in them!
For those impatient for reports, try these links:
With the Beitosprinten events there is a limit on the starting field because of the live TV sending, based on FIS rankings. Only the 128 highest ranked men and 80 women are allowed to start. Unfortunately Callum Watson just missed the cut for the men's 10km Classic on Sunday, by one place! Though it may be that some athletes will withdraw due to illness or other reasons before Sunday the organisers say the lists are now final. Callum is extra fired up for the freestyle race now.
Aimee Watson, Callum Watson, and Ben Sim unaware of the.
treacherous drive to Norway that was to follow the next day.
Esther Bottomley and Mark VDP contemplating stealing the Swedish Team van.
November 9 - Preparing For The Season.
It is early November and the Australian Team has already been on snow in Europe for over a week. Six athletes are holed up in a house in Bruksvallarna in Sweden, about 8 hours by car north-west of Stockholm not far from the Norwegian border (see map below). Snow conditions are very good in Bruksvallarna, and several other national teams have been arriving over the last week including from Slovakia, Poland, Canada, and strangely enough the Swedish team is here too. Paul Murray, Esther Bottomley, Aimee Watson, Callum Watson, Ben Sim and Mark van der Ploeg are all members of the Australian cross country Olympic Squad, and most likely three of these will represent Australia at Vancouver in February 2010. Nick Grimmer who has also been named to this squad has decided to remain home in Australia for the summer, although he will be on the first plane out of Melbourne if his performances from last March are good enough for him to be selected for Vancouver.
Mark VDP, Callum Watson, Esther Bottomley, and Ben Sim in Bruksvallarna.
On Thursday November 12 the team will split up, with Sim and the two Watsons heading to Norway to race on the weekend in Beitostolen, where the opening World Cup will take place on November 21. Murray, Bottomley and van der Ploeg will remain in Bruksvallarna to race the Swedish Cup classic sprint and freestyle distance events and then train for a week before heading to Kuusamo in Finland for the first World Cup sprint. World Cup competition for the Australian Team will continue in December with Davos in Switzerland and Rogla in Slovenia, and then on December 20 the ranking list for Olympic selection will be finalised.
The atmosphere amongst the team is good. Bottomley and Aimee Watson have been having some minor injury issues, otherwise everyone is fit and healthy. Bottomley has been a little stressed writing essays for university, however in a week her studies will finish for the year with a ceremonial book burning.
The Team Email reports which started last season will recommence again soon. If you would like to be added onto the mailing list please send an email to finn. marsland at gmail. Insight into some of the team activities can also be found on Paul Murray's website paulmurray. cc.
Oh, and if you are bored because team updates are not coming fast enough, you can try out these World Cup quizzes, Cross Country Distance 2009 and Cross Country Sprint 2009. The general consensus amongst the team in Bruks is that the distance one is easier than the sprint.

Evan Guthrie Confirms Heroes Need Heroes.
Recognized seven years ago as a award winner at the same event, Evan Guthrie , emphasized on Wednesday that “it takes a community to raise an athlete.”
Guthrie, a two-time national junior mountain bike champion and now aiming to make Canada’s team at the Olympics in Rio this summer, was the keynote speaker addressing a large gathering at the 2016 version of the Community Sports Hero Awards reception at the Rotary Centre Of The Arts.
“As an athlete you realize pretty quickly that without support from those around you, the journey might not be possible. And it definitely won’t be meaningful,” said the 24-year-old Peachland resident at the annual event hosted by the City of Kelowna and PacificSport Okanagan. “Pursuing dreams with the support of others makes it all the more special.”
For Guthrie, family — parents, his brother and grandparents — was the foundation for his passion for mountain biking. And being a part of a team and finding a sense of belonging was another major step in his progress as a national - and international-level athlete.
Guthrie referred to his Grade 8 rugby team — coached by Evan Orloff and Greg Hyslop — at Glenrosa Middle School as another stepping stone on his journey. The GMS Jaguars went 14-0 that season.
“We knew, without saying a word, that we had perfection because, as U. S. high school and college coach, Gary Gaines , once said, ‘perfection is being able to look your friends in the eye and know you did everything you could not to let them down.’
“That team was my community.”
Also a member of the Total Restoration Cycling Team from 2007 to 2009, Guthrie said that group took him under their wings and fostered his development from a provincial-level rider to a world championship medalist (team silver in Australia in 2009).
“I was the youngest rider by almost 10 years, and to this day my teammates are all still my friends and some are my training partners.”
Guthrie said there were just too many people in his community to mention them all. But he did allude to Catharine Pendrel of Kamloops, a world champion mountain biker and teammate, whose husband Keith is his coach.
“Catharine is my friend and I look up to her a lot and learn so much. We train in silence and it inspires me,” he said, urging the athletes in attendance to find those types of people and create relationships with them.
In closing, Guthrie said that having competed in many local, provincial, national and international events over the years, he has a special appreciation for volunteers.
“I have supporters in this room who have taken a genuine interest in what I’m doing, and now I have this whole room as part of my community because we’re here to celebrate the hard work of athletes and volunteers — together.”
The Mt. Boucherie Secondary School graduate shared his conversation with a friend just prior to Wednesday’s reception.
“He said that as an athlete, you’re the most significant part of the event in which your competing. When you’re on the podium, everything is about you and you are being celebrated.
“But without the volunteers, you would not be there and you would have nothing. So I thank the volunteers in my community and your community. We athletes cannot pursue our passion and dreams without your support.”
Meanwhile, the reception recognized and honoured local athletes, volunteers and service providers for their outstanding contributions to sport throughout the Okanagan.
Included were eight Athletic Excellence Award recipients — Danielle Gruber (gymnastics), Kailin Jones (volleyball), Olivia Gran (figure skating), Hannah Bennison (athletics), Ryan Moffat (alpine skiing), Riley McLean (swimming), Nao Raincock-Ekunwe (basketball), Heather Wurtele (triathlon) and Tekarra Banser (biathlon).
Ten Sport Hero Awards were also presented — Johnny Vesterinen (tennis), Mike Walsh (athletics), Travis Wray (lacrosse), Scott Jacobsen (soccer), Ben Macauley (football), Todd Russell (baseball), Ken Boe (rugby), George Curran (rugby), Dan Bernheisel (basketball) and Paul Thiessen (volleyball).
The following is an edited version of the script prepared for the 2016 reception by PacificSport Okanagan and City of Kelowna staff:
Trampoline and tumbling gymnast, Danielle Gruber, has tumbled, bounced, and vaulted her way to the top of the Canadian gymnastics world.
A member of Canada’s double-mini trampoline team at the world championships in Denmark in November, Dani won a gold medal in the team event, while finishing seventh individually. Those accomplishments came on the heels of winning Canadian and B. C. titles in double mini in 2015.
A longtime member of the Okanagan Gymnastics Centre, Dani has been a role model, guiding and supporting her teammates. With plans to focus on school in 2016, look for Dani in 2017 when she plans to again represent Canada on the international stage.
“Offence wins games, but defence wins championships.”
A quote to live by for the UBCO Heat volleyball program and the mantra for Kailin Jones.
The veteran libero for the No 1-ranked CIS team in the country, Jones is closing out a five-year career at UBCO after graduating from Kelowna Secondary School and playing for her beloved Owls.
Among the top defensive players in Canada West, Kailin gives back to the volleyball community as a coach, co-ordinator, official and volunteer.
Her focus now however is a playoff berth at the CIS national tournament.
Elegance, precision, and perseverance are all accurate descriptions of local championship figure skater, Olivia Gran.
In 2015, Olivia medalled at nearly every competition she entered. She won both the BC and Yukon Sectionals and Skate Canada Challenge events, setting a Novice women’s Canadian record of 130.23 points.
Most recently, Olivia returned home from Halifax with a junior national silver medal.
With guidance from Kelowna Skating Club coaches Karen and Jason Mongrain, look for this talented skater to continue to jump and twirl to the top.
Born and raised in Vernon, Hannah Bennison loves to run and she loves to run fast.
A member of the Kelowna-based Okanagan Athletics Club, Hannah has emerged as one of the best middle distance runners in B. C. e além.
In 2015, Hannah won nearly every race she entered. She started the year on the right track winning the B. C high school 3000-metre championship, breaking a record by Brenda Shackleton of Kelowna that stood for more than 30 years.
She then went on to represent Canada at the world youth track and field championships in Colombia, finishing eighth in the world.
Just when you think 2015 could not go any better, she went undefeated in the cross country season, capping it with a gold medal at the Canadian junior cross country championship in Kingston, Ont.
Kelowna’s Ryan Moffat likes to go downhill fast – sometimes too fast.
His aggressive style has paid off with some impressive results in 2015 including qualifying to represent Canada at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
Being selected did involve crashing on two of the four qualifying races but the Okanagan Ski Team member laid it down when it counted on the final day to make Team Canada.
Ryan finished the 2015 season ranked No. 1 in Canada in giant slalom, fourth in Super G and eighth in slalom among the U18 FIS skier rankings.
On the heels of his recent success, the Rutland Secondary School grad will showcase his aggressive style at the Youth Olympics.
Vernon’s Riley McLean, is a para-swimmer with his sights set on the 2016 Paralympics Games in Rio.
Riley had an outstanding 2015 season, setting a Canadian record and competing for Canada at the Para-Pan Am Games where he finished fourth in the 100-metre free, and earned a pair of fifth-place finishes— in the 50 free and 50 backstroke events.
Riley learned to swim with at young age and continued with a local Aqua-dapt program. He then joined forces with swim coach, Renate Terpstra, who immediately saw potential in Riley and in the past two years, has seen him continue to get faster and faster.
Nao Raincock-Ekunwe is definitely someone to look up to.
This 6-foot-2 forward is one of the best female basketball players to ever play in the Okanagan.
It all started at Kalalmalka Secondary School where she was introduced to the game and quickly developed a passion for basketball.
Nao then took her skills to play NCAA ball at Simon Fraser where she had an impressive career and continued to develop under the guidance of Bruce Langford.
Now as a member of the Canadian Women’s National Team, Nao helped to make 2015 remarkable winning a Pan-Am gold medal on home soil.
If winning wasn’t enough, this victory also earned the team an automatic berth at the 2016 Olympics Games set for Rio.
Currently Nao is playing professional basketball in Germany as she prepares herself for the Olympic journey ahead.
Before travelling and living in a 23-foot RV, Heather and her husband, Trevor grew up together in Vernon where they met in high school and quickly became good friends.
Fast forward a few years later, the two married and also developed a mutual love of triathlon. They have been professional long-course distance triathletes for the past decade, and have been perennial contenders on the national and international stage.
Heather was the woman to watch in 2015, placing second at both the North American 70.3 championships and the Ironman 70.3 world championships.
Triathlon Canada named Heather the 2015 multisport female athlete of the year based on her solid results as the No. 1 Canadian ranking.
Whether Heather and Trevor are traversing the West in their RV or cutting wacky race report videos, look for this Canadian triathlon super-couple’s continued success.
Before joining the Air Cadets biathlon team at the age of 12, Tekarra Banser had never cross country skied or fired a rifle.
Turns out the West Kelowna athlete was rather skilled at both. Five years later, Tekarra has developed into one of Canada’s best up-and-coming biathletes.
In 2015, Tekarra represented Team BC at the Canada Winter Games in Prince George where she won a gold medal in the Team Relay. She also placed fifth and sixth at the Canadian national championships.
Carrying that success forward, Tekarra placed second at the Calforex Cup in Canmore which earned her a spot on Team Canada for the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
Healthy body, healthy mind.
Those are the words to live by for Johnny Vesterinen.
Known as the “Court Jester and Johnny V”, Vesterinen brings his good-natured, light-hearted approach to the game of tennis — whether it’s playing, coaching or organizing.
The School District 23 music and physical education teacher has instructed for the City of Kelowna, Global fitness and the Mission Tennis Club for more than 30 years, sharing his infectious energy and enthusiasm with young tennis players, some of whom have gone on to receive post-secondary scholarships and continued to play afterwards.
As an organizer, Johnny has been involved in the management of the Mission Tennis Club for more than 15 years; is a key member of the organizing committee for the Kelowna Futures Pro Tennis Tournament; and was the founder and commissioner of the Central Okanagan School District tennis program.
Involved in many sports for many years, dating back to his early days living in northern B. C., Scott has remained involved in sport in both an administrative and coaching capacity.
He served as a director of the Liquid Lightning Swim Club for two seasons and was the Thompson-Okanagan representative for triathlon at the B. C. Summer Games from 2006 to 2012.
Scott has also served as board chair with the Central Okanagan Youth Soccer Association since 2013 and is the general manager of the newly formed UBC Okanagan Junior Heat Soccer Club.
As a coach, he served as the Zone 2 triathlon coach for the B. C. Summer Games for six years and has been the Thompson-Okanagan Football Club and Kelowna United Football Club head coach (U13 and U14) since 2012.
Through the years, Jacobsen has committed much time, energy and money into developing skills and knowledge as a coach and progressing through the necessary certifications.
His passion and vigor for sport, especially soccer, have led him to his role of chairman of COYSA, one of the largest youth sports organizations in B. C.
Not only has Mike Walsh embraced the mission statement of the Okanagan Athletic Club — “Personal Excellence Through Athletics” & mdash; but has taken is passion for the sport to the next level.
While serving as club president of the OAC for the past two years, Mike has contributed countless hours to various OAC initiatives and has guided the club through a time of growth and change.
He has served as meet director of the annual Jack Brow Memorial Meet that attracts more than 600 athletes from Canada, the United States and Australia.
In an effort to promote track and field and build community awareness, Mike was instrumental in developing the Twilight Meet Series, a friendly, low-key event open to club athletes, school athletes and the general public.
Largely through his efforts, a closer unity between the OAC and the Central Okanagan School District’s track and field program has been realized, ultimately providing significant benefit to young athletes in our community.
Beginning with father, Dan, and continuing with Travis, the Wray name has been synonymous with lacrosse in Kelowna for more than 20 years.
Travis has been involved in lacrosse in numerous capacities over the years — as an athlete, coach, referee and mentor. As an athlete, he honed his skills in the Kelowna Minor Lacrosse Association.
Wray was a member of the KMLA’s bantam team that won a provincial championship in 1997 and he represented the Thompson-Okanagan zone at the B. C. Summer Games in 1998 before moving on as one of the original members of the Rutland Junior Raiders from 2000 to 2004. He and his teammates won two Thompson-Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League championship, a provincial gold and two silver medals.
He began coaching at age 15 and earned a Level 2 certificate while still playing minor lacrosse. Wray also served as a referee and was named the referee of the year twice.
Following his playing days, Wray went on to become the assistant coach and head coach of the junior Raiders, winning more league championships and provincial medals along the way.
Still coaching, Wray spends many hours assisting with lacrosse camps and instructing with the regional performance program.
Since its inception in 1972, the Rutland Minor Baseball Association has been a staple in the community — promoting baseball, developing young athletes, and instilling a sense of pride for future generations to follow.
Over the past 16 years, Todd Russell has embraced this ideal, selflessly and passionately devoting himself to the sport of baseball and to the community as a whole.
During that time, Todd has worn many ‘caps’ with Rutland minor baseball, serving as coach, board director, president (for six years), umpire in chief, advisory committee member, city liaison and mentor.
He was integral in the development of the Kelowna Cubs (now called the Okanagan Athletics) program, providing an avenue for local athletes to compete at an elite midget level at home in Kelowna. That program has grown from one senior midget team to now include a junior midget team and bantam team.
In 2006, Todd was instrumental in getting the Valley of Champions baseball tournament started. He continues to support the event as president and scheduler.
The Valley of Champions has become the largest tournament of its kind in Western Canada and has become a Kelowna tradition.
Most recently Todd was a key player in the amalgamation of the Kelowna and Rutland Minor Baseball Associations, a major step forward in the ongoing development of the sport in Kelowna.
Kelowna residents know football has a big presence in the community and that presence is displayed in full force through Kelowna Secondary School Owls coach Ben Macauley.
Big Ben’s passion and dedication to football has been recognized wildly by players, students, and staff alike.
His road to KSS, where he now calls home, began as a player at Glendale College in California and later as an assistant coach at Robert Usher Collegiate in Saskatchewan. In 2008, he joined the Owls as an assistant coach, where students and faculty first became familiar with his outstanding leadership qualities.
He assisted the Owls for the next four years improving the lives of not only his players, but also “at risk” youth, whom he has worked for several years alongside educators and parents.
In 2012 and 2013, Ben served as assistant coach for the Okanagan Sun before coming full circle in 2015, back to KSS as head coach.
In that role, he not only fulfilled the typical coaching duties, but also took on the many extra responsibilities including maintaining equipment, making travel plans, booking officials, keeping open lines of communication with parents and players, and anything else that needed to be done.
As with any good leader, Ben led by example, demonstrating there is no “I” in Team and surrounding himself with a great coaching staff.
His optimistic approach focused on fundamentals, character building, and on the pursuit of excellence.
Just recently, Macauley was hired as the new head coach of the Okanagan Sun.
Ken Boe and George Curran can be considered the driving force of touch rugby in Kelowna.
Recognizing that touch rugby was a lifetime sport played by millions in the southern hemisphere, but by only a few here in Kelowna, they set out to introduce the community to the sport. That was 2010.
In 2015, more than 500 participants played the game locally, and this number is expected to exceed 650 in 2016.
Both Ken and George and have volunteered in the rugby community for decades and their work in the sport is extensive.
George started Crows Mini-Rugby in 2011 for 4-8 year - olds. The same year, Ken introduced the Touch Sevens game for 9-11 year olds in elementary schools. As well as introducing youth to the game, Ken also developed a 24-lesson curriculum for the school system to provide educators with a structure to teach and enjoy the game in physical education classes.
A year ago, 214 boys and girls in 12 elementary schools played Touch Sevens, while an additional 170 boys and girls 4-12 year old, played in a local Touch Sevens community league.
In 2015, more than 120 men and women participated in the Summer Touch Rugby League.
Outside of the many hours spent volunteering with rugby, Ken is a primary school teacher and coach at Bankhead Elementary School, and an avid triathlete having participated in Ironman Canada four times.
George is the program director for ARC Programs in Kelowna which specializes in the delivery of services to high risk youth and their families. He’s also a multi-sport coach in the community and has been the key organizer of Ensign Cup rugby event for more than 30 years.
A lifetime volunteer, Dan Bernheisel arrived in Kelowna five years ago and got involved as a volunteer basketball coach at Dr. Knox Middle School, where his daughter attended.
Since that time, he has coached more than 300 practices and 200 games with Knox and has amassed an impressive coaching record of 177 wins and 33 loses, which includes one eighth place, two fifth place and a first-place finish at the provincial championships.
In addition, Dan volunteers upwards of 50 hours in the fall as coach for the Centre of Performance, a Basketball B. C. training program that brings together players from all over the Okanagan Valley.
And, in the spring, he finds time to coach the Basketball B. C. regional teams at the U14 and U15 level.
A student of the game, Dan is always looking to grow his technical knowledge and improve his coaching ability, especially from his own local sport hero, David Lafontaine.
Dan’s volunteer commitment has made a huge impact on the local basketball community.
Synonymous with volleyball in Kelowna and throughout the country, Paul Thiessen has coached at all levels — from high school, to club, to provincial and collegiate.
A long-time coach of the senior boys’ volleyball team and athletic director at Okanagan Mission Secondary, Paul also recruits and trains new coaches for several sports. He’s also helped develop numerous athletes who have gone on to play at the CIS level and on to the national stage.
His players love and respect him and it shows as he works them hard and pushes them to be the “best they can be” on and off the court.
This past season, Paul, a former national team member, helped guide the Kelowna Volleyball Club’s U18 boys team to “back-to-back” provincial championships, and six of the players were recruited to play on post-secondary teams.
On the horizon for Paul is a trip to New Taipei this summer as part of Kelowna’s ICG Youth Games. He’ll be coaching the U15 girls team.
For the fifth year running, Tourism Kelowna recognized host organizations that raise the standard for events and raise Kelowna’s profile as a sport destination.
This year’s deserving recipient of the Tourism Kelowna Sport Hosting Award is the British Columbia Community Football Association.
Each year since 2008, the B. C. Community Football Association has invited minor teams from all over the province to compete in Spring Flag Provincial Championships at Mission sports fields.
It is billed as B. C.’s biggest minor sports event, having grown to 141 teams in 2015 after starting out with 24 teams. With nearly 1,600 players and as many as 6,000 attendees in Kelowna in early June, few Kelowna events can match the economic impact of flag football provincials.
Dr. Doug Pauls is one of many people around the province who has pumped up the popularity of flag football. But when it comes to promoting provincials in Kelowna, one man deserves much of the credit – BC Community Football Association president, Joe Gluska .
Joe’s big smile and passion for the game keeps kids playing. He motivates officials, volunteers, and community partners such as Kelowna Minor Football Association and the Okanagan Sun.
Kelowna minor football added more than 100 flag football players in 2015, bringing its total to nearly 300.