Mar 172009
Early in april the planning began for the 2009 junior olympics in Truckee, California. We would be skiing at great altitude….7200′ the FIS limit is at 6000′. At a meeting in the end of April 2008, the Mid-A Junior committee decided to up the bar for the juniors who wanted to make the JO team for 2009. We figured the number of skiers that would qualify under the new standards would be around 24. Thus the trip was based on 24 athletes and 6 coaches to go.
All winter long a dedicated list of coaches worked on the points lists to help select the team. Many hours of work were put in by Rob Hinsdil and Margaret Maher to check the accuracy of them as the time drew near to selecting the team.
Jana Gardner volunteered to get the airline tickets for the trip. This proved to be no easy feat! The cost of jet fuel skyrocketed and luggage fees for second bags and ski bags appeared. After analysis of the demographics of the ski community, we planned on 10 tickets from Buffalo and 20 tickets from Albany. United had the best deal at first. (when flying a group you have to get your tickets from group sales not cheaptickets.com ) The tickets required a deposit of $60 each. This deposit is returned to you (Mid-A) 4 weeks after the trip is over. The ever cost consious Jana kept her eye on the cost of tickets on other airlines and in December found a better deal on Southwest Airlines. No second bag charge and less fare. This required another deposit however, so I personally fronted the money for the new deposit. Not so easy to do at Christmas and the end of the year at my store, but hey this is Mid-A and we get it done! One of the last things Jana did in late Feburary was make sure all tickets had the proper spelling and all changes were made….about two hours on the phone! I must say there were no problems…Thanks Jana!!
The paper work for the event organizers was a large undertaking handled well by Margaret Maher (Head Coach Mid-A Team) Multiple forms needed to be filled out and checked for spelling. She would even go in to USSA to find your number and make sure it was correct. Then she got all this information to the race organizers so they could register you and put your names in the programs and such. All in all about 20 hours of chasing down the forms from the athletes and submitting them to the organizers. Well done Margie!!
With the tickets secured, we needed to find lodging and food service. This we left to long time hospitality and food service veteran, Duffy. In the end of Janurary, Duffy flew out to find a place for the team to stay and eat. (once again I fronted the money for this trip knowing the importance of this element to the team.) After extensive searching and multiple interviews of the lodge and motel owners. Duffy selected a great lodge on Donner Lake. He and his friend Susan, along with the staff of the lodge went about setting up a dining facility that would feed 35-40 people three meals a day. ( more on the number of people later…) Two weber grills and two extra refrigerators were brought in along with five tables and 36 chairs. These created the two story dining area off the main condo room kitchen for the athletes to eat at. The dining area had unbelieveable views of the mountains and the Donner Summit Railway. In the morning as the kids ate, as well as in the evening, the lake reflected the Sierra mountains setting a scene for relaxation for the coaches and the athletes, away from the hustle of the race venue. As a bonus this was 1500′ less elevation than the race venue for recovery for the athletes and we were closer to the race venue than most teams. ( 4 miles versus 20 for other teams) Duffy and Susan provided three meals a day to the group. They catered to the athletes with allergies and special dietary needs. On the long race days (Mondays sprint and Saturdays relays) they transported a table and all the lunch food to the venue, providing the group with a buffet for lunch. This allowed the coaches to get food and attend to the duties of race day. At other times the athletes were fed at the lodge. There was always food available to them for snacking thru the day. Duffy and Susan also catered to the coaches who returned to the lodge after meal hours from meetings and waxing skis. The food was delicious and no one went hungry!
Getting the kids the gear to wear is an eight month long process. The Toko hats are purchased in July and held for monograming. The vests were selected by the trip committee in January and sized at the last race. The patches the athletes recieved were ordered in April 2008. Margaret (Marge) assisted in the monogramming process on all gear as well as the purchasing of the vests. This is no easy task, as monogramming has alot of options and non-options for it to look and function well. Marge spent extra time making sure the sizing was right for all the vests, so all athletes would be happy. Seems simple until you try it!
Transportation was arranged by Duffy according to the needs of the team. A large U-haul truck was rented to move all luggage and ski bags from the Reno Airport to the lodge and then on to the race venue. Three vans were in use as well as a suburban. Laurie Humbert (Grover) Mid-A Olympian (1994 Biathlon) loaned her car for the week, so the Uhaul didn’t have to be driven by the coaches who left the lodge early and returned late to wax. All vehicles had to be picked up and returned from different places, which the coaches and support staff did very well.
We are changing the Mid-A suits in 2010, so we (Mid-A committee) decided to see if the 2009 athletes could borrow them from previous team members. Marge and I worked about 5 hours each on contacting people to get the uniforms. We arranged places for them to meet, and if that failed, I had them send them to me and I mailed them to the kids who needed them. Suits came from as far away as Oregon (Berkley and Taylor Leach) Even kids who had tried to make this years teams sent me their uniforms to use! ( Damon Kull) The end result was all athletes had a Mid-A uniform to wear. I am now in the process of mailing them back.
Waxing is another challenge at the Junior Olympics. Each division is given an empty trailer and has to turn it into a functional wax room for the event, able to crank out race ready skis in volume thruout the week. Three months before the race all the equipment is gathered and boxed, inventory taken and decisions made on what waxes will be needed in three months time in the Sierras. Having raced at this venue before, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. I ordered klisters from Akers in Maine. I made a visit to Hugh in Osceola for a large Swix wax purchase. I purchased more wax at Wild Rose in SLC, from Tim. At the venue I purchased fill in waxes from Kevin Sweeney the “Swix Guy”, including some new stuff not on the market yet!!
All the gear was shipped by WrapCity and Glue in Old Forge to the lodging facility. Five hundred pounds of wax and wax tables and all the gear you would find in an Olympic wax room. I drove over two days before with Laurie ( 8 hours across Nevada) to set up the room for the team. Laurie is volunteering her time to help, she purchased her own plane ticket to fly from Reno to SLC Sunday to Wednesday to take time out for her girls and work. You have to see the kids reaction to having an Olympian help them. It is quite the motivator! Especially when she told them her best finish at Junior Olympics was a 29th place. After the wax room was ready, it was time to greet the team at the airport. Duffy provided apples, granola bars and bottled water to the weary team. They were loaded in the vans and made the 50 minute drive to the lodge. Two hours later they were at a team meeting, after a grilled steak dinner with all the fixings, listening to what was to be expected of them thru the week of racing. This is not a speach about results, it is about who they represent at these Junior Olympics and how they will behave. They are reminded about the many faces at home that have enabled them to get here for this event.
On the off days (ones without a race) the cooks are up at 6 am to get the breakfast ready. The wax coaches are out at 7 am to get the wax room ready for the 23 kids who need to scrape skis and preview the courses for the race tomorrow. They are brought up to the venue at 8:30 am. Most are on course with coaches by 9:00 am. I am in the wax trailer attending to broken grips, unwaxed skis, and such. Jason Hettenbaugh is out on the trail controlling the urge of the skiers to go too hard at altitude. Laurie, Sarah and Doug Bencze and Nick Mancuso are doing the same. Marge is attending to last minute technical things with the organizers and Duffy and Susan are just done with the breakfast dishes in time to set up the lunch buffet. They will then make a quick run to the grocery store for more provisions and the dinner menu. Upon return from the trail the athletes are asked to apply the first layer of wax to their skies and place them in the wall ski holders. (provided to Mid-A by Leslie Leach in 1995). They are then returned to the lodge by noon for lunch. After lunch there is time for school work and maybe a short team trip. One day we went to the top of Squaw Valley Tram. It was beautiful. Around 3:00 pm Marge, Jason and I head back to the venue for some waxing and a race meeting at 4:00 pm. Marge attends the meeting to keep abreast of current race situations, while Jason and I apply the race wax to the skis. Marge usually shows up about 6:00 pm and we all make a push to finish scraping the skis and brushing them. We finish around 7:30 and head to the lodging. Meanwhile back at the lodging Duffy and Susan, with the help of Sarah, Doug and Nick, have fed the team a gourmet meal and are all finishing up the dishes. The waxers quickly eat and then a team meeting is held. We go over the race day schedule with the kids and any particulars there may be. They go to bed at 9:30 pm.
Race day starts with the cooks up at 5:00 am. Then the coaches not driving kids up gather at 6:00 am eat and leave at 6:15 am. (in the dark) At the venue the waxing begins again. Covers are applied and ironed on the skis. Then brushed and more covers appleid and brushed. These are the fastest skis the kids have ever been on in their carreers so far. They better be as we are applying many expensive layers of wax. The athletes arrive according to their race start times. Races start at 9 am and go to 12 noon. Nick goes out on course and won’t return until the last skier has passed some 4 hours. He will log some vertical as he chases the kids around the course always encouraging them! Sarah will be on her feet in the start area, helping the kids with their coats and warmups, digging the snow from their boots to get their bindings on. Marge will be handing out bibs and testing glide or kick. She will also be greating the many parents that have come to see their children race. If there is a problem with the race officials, Marge takes care of it. Jason and I are in the wax trailer putting the finishing touches on the race skis and testing for faster waxes as the day wanes on. Laurie is helping with the kids warm ups and last minute stuff like ” I forgot my boots!” Doug is monitoring the transportation of the athletes to the venue and does it on schedule. Everyone is doing what they need to do and it is like a concert with all the little pieces in place.
The race starts and I don’t know who is more nervous the kids racing or the coaches supporting them. Soon radio reports from the course confirm that our skis are fast or faster than all others. The coaches sigh relief. All athletes race and finish. At this competition to finish in the top half of the field is fantastic, to medal in the top ten is magical. All the stars have to alighn. During the week we medal twice! Steve Mangan in the 15 km skate and Charlie Bencze in the 5 km classical!! First time a Mid-Atlantic skier has medaled at this high altitude venue! Congrats to all involved! All other racers post some type of personal bests. Near the end of the week Alumni from our program show up. Leah Ricci (multiple sprint meadalist) has driven the 6 hours from southern California with three friends. They volunteer to clean and wax the 23 pairs of skis for the relays the next day. (That’s right the last two days are back to back racing!! Just in case you weren’t exhausted already! ) They remove the klister binders and hot wax clean the skis. They eat dinner and then go back up to wax the race wax. They finish around 10 pm. The coaches are greatful for the help and relief.
Alas the last day arrives. The J2 boys just miss a medal and finish sixth 2 seconds behind the New England team. This shows the kids they can do it. When the relays end the task of breaking down the wax room is on. Many hands make light work and all packed up by 3pm. Back to the lodge and pack for the plane rides home. All ski bags loaded into the U-Haul before the banquet and dance. Load up the vans and head to the banquet at 6:00 pm. The banquet is good. Followed by a speech by Olympian Marcus Nash on how it takes a team and alot of support people for you (athletes) to make it to your goals. To be thankful and grateful along the way for your sucesses and to learn from your less than sucessful outings. The awards are given and we get to cheer Charlie! Then off to the dance till 11pm. We are all back at the lodge by 11:30 pm and having the last team meeting. The week is reviewed and all coaches and some athletes talk. The most important thing that is said is that “Your sucess at the JO’s starts the 364 days before you arrive here!” To get together and train with others in the off season, working on your weaknesses as you found them thru the week.
After a few hours rest the vans and U-Haul are loaded up at 6:30 am and head to the airport. The team is dropped off and the cargo van returned. They are all checked in and most are asleep as the planes take off to fly them home.
Laurie and I drive the 8 hours back to SLC with a packed car. We unload all the gear and the next day spend a few hours organizing it for the next JO’s. Marge has been given a goodie bag of wax for the Eastern HighSchool Championships that she is going to this weekend. I think of how tired i am and think of her and the others that are going. Before you go out and complain about what’s going on in Mid-Atlantic skiing you should really get the complete picture of what all these coaches and volunteers are doing!!
All the coaches and organizers have volunteered their time. They have used up precious vacation time to go. All to make sure ALL our Mid-A kids get the best shot possible for good results. We all love ski racing, that’s why we do it!
Thanks to all for making this year such a success!
Bill Brooker
Team leader 2009
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