Details for cross country skiing practice to come soon!
SWSA Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Team Blog
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Happy New Year! "Jump Camp" a Huge Success!
Coach Ken Barker-and many other remarkable volunteers-from SWSA put together two great days of jumping on the K20 at Satre Hill. The Blizzard of '10 created a challenge in preparing the hill, but they got it done! More importantly, the new jumpers got it done!
A total of 26 athletes showed up-optimism in numbers for the continued growth of Team SWSA! Some of the new, two day "veterans" were already in jumping skis and/or going from the top of the jump.
Side note-apparently massive quantities of pizza, pasta, bread, cocoa and chicken soup were devoured.
Looks like SWSA needs a bigger parking lot...
Thanks to coaches Julian and Andrew, too.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
SWSA Webcam-see Coach Ken Snowmaking!
There is a rumor going around that the K20 will be ready for Sunday, 12/19/10!
Or, put the skinny skis on and skate around the outrun.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Lake Placid-"Training Day"-12/4/2010
Road trip! Caleb, Arenal and Jeremy (with an assortment of parents) travelled to the High Peaks after a kind invite from the NYSEF coaches to join our jumping brothers and sisters (albeit older siblings) from the Granite State.One group tested the Northway Motel...good reviews! The other combo platter rocked it old school style (thus, see the vintage patch to the left) and did an "up and back" trip.
The weather was fine and the jumps were fast and long. Coaches Dave and Evan gave Team SWSA lots of tips, confidence and high fives.
When asked about the day, one tired Salisbury jumper proclaimed, "When do we get to come back?!"
Stay tuned for news from Coach Ken about snow making on the K20 at Satre Hill!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Winter 2010-11 Practice and Event Schedule
SWSA Practices Starting in January:
Saturday and Sunday 9-11am and 1-3pm
Tuesday and Thursday 6-7:30pm
Lake Placid Training Camp Day:
December 18
SWSA Jump Camp!!! December 27-28, 9am-3pm at Satre Hill
Camp is open to all interested jumpers regardless of experience! Safe and fun!
Nordic Kids Event Schedule:
January 9-Andover, NH Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined
January 16-Vermont Academy, VT Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined
January 23-Hanover, NH Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined
February 12-SWSA Jumpfest, CT Ski Jumping
February 27-Empire State Games in Lake Placid, NY Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined
Saturday and Sunday 9-11am and 1-3pm
Tuesday and Thursday 6-7:30pm
Lake Placid Training Camp Day:
December 18
SWSA Jump Camp!!! December 27-28, 9am-3pm at Satre Hill
Camp is open to all interested jumpers regardless of experience! Safe and fun!
Nordic Kids Event Schedule:
January 9-Andover, NH Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined
January 16-Vermont Academy, VT Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined
January 23-Hanover, NH Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined
February 12-SWSA Jumpfest, CT Ski Jumping
February 27-Empire State Games in Lake Placid, NY Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Great Article About Getting Started...And Progressing
One of SWSA's own skiers, at home on Satre Hill!
Learning to Fly in Lake Placid
By Nathaniel Herz · September 8th, 2010 · 3 Comments
A participant in the New York Ski Educational Foundation's August Grasshopper camp prepares for lift-off.
How do you get dozens of youngsters to try out a sport like ski jumping?
For the staff of the New York Ski Educational Foundation (NYSEF), that’s not just an idle question to ponder. It’s crucial for the club to attract large numbers of kids to try out the sport if they want to turn out athletes with hopes of ever competing at an elite level.
From the outside, ski jumping seems like it should be difficult to break into, with its intimidation factor and high cost scaring off wary parents. But a visit to a NYSEF “Grasshopper” camp for juniors at the Lake Placid Jumping Complex in mid-August showed just how the club had overcome those hurdles—making the sport accessible, and attractive, to local children.
Make it Accessible
According to NYSEF Ski Jumping Head Coach Casey Colby, the club tries to attract local kids to the sport by reducing costs for interested parents.
A Grasshopper camp participant readies himself at the top of the K-18 with the help of coach Matt Cook.
“It’s hard to get kids to do this sport, because it’s not something you do recreationally, with your buddies,” Colby said. “It’s like the drug-dealer style of recruitment. You’ve gotta go out and let ’em do it for free.”
Colby cited a program that NYSEF ran last winter, Learn to Fly Wednesdays, in which local kids could take a crack at jumping in exchange for $5. They weren’t big moneymakers, but Colby credited the sessions with creating greater interest in the Grasshopper camps throughout the summer. Twenty-six kids were enrolled in the mid-August session, as opposed to a mere seven last summer.
At $150 for three days, including lunch, the Grasshopper camps don’t break the bank, either. Equipment would be a formidable expense for parents—if they had to buy it. But the kids in the NYSEF programs don’t have to bring their own: The club owns an entire fleet of skis, and spare suits hang from a rack in the lodge.
The low cost doesn’t mean that kids will sign up automatically, though—their parents must also be convinced of the safety of the sport before they’re willing to let their children strap on skis.
Colby said that he has enlisted the parents of some of Lake Placid’s best jumpers to help sell the sport, including the mother of 2010 Olympian Peter Frenette.
“Her job last winter, as she saw it, was to make sure the parents were involved,” Colby said. “I think parents—their view of ski jumping is ABC’s Wide World of Sports, agony of defeat…The first time they go to practice and they see a couple of kids fall, they’re kind of freaked out, because it looks horrendous. But 99.9 percent of the time, they get back up, they grab their stuff, and they go back up the hill.”
Scaling Down the Fear Factor
Ski jumping doesn’t sound like a summer sport, but during the off-season the snow and ice that covers Lake Placid’s hills in winter is replaced by a porcelain and plastic facsimile—the former substance is used for the tracks on the in-run, and the latter is laid out in shingles the landing hill.
Regardless of the surface, for anyone who has seen ski jumping on TV—or worse, in person—it’s difficult to imagine how anyone could ever be convinced to launch themselves from those towering, Olympic-sized hills.
But the only time the kids in the Grasshopper camp go near the top of Lake Placid’s Olympic jumps is for lunch, which occurs in the observation platform of the 120-meter hill.
The rest of the time, participants hone technique and confidence on the K-18 jump, which is tucked out of the way on the complex’s hillside, between some
The in-run of Lake Placid's K-18 jump.
buildings and a stand of trees.
Unless you’re already familiar with the sport, describing Lake Placid’s smallest jump as “the K-18” doesn’t say much. The number refers to the distance from the take-off, in meters, at which the landing hill begins to flatten out—generally the farthest that the young athletes traveled on their jumps.
During the August camp, few flew farther than 15 meters, and the kids were never more than a few feet off the ground.
While the K-18 is far smaller than Lake Placid’s Olympic jumps (which are K-90 and K-120), the kids still build their way up to it.
During the winter Learn to Fly lessons, they start with ski play and balance drills before progressing to actual jumping. In the summer, many of the children warm up simply by gliding down the landing hill, without jumping at all.
“We’ve learned to take down the intimidation factors—the big skis, the gnarly crashes that kids see,” said Dave McCahill, one of the NYSEF junior coaches behind the winter jumping sessions and the Grasshopper camps.
According to McCahill, the younger kids seem to pick up the sport more quickly. But regardless of age, the initial jumps are still scary. Pre-teen A.J. King described his first time as “a little freaky”—although it didn’t take long for him to get over it.
“I was kind of scared. But then I did it and I felt great,” he said. King, a New Hampshire native, learned to jump with the Andover Outing Club, and he also competes in nordic combined.
Billy Demong, another Lake Placid native who won gold in nordic combined at the 2010 Olympics, recalled being the most reluctant of all of his friends when he started in the sport. But that feeling, he said, eventually dissipated.
“Fear kind of fueled me to keep showing up. And then you kind of hit that requisite point where you finally get some air under your skis and…go down the hill a little ways, and it makes it worthwhile,” he said. “That’s where you go from being afraid of the sport to, ‘[I] can’t wait to get back to the top of the hill.’”
Incremental Increases
The progression from the K-18 up to Olympic hills is incremental: once the kids master the K-18, they move up to Lake Placid’s K-40, where they build confidence and gain experience. There’s nothing between the K-40 and the K-90 at the complex, but athletes will practice on other hills throughout the country between K-60 and K-70 before making that jump.
At the August camp, there were kids all along the continuum—some who were still working up the courage to try the jump for the first time, and others who would jockey for position at the top of the hill.
While the camps are informal—they’re about having fun—there’s still a lot of thought going into the coaching. McCahill has the kids practicing take-off
Camp participants taking in the action at a "Soaring Saturday" competition
technique during morning stretching, and he gives them feedback on their jumps throughout the day. There’s even a brief video review session after lunch.
“We’re trying to stress a good understanding of technique and form at an early level,” McCahill said. “We’re trying to keep the kids informed about what they’re doing, and why it’s working.”
It’s not as serious as the rigorous analysis you might find at the college level, but Colby says it still works.
“These kids are actually learning, and they don’t have a clue,” he said. “Half the time they just come off every single jump and ask, ‘How far’d I go? How far’d I go?’ They really don’t know that they’re getting better.”
Make the Path Clear
As much as anywhere else in the country, the path to jumping greatness is laid out clearly for the aspiring juniors at the Grasshopper camp.
Aside from the obvious progression in the size of the hills, from K-18 to K-120, camp participants can see elite athletes in action on a weekly basis, which provides them with ample inspiration.
Each weekend during the summer, the complex hosts Soaring Saturdays, a low-key competition in which elite jumpers like Frenette, a Lake Placid native,
Kids gather to get their equipment autographed.
vie for a prize purse of a few hundred dollars.
Given the sport’s eye-catching nature, it’s easy for the events to draw crowds of the town’s ubiquitous tourists. An announcer hypes up the athletes, and even officiates a few minor league baseball-style t-shirt giveaways.
The festive atmosphere is like a drug for the camp participants, who spend an hour after lunch at the Grasshopper camp taking in the competition. They stand next to the take-off and watch in awe as their idols fly past, picking out the best jumpers by name. Later, they swarm Frenette and others for autographs.
The attention and status afforded to the elite jumpers makes the sport that much more appealing to the youngsters, some of whom even see ski jumping as a path to fame and fortune, misguided as that may be. (The American jumpers gained notoriety at the 2010 Olympics for the odd jobs each had taken on to support their competition schedule; Frenette was an ice cream scooper.)
Asked what he liked about the sport, King spent just as much time talking about stardom as he did about the jumping itself.
“Everybody’s cheering you on, [you] get in the newspaper, on the news, go really far, and stuff. Win money, and have fun,” he said.
By Nathaniel Herz · September 8th, 2010 · 3 Comments
A participant in the New York Ski Educational Foundation's August Grasshopper camp prepares for lift-off.
How do you get dozens of youngsters to try out a sport like ski jumping?
For the staff of the New York Ski Educational Foundation (NYSEF), that’s not just an idle question to ponder. It’s crucial for the club to attract large numbers of kids to try out the sport if they want to turn out athletes with hopes of ever competing at an elite level.
From the outside, ski jumping seems like it should be difficult to break into, with its intimidation factor and high cost scaring off wary parents. But a visit to a NYSEF “Grasshopper” camp for juniors at the Lake Placid Jumping Complex in mid-August showed just how the club had overcome those hurdles—making the sport accessible, and attractive, to local children.
Make it Accessible
According to NYSEF Ski Jumping Head Coach Casey Colby, the club tries to attract local kids to the sport by reducing costs for interested parents.
A Grasshopper camp participant readies himself at the top of the K-18 with the help of coach Matt Cook.
“It’s hard to get kids to do this sport, because it’s not something you do recreationally, with your buddies,” Colby said. “It’s like the drug-dealer style of recruitment. You’ve gotta go out and let ’em do it for free.”
Colby cited a program that NYSEF ran last winter, Learn to Fly Wednesdays, in which local kids could take a crack at jumping in exchange for $5. They weren’t big moneymakers, but Colby credited the sessions with creating greater interest in the Grasshopper camps throughout the summer. Twenty-six kids were enrolled in the mid-August session, as opposed to a mere seven last summer.
At $150 for three days, including lunch, the Grasshopper camps don’t break the bank, either. Equipment would be a formidable expense for parents—if they had to buy it. But the kids in the NYSEF programs don’t have to bring their own: The club owns an entire fleet of skis, and spare suits hang from a rack in the lodge.
The low cost doesn’t mean that kids will sign up automatically, though—their parents must also be convinced of the safety of the sport before they’re willing to let their children strap on skis.
Colby said that he has enlisted the parents of some of Lake Placid’s best jumpers to help sell the sport, including the mother of 2010 Olympian Peter Frenette.
“Her job last winter, as she saw it, was to make sure the parents were involved,” Colby said. “I think parents—their view of ski jumping is ABC’s Wide World of Sports, agony of defeat…The first time they go to practice and they see a couple of kids fall, they’re kind of freaked out, because it looks horrendous. But 99.9 percent of the time, they get back up, they grab their stuff, and they go back up the hill.”
Scaling Down the Fear Factor
Ski jumping doesn’t sound like a summer sport, but during the off-season the snow and ice that covers Lake Placid’s hills in winter is replaced by a porcelain and plastic facsimile—the former substance is used for the tracks on the in-run, and the latter is laid out in shingles the landing hill.
Regardless of the surface, for anyone who has seen ski jumping on TV—or worse, in person—it’s difficult to imagine how anyone could ever be convinced to launch themselves from those towering, Olympic-sized hills.
But the only time the kids in the Grasshopper camp go near the top of Lake Placid’s Olympic jumps is for lunch, which occurs in the observation platform of the 120-meter hill.
The rest of the time, participants hone technique and confidence on the K-18 jump, which is tucked out of the way on the complex’s hillside, between some
The in-run of Lake Placid's K-18 jump.
buildings and a stand of trees.
Unless you’re already familiar with the sport, describing Lake Placid’s smallest jump as “the K-18” doesn’t say much. The number refers to the distance from the take-off, in meters, at which the landing hill begins to flatten out—generally the farthest that the young athletes traveled on their jumps.
During the August camp, few flew farther than 15 meters, and the kids were never more than a few feet off the ground.
While the K-18 is far smaller than Lake Placid’s Olympic jumps (which are K-90 and K-120), the kids still build their way up to it.
During the winter Learn to Fly lessons, they start with ski play and balance drills before progressing to actual jumping. In the summer, many of the children warm up simply by gliding down the landing hill, without jumping at all.
“We’ve learned to take down the intimidation factors—the big skis, the gnarly crashes that kids see,” said Dave McCahill, one of the NYSEF junior coaches behind the winter jumping sessions and the Grasshopper camps.
According to McCahill, the younger kids seem to pick up the sport more quickly. But regardless of age, the initial jumps are still scary. Pre-teen A.J. King described his first time as “a little freaky”—although it didn’t take long for him to get over it.
“I was kind of scared. But then I did it and I felt great,” he said. King, a New Hampshire native, learned to jump with the Andover Outing Club, and he also competes in nordic combined.
Billy Demong, another Lake Placid native who won gold in nordic combined at the 2010 Olympics, recalled being the most reluctant of all of his friends when he started in the sport. But that feeling, he said, eventually dissipated.
“Fear kind of fueled me to keep showing up. And then you kind of hit that requisite point where you finally get some air under your skis and…go down the hill a little ways, and it makes it worthwhile,” he said. “That’s where you go from being afraid of the sport to, ‘[I] can’t wait to get back to the top of the hill.’”
Incremental Increases
The progression from the K-18 up to Olympic hills is incremental: once the kids master the K-18, they move up to Lake Placid’s K-40, where they build confidence and gain experience. There’s nothing between the K-40 and the K-90 at the complex, but athletes will practice on other hills throughout the country between K-60 and K-70 before making that jump.
At the August camp, there were kids all along the continuum—some who were still working up the courage to try the jump for the first time, and others who would jockey for position at the top of the hill.
While the camps are informal—they’re about having fun—there’s still a lot of thought going into the coaching. McCahill has the kids practicing take-off
Camp participants taking in the action at a "Soaring Saturday" competition
technique during morning stretching, and he gives them feedback on their jumps throughout the day. There’s even a brief video review session after lunch.
“We’re trying to stress a good understanding of technique and form at an early level,” McCahill said. “We’re trying to keep the kids informed about what they’re doing, and why it’s working.”
It’s not as serious as the rigorous analysis you might find at the college level, but Colby says it still works.
“These kids are actually learning, and they don’t have a clue,” he said. “Half the time they just come off every single jump and ask, ‘How far’d I go? How far’d I go?’ They really don’t know that they’re getting better.”
Make the Path Clear
As much as anywhere else in the country, the path to jumping greatness is laid out clearly for the aspiring juniors at the Grasshopper camp.
Aside from the obvious progression in the size of the hills, from K-18 to K-120, camp participants can see elite athletes in action on a weekly basis, which provides them with ample inspiration.
Each weekend during the summer, the complex hosts Soaring Saturdays, a low-key competition in which elite jumpers like Frenette, a Lake Placid native,
Kids gather to get their equipment autographed.
vie for a prize purse of a few hundred dollars.
Given the sport’s eye-catching nature, it’s easy for the events to draw crowds of the town’s ubiquitous tourists. An announcer hypes up the athletes, and even officiates a few minor league baseball-style t-shirt giveaways.
The festive atmosphere is like a drug for the camp participants, who spend an hour after lunch at the Grasshopper camp taking in the competition. They stand next to the take-off and watch in awe as their idols fly past, picking out the best jumpers by name. Later, they swarm Frenette and others for autographs.
The attention and status afforded to the elite jumpers makes the sport that much more appealing to the youngsters, some of whom even see ski jumping as a path to fame and fortune, misguided as that may be. (The American jumpers gained notoriety at the 2010 Olympics for the odd jobs each had taken on to support their competition schedule; Frenette was an ice cream scooper.)
Asked what he liked about the sport, King spent just as much time talking about stardom as he did about the jumping itself.
“Everybody’s cheering you on, [you] get in the newspaper, on the news, go really far, and stuff. Win money, and have fun,” he said.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Ski Jumping Camps and Practice-WINTER 2010-11
SWSA Programs and Efforts
SWSA provides instruction for jumpers from 6 years old and older. Currently we have jumpers using our 20 and 30 meter hills and hope to have some using our new 65 meter hill in 2011.
We offer a camp during the Christmas break for children interested in learning to jump and for children that participate year after year. This years dates for the camp will be Monday December 27th and Tuesday the 28th. The camp runs from 9am to 3pm and will include a mini tourney on Tues afternoon. The cost for the camp is $30.00 per skier and includes lunch on both days. For those new to the camp we ask that you bring a helmet, down hill skis and boots and we will take care of the rest.
For those skiers that wish to continue we will require that they join the US Ski and Snowboard Association as a competitor. This will cover the skiers insurance not only at our facility but at other venues that they may compete at.
Following this years camp we will provide instruction on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6pm to 7:30pm. Saturday and Sunday the times will be from 9am to 11am and 1pm until 3pm both days.
As the winter continues we will be attending competitions throughout New England.SWSA skiers have competed in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Lake Placid New York in the past few years.The experience of going to different venues will be a great experience for new jumpers and also allows them to meet a whole new new group of friends.
Jumping also continues during the summer. Lake Placid N.Y. offers jumping on plastic as well as Lebanon N.H. SWSA skiers have attended 3 camps in Lake Plaid this summer and have improved their skills dramatically by training on a year round basis.
If you are interested in taking part in the camp or attending practices in the upcoming winter feel free to contact us and we will try to answer any questions you may have.
SWSA provides instruction for jumpers from 6 years old and older. Currently we have jumpers using our 20 and 30 meter hills and hope to have some using our new 65 meter hill in 2011.
We offer a camp during the Christmas break for children interested in learning to jump and for children that participate year after year. This years dates for the camp will be Monday December 27th and Tuesday the 28th. The camp runs from 9am to 3pm and will include a mini tourney on Tues afternoon. The cost for the camp is $30.00 per skier and includes lunch on both days. For those new to the camp we ask that you bring a helmet, down hill skis and boots and we will take care of the rest.
For those skiers that wish to continue we will require that they join the US Ski and Snowboard Association as a competitor. This will cover the skiers insurance not only at our facility but at other venues that they may compete at.
Following this years camp we will provide instruction on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6pm to 7:30pm. Saturday and Sunday the times will be from 9am to 11am and 1pm until 3pm both days.
As the winter continues we will be attending competitions throughout New England.SWSA skiers have competed in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Lake Placid New York in the past few years.The experience of going to different venues will be a great experience for new jumpers and also allows them to meet a whole new new group of friends.
Jumping also continues during the summer. Lake Placid N.Y. offers jumping on plastic as well as Lebanon N.H. SWSA skiers have attended 3 camps in Lake Plaid this summer and have improved their skills dramatically by training on a year round basis.
If you are interested in taking part in the camp or attending practices in the upcoming winter feel free to contact us and we will try to answer any questions you may have.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Summer Wrap Up Photos from Lake Placid!
Stike a pose, AH!
GH camps-no phones or ipods needed!
Link to the NYSEF page=good stuff from the camps!
And...look for Team SWSA in the video...including the judges!
Monday, August 30, 2010
GH CAMP #3-Putting It All Together!
It was time for the last summer road trip to Lake Placid. Caleb Gilbert was resting in Maine after taking a tumble during the last camp and outsoaring his fellow competitive campers. The paparazzi did catch him secretly training on his pogo stick while jumping over a lobster obstacle course! The SWSA crew missed the Gilbert family and their energy but the rest of us made ourselves ready for the last challenge.
For Arenal Hruby her mission was to feel comfortable in Jumping Boots and Jump Skis. She had been working diligently on the landing hill but had not yet felt the security in herself to tackle the 18 Meter jump. We were lucky enough to have superb weather and a lot of dedication from her coaches. A new assistant on the scene was Zach Daniels of the Eastern Junior Olympic team. Zach was also the last person to jump from the SWSA wooden tower, which is currently being replaced for the US Junior Olympic Ski Jump and Nordic Combined 2011 competition. The high-energy support, and female go-go mojo, of Tara Garraghty-Moats with Dave Mc Hahill's tactics for technique created the right combination and momentum for Arenal to feel secure and jump with her new equipment.
And JUMP she did! Eve Arenal broke her own personal best record and soared 14 meters (about 45 feet!) into a neat controlled tuck landing. This is double her last performance at the 2010 SWSA Jumpfest. She made her club proud by overcoming the butterflies in her stomach and taking on newfound wings. All the NYSEFF Grasshopper Camps proved to be a fantastic training ground for style, technique, and true progress: for the mental game and full flight training! Not to mention the great friendships everyone made. We all await the snow eagerly and look forward to new journeys and the evolution of the young SWSA crew. Just jump it!
For Arenal Hruby her mission was to feel comfortable in Jumping Boots and Jump Skis. She had been working diligently on the landing hill but had not yet felt the security in herself to tackle the 18 Meter jump. We were lucky enough to have superb weather and a lot of dedication from her coaches. A new assistant on the scene was Zach Daniels of the Eastern Junior Olympic team. Zach was also the last person to jump from the SWSA wooden tower, which is currently being replaced for the US Junior Olympic Ski Jump and Nordic Combined 2011 competition. The high-energy support, and female go-go mojo, of Tara Garraghty-Moats with Dave Mc Hahill's tactics for technique created the right combination and momentum for Arenal to feel secure and jump with her new equipment.
And JUMP she did! Eve Arenal broke her own personal best record and soared 14 meters (about 45 feet!) into a neat controlled tuck landing. This is double her last performance at the 2010 SWSA Jumpfest. She made her club proud by overcoming the butterflies in her stomach and taking on newfound wings. All the NYSEFF Grasshopper Camps proved to be a fantastic training ground for style, technique, and true progress: for the mental game and full flight training! Not to mention the great friendships everyone made. We all await the snow eagerly and look forward to new journeys and the evolution of the young SWSA crew. Just jump it!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
New Links Added and Other August News!
Ski jumping websites and results links have been added to the blog. Send suggestions for other relevant/cool pages.
The results links show the great progress and success that Team SWSA had during the 2009-10 season.
Can't wait for a great 2010-11 season.
One more Grasshopper Camp on the horizon, August 13-15. Good luck to the SWSA jumpers heading north.
The results links show the great progress and success that Team SWSA had during the 2009-10 season.
Can't wait for a great 2010-11 season.
One more Grasshopper Camp on the horizon, August 13-15. Good luck to the SWSA jumpers heading north.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Grasshopper Camp #2-BIG success and an ADVENTURE!
Photos: Lake Placid, Winter 2010
July 9-11, 2010 LAKE PLACID, NY-
Caleb Gilbert and Arenal Hruby once again made the trek to the "epicenter" of the Eastern ski jumping universe, Lake Placid...perhaps the title will shift 3.5 hours southeast next February when SWSA hosts the Junior Olympics?!
Nevertheless, both Team SWSA members were treated fantastically by their NYSEF hosts. Our nordic brothers and sisters could not have been more supportive or welcoming. Caleb and Arenal were certainly part of the wolf pack from the second they got out of the car.
With the thought of nordic combined on the horizon this winter, the SWSA athletes did dry land training with roller skis. Beyond the absolute fun of it, they learned technique and balance from the NYSEF nordic coach.
Arenal took the next step and laced up jumping boots! Putting the buckled ones away, she made her first jumps, building more and more confidence each time. Look out Eastern ski jumpers this winter, again! Caleb decided to push the envelope and uncorked a few big jumps to be really proud of. On Sunday morning he earned a few special awards for his final jump on Saturday. A "get well" card and a m&m toy filled with candy. Background---he took a tough tumble on his last jump and ended up visiting with some old and new friends at the ER. THANK you Lake Placid for your great care! Nevertheless, he is wearing his sling as a badge of ski jumping honor and courage.
The SWSA jumpers love their sport and can't wait for the snow to fall. There is HUGE anticipation with the soon to be finished new jump and the thrills of the 2010-11 jumping season ahead in Salisbury, CT. CONFIDENCE is so important in any sport...these two got it!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Grasshopper Camp #1, Lake Placid Report June 2010
Leaving the comfort zone of Salisbury is not easy yet the warmth we encountered from our northern neighbors at the first of three Lake Placid Grasshopper Camps pleasantly surprised Peter Gilbert and myself, Andes Hruby. We are the parents of young 8-year-old jumpers:
Caleb Gilbert and Eve Arenal Hruby now in their third year of competition.
Before departing for the camp one of the main obstacles was making sure our children had head to toe coverage and would not get skin "burns" on the turf-like plastic grass. We altered two old bright red SWSA suits from adult length to fit Caleb and Eve Arenal.
The week before we arrived at the Lake Placid Olympic Jumping Complex they refurbished the Jump itself adding three feet and removing the plastic and replacing it with tiles. Imagine slipping on wet tiles floor? The sheets of plastic were now hard sheaths of porcelain. The room for error in landing decreases by a significant margin. The Landing hill, which we usually see as a large slope of butter cream frosting is now covered with layers of long hard hula skirt grass but it is surprisingly short and narrow. After skiing down the hill you rapidly reach the edge of real grass. When your skis touch true sod it means you have two options: tuck or face plant.
Team SWSA was not alone on perfecting the face plant. There were an astounding amount of wipe outs, face plants and catapults on to the
grass: complete with the lawn and mud getting stuck in every mechanical crevice of bindings, goggles, and helmets. I was lucky enough to stand next to Ms. Martina Lussi (mother of the well known Lussi jumpers) who soothed my chronic cringing and assured me their technique would improve. Lussi explained that snow is forgiving and plastic grass with the pasture ahead will certainly take the skin off your hands and the seat out of the suit if a controlled landing was not mastered. Skill, technique, and control would be absolutely necessary before any attempt to launch off the slick wet porcelain tiles. It is clear why the Lake Placid crew wins the cash at Target Jumping. The immaculate precision needed to jump and maintain control from the jump on to the grass and then come to a succinct stop exceeds the challenge of jumping onto the cushion of expansive snow.
Our SWSA kids kept their spirits up due to the talented and enthusiastic NYSEFF coaching team. By the end of the day they were able to swim in the extreme freestyle pool and regain some confidence as the other competitors from clubs in and around the Northeast have grown to recognize them by name. Peter Gilbert and I found a similar effect when we headed out to dinner and the Bliss Parents recognized us and encouraged their son Andrew to come to our table and speak to the kids about jumping.
By the third day our kids geared up and took on competition from the high bar launch. The endless enthusiasm and support of Dave Mc Cahill and the presence of a woman and competitor Tara Garaghty-Moats (a SWSA cup winner and record holder) helped every step of the way.
Although Peter Gilbert and I were ready to sit back and enjoy the ultimate slip and slide we were called to the hill to Judge. Our head judge was Jay Rand Jr. once he realized we were from SWSA he emoted with wonderful memories of the Snow Ball and had nothing but generous things to say about his experiences in Salisbury. He is a former Olympian and spoke of how he (and his daughter) still have their Satre Hill cups (awarded to them by Roy Sherwood) displayed in their home. I later found out they won the silver bowls so often SWSA had to retire them.
As her parent I could see Arenal had improved dramatically but when Jay Rand Jr, commented she had a clean jump with style I burst with pride. Caleb Gilbert and Arenal Hruby might not have jumped the furthest but they each exhibited control, technique, and flair in the air!
Arenal has asked me to make her a "training regime" so when she returns to Lake Placid for Grasshopper Jump Camp 2 she is ready to make progress and not be hindered by her sore muscles. I know we are busy on the hill at home in Salisbury: wading through concrete, steal beams, and meetings. The snow feels a long way off from the summer sweat and mosquitoes, but for us now as the grass grows thicker our vision has changed. Jumping for our kids is no longer just a winter sport.
Check back for an update when three of our officials go North again to Lake Placid and see if the jumpers can get higher then the fireworks on the fourth of July.
Andes Hruby-Segalla
Caleb Gilbert and Eve Arenal Hruby now in their third year of competition.
Before departing for the camp one of the main obstacles was making sure our children had head to toe coverage and would not get skin "burns" on the turf-like plastic grass. We altered two old bright red SWSA suits from adult length to fit Caleb and Eve Arenal.
The week before we arrived at the Lake Placid Olympic Jumping Complex they refurbished the Jump itself adding three feet and removing the plastic and replacing it with tiles. Imagine slipping on wet tiles floor? The sheets of plastic were now hard sheaths of porcelain. The room for error in landing decreases by a significant margin. The Landing hill, which we usually see as a large slope of butter cream frosting is now covered with layers of long hard hula skirt grass but it is surprisingly short and narrow. After skiing down the hill you rapidly reach the edge of real grass. When your skis touch true sod it means you have two options: tuck or face plant.
Team SWSA was not alone on perfecting the face plant. There were an astounding amount of wipe outs, face plants and catapults on to the
grass: complete with the lawn and mud getting stuck in every mechanical crevice of bindings, goggles, and helmets. I was lucky enough to stand next to Ms. Martina Lussi (mother of the well known Lussi jumpers) who soothed my chronic cringing and assured me their technique would improve. Lussi explained that snow is forgiving and plastic grass with the pasture ahead will certainly take the skin off your hands and the seat out of the suit if a controlled landing was not mastered. Skill, technique, and control would be absolutely necessary before any attempt to launch off the slick wet porcelain tiles. It is clear why the Lake Placid crew wins the cash at Target Jumping. The immaculate precision needed to jump and maintain control from the jump on to the grass and then come to a succinct stop exceeds the challenge of jumping onto the cushion of expansive snow.
Our SWSA kids kept their spirits up due to the talented and enthusiastic NYSEFF coaching team. By the end of the day they were able to swim in the extreme freestyle pool and regain some confidence as the other competitors from clubs in and around the Northeast have grown to recognize them by name. Peter Gilbert and I found a similar effect when we headed out to dinner and the Bliss Parents recognized us and encouraged their son Andrew to come to our table and speak to the kids about jumping.
By the third day our kids geared up and took on competition from the high bar launch. The endless enthusiasm and support of Dave Mc Cahill and the presence of a woman and competitor Tara Garaghty-Moats (a SWSA cup winner and record holder) helped every step of the way.
Although Peter Gilbert and I were ready to sit back and enjoy the ultimate slip and slide we were called to the hill to Judge. Our head judge was Jay Rand Jr. once he realized we were from SWSA he emoted with wonderful memories of the Snow Ball and had nothing but generous things to say about his experiences in Salisbury. He is a former Olympian and spoke of how he (and his daughter) still have their Satre Hill cups (awarded to them by Roy Sherwood) displayed in their home. I later found out they won the silver bowls so often SWSA had to retire them.
As her parent I could see Arenal had improved dramatically but when Jay Rand Jr, commented she had a clean jump with style I burst with pride. Caleb Gilbert and Arenal Hruby might not have jumped the furthest but they each exhibited control, technique, and flair in the air!
Arenal has asked me to make her a "training regime" so when she returns to Lake Placid for Grasshopper Jump Camp 2 she is ready to make progress and not be hindered by her sore muscles. I know we are busy on the hill at home in Salisbury: wading through concrete, steal beams, and meetings. The snow feels a long way off from the summer sweat and mosquitoes, but for us now as the grass grows thicker our vision has changed. Jumping for our kids is no longer just a winter sport.
Check back for an update when three of our officials go North again to Lake Placid and see if the jumpers can get higher then the fireworks on the fourth of July.
Andes Hruby-Segalla
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