Windermere Valley Ski Club is one of Canada’s most accomplished Alpine Ski Racing Clubs based out of Panorama Mountain Village in British Columbia’s Kootenay Zone. Our club draws athletes from throughout the Columbia Valley and has a culture of excellence coupled with a history of achievement.
https://www.windermerevalleyskiclub.com/wvsc
Contact
Helmut Spiegl
Phone: 250 341-1650
Email: helmimagic@uniserve.com
or
Jenny Hoffos
Email: hoffos@shaw.ca
or
Jenny Hoffos
Email: hoffos@shaw.ca
Nancy Green Program Background
In 1968 Nancy Greene awed and charmed the world by wining the gold and silver medals in skiing at the Winter Olympic games in Grenobel. Nancy Greene’s accomplishments were a result of the young lady’s (and her family’s) life long love of skiing; as well as the productive use and channeling of the abundant youthful energy, determination, good coaching and management. After her skiing career ended, Nancy went on to combine her passion for skiing with her business acumen and became a successful businesswoman, who today continues to inspire young and old from all walks of life.
Nancy gave and continues to “give back” in many ways. One of them is establishing the national Nancy Greene Ski League program. The Nancy Greene Ski League was conceived during the winter of 1968. Nancy’s World Cup victory the previous spring had inspired hundreds of youngsters to start ski racing, but there was no easy way to get started. The NGSL was the solution – an introduction to ski racing in a team format. Nancy agreed to be the Honorary Chairman, a position she still holds today. Nancy’s philosophy that children’s competition should promote participation and fun and de-emphasize winning, has stood the test of time.
From the beginning, the Canadian Ski Association (now Alpine Canada Alpin) realized that ski conditions and ski clubs differ widely across Canada. Because of this, NGSL ‘rules’ have always been flexible, and ski clubs and divisions are encouraged to develop their own modifications, and to involve as many youngsters as possible in their programs.
Windermere Valley Ski Club’s Nancy Greene Program
The goal of WVSC’s NG program is to provide an opportunity for kids aged 6 – 11 to discover and start on the road of a life long love and enjoyment of skiing.
The program teaches the skiing fundamentals in an organized team environment, and along the way introduces kids to ski racing so they can, gradually as they progress through the program, transition into aspiring athletes. Athletes who have the opportunity to continue on the ski racing track, further hone their skiing skills and explore the world of competition, supported by the organization which continues to follows Nancy’s philosophy.
WVSC offers Nancy Greene Basic program for kids 5 to 7 years old which consists of 10 Sundays of On Snow program. This program follows the same guidelines as the Regular program at age appropriate intensity and difficulty level.
WVSC’s Nancy Greene Regular program for 8 to 11 years old children starts in September with the off snow part of the program that consists of two, one hour “dryland” outdoor (weather permitting) or indoor sessions per week. This part of the program consists of a number of age and fitness level appropriate games and activities designed to ensure children hit the slopes in December already good buddies who are in good physical shape and ready to play and learn.
When our home ski hill, Panorama Mt. opens in mid December, the kids start the on snow part of the program. In December the program runs twice a week, Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 1 pm. A third day is added in January, a Friday session from 4 to 6pm. The content of the on snow program follows the BC Alpine’s Snow Stars program – a seven step skills progression program for children at this age level. This program is aligned with the Nancy Greene Ski League program and offers a fun way to learn the skills of skiing and if desired eventually ski racing. The program introduces and teaches the basic skiing techniques and skills, develops the ABC’s (agility, balance, coordination, strength /speed) in as many different snow conditions and terrains as possible, and most of all it teaches how to be safe and have fun on skis. The program also comes complete with a Coaches Manual, Parents Handbook, Stickers, Report Cards, National Team Trading Cards, and a National Team Annual Poster.
The frequency of on snow sessions and time format are designed to take advantage of our community’s close proximity to the mountain, as well as with the age group’s developmental abilities and needs in mind. The children are divided into ski groups at the beginning of the season and all attempts are made so that a group stays and advances through the different levels together. However, if a child progresses extremely quickly or experiences an unexpected set back and their coach determines that it is in the best interest of the child to be moved into a different group. Such a suggestion will be made to the parents and a joint decision will be made.
To complement the regular weekly program and to take advantage of school breaks the club also offer two additional three day ski camps during Christmas break and two, three day camps during Spring break which are considered full day camps and ran from 10 am to 3 pm and we are currently exploring the possibility to provide transportation for the campers from Invermere to Panorama and back.
The program has been developed and is overseen by WVSC Head Coach Igor Zagernik who runs all the club’s off snow, dryland programs, on and off season, as well as overseeing and mentoring all the WVSC coaching staff. The program will be run by a lead coach who will work closely with Igor, other NG coaches and Nancy Greene Coordinator and club’s Alpine Chair throughout the season.
Recommended equipment for NG
- GS skis – recommended, SL skis are good (one pair)
- Helmet – race helmet mandatory (free style is not allowed)
- Basic tuning equipment (recommended)