First Day of Winter

The geese may be flying overhead, but that doesn't herald the arrival of Winter quite like the first day of Dry Mat Training for Gordon Skiers.

Biggest thanks to all the members that turned up today for training. It was great to see all the athletes very keen and motivated to train.



The first day of training always requires some introduction for new members and it was brilliant to meet the new racers and their parents. We introduced a new addition to the coaching team. Jamie Robertson joins us from Bearsden, an ex club champion and member of the Scottish Squad.

We also had the regular faces of Kenny (Jolly Green Giant) Morton. Kenny is a previous member of the British Squad and spent 6 years as a full time athlete, ski racing. Malcolm Campbell graces us again this season and it's great to see him on the team. Malcolm has dedicated 25+ years to ski teaching and holds the coveted GOLD BASI Badge. If you need to know anything about Ski Teaching, ask Malcolm. James (Wreck it Ralph) Paxton ran fitness training for us today and has been a regular coach (and favourite with the kids) for several years now. I forgot to mention myself, although I did introduce myself at the start of training. My name is Gary W and I've stepped into the role of Head Coach this year. I've been teaching skiing since the mid-80's, and hopefully, bring some experience and guiding influence to the coaching team. I don't intend to manage the team, but instead provide support to the coaches and an approachable interface for the parents.

New for this season is the introduction of trainee Instructor/Coaches that are ex-Gordon Racers. Iain Campbell and Ella Still didn't look like new coaches coaches today, but in-fact looked like seasoned instructors. Ella has only just returned from 5 weeks training in Chile with Ambition Racing so will bring some fresh training ideas.

I felt the training went very well today with a great effort being made by all skiers.

The highlight though is always the head to head racing at the end of training. Today saw 6 teams, all lead by coaches racing for the final hour. Excitement is always high and the atmosphere peaked with a tie for the lead between Kenny M's and Gary W's team, both with only one loss.

Kenny's Team, Graeme Campbell, Vicky Rasmusen, Hannah Morrison, Phoebe Allan, Daisy Cowie, Josh Allardyce, Torin Liversidge.

Gary's Team, Andrew Simpson, Erik Rasmusen (replaced by Iain Campbell) Ben Whatford, Ben Morris, Harriet Dawson and Paul Van Den Beukel

I'm sure the highlight for the coaches was the crushing defeat of Performance Squad 1 v's the Coaching Team. We were a racer down, but Phoebe Allan stepped up to the mark and showed up some of the older kids with a sterling performance.

I hope you all had fun today. If you didn't, then tell me. If you did, then tell your skiing friends.

See you all next week, Gary W

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The Dreaded Physical Training

Youth Versus Experience!!