Saturday November 24

There is still not enough snow to ski - so practice up that snow dance!

Tomorrow will be games and a run. We'll use poles again so bring them if you have them. Pretend poles are also ok.  It looks like it will be warmer than last week, and will feel like -11 by the time we start.

If you are interested, we use spotwx.com to get the weather for Jackrabbits, and in particular decide when to cancel because it is too cold. This mostly matters in January and February. Here is what the next 24 hours hold:

https://spotwx.com/products/grib_index.php?model=gem_lam_continental&lat=49.8495&lon=-97.13063&tz=America/Winnipeg 

Add here are the details on when we cancel because of cold.
http://skiwildwood.blogspot.com/p/too-cold.html

See you tomorrow! 10:30 at the soccer field.

November 17

It is Swap Shop this Saturday. It is always a bit nutty, but a good place to get gear.  Early is better!
https://www.ccsam.ca/event/swap-shop-2018/

There is still not really enough snow to ski, so we will be doing games and a run. Boots and good socks are important... and layers - always layers.

We would like people to bring their poles. Yes, you read right, poles. We practice with skis and no poles when there is snow, and now is a great time to practice poles and no skis! We will use them on our run and for some of the other activities. Don't worry if you don't have them yet - for what we are doing, pretend poles work almost as well as the real thing.

See you at 10:30 at the soccer field.

Parent Coaching

Parents often have questions about how to support their children in cross country skiing.  Cross-Country Canada in partnership with the Coaching Association of Canada, has established an easily accessible coaching development pathway that all cross-country ski coaches follow. The starting point is two online learning courses that are important for coaches, but can also be very helpful for parents!

These courses were specifically developed for aspiring community coaches, but many parents (coaches or not) have expressed how useful and valuable taking this training has been for them.

The two courses are

CAC’s Coaching Initiation in Sport: $15 (takes about 1 hour)
CCC’s Intro. to Community Coaching: $52 (takes 4 to 5 hours)

If you are interested at all in these courses or would like more information, please visit the CCSAM website or talk to one of your friendly and helpful Wildwood Jackrabbit coaches (all of whom have been through the CCC and CAC training).

https://www.ccsam.ca/parent-coaching-101/

And, one last carrot, if you think coaching may be for your (and we are looking for more coaches!) the Club will fund your coach training, including this training.

Saturday November 10

We have snow! But not enough to ski yet.

This Saturday we'll meet again at the soccer field at 10:30. Warm clothes, layers, and boots are the order of the day. It is interesting to note that come February, when we say "dress warm" we'll mean an entirely different thing. And come March these temperatures will seem be positively balmy!

We'd like to start relatively promptly at 10:30. This time of year it is pretty easy to just get out of the car and go, but come ski season there will be time needed to get the skis out and get setup. It may be a good idea to start the habit now of arriving early so we can be sure to start on time.

Based on the weather, we may need skis sooner as opposed to later, so if you have questions about gearing up, let us know.

And, of course, if you haven't had a chance to register yet, please do.
https://zone4.ca/register.asp?id=19248  

It Begins! First Session November 3

Our first session of the season is Saturday, November 3 at 10:30. We'll meet at the soccer field to the north of the community club. Look for the Jackrabbits sign.

This "dry land" session (meaning no snow) will be mostly games, exercises and a run - stuff to get our ski muscles back in shape. Dress warm, but we'll be moving lots - so layers, as always, is important. Running shoes and warm socks for sure.

And if you haven't had a chance to register yet, please do.
https://zone4.ca/register.asp?id=19248  

Registration Open!

Welcome to another season of Jackrabbit Cross Country Skiing at Wildwood Community. We are pleased to announce that Registration is now open online through Zone4. 

https://zone4.ca/register.asp?id=19248 

The fees this year the same as the last few year: $55 per child or $110 per family. Please make sure to register everyone - parents and children. If you registered last year and created an account, then this year should be easy peasy.

Some notes on registration: 

1. In order for us to plan, we need to know numbers, so please register in the next few weeks, even if you intend to only join us in the new year or after your fall activities are complete. 
2. You can donate to trail grooming and to Cross Country Canada through this tool - those are optional. Trail Grooming goes directly to the Wildwood Community Club. The CCC donation goes to the national racing program. 

Important dates 

• The Wildwood Park Community Club Ski and Skate Swap will be held on Oct. 27, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. This a a great chance to buy and sell used equipment! More information can be found on the Wildwood Club website. http://wildwoodcc.ca/ 
• Our first Session will be November 3rd, 10:30am at the Soccer Field to the north of the community club. We'll send more information out the week before.

If you have any questions about the program or gear or anything, please email us, or come chat at our first sessions. If you would like to help with the program, we are always looking for more coaches (or assistant coaches!), email us and we'd love to chat. There is good training available and the club will cover it.

We are looking forward to another great season of skiing!
Adam, James, Ted
Coaches, Wildwood Jackrabbits.

2018/2019 Season Coming... soon?

We still have lots of summer left... well some summer left... but it is never to early to start thinking about snow! Wildwood Jackrabbits will be gearing up for another season soon. Here are some of the basics for those other keeners out there planing the activity rosters for their kids for the fall and winter seasons. 

Startup: We start in early November and go until we run out of snow (March sometime usually)

Registration: opens in mid October. We'll announce it here. Email us if you'd like us get on the announcement email list. wildwoodjackrabbits@gmail.com

Cost: in the $55/kid range. we are nailing that down. 

Skis: You need them. We don't have them. There are lots of options, from annual rentals, to purchasing new and used. We'll talk more when the season starts. 

The Program: Wildwood Jackrabbits aims to foster the love of Cross Country Skiing in children, youth and their families. This group is affiliated with the Cross Country Ski Association of Manitoba and uses the Jackrabbits and Bunnyrabbits skills development programs of Cross Country Canada as  our base. We are geared to families who want to ski together, develop their skills and and have fun. We have specific programming aimed at beginning and intermediate skiers from 3 up.

Sessions run every Saturday from 10:30 to 11:30 (weather permitting). We meet at the soccer field next to the Wildwood Community Centre. Parents, caregivers, grandparents, are all encouraged to ski and learn with their children.

Coaches: our coaches are NCCP (National Coaching Certification Program) Cross Country Skiing Certified Community Coaches.

Want to help? Wildwood Jackrabbits is volunteer led and run. We are always looking for volunteers to help coach (or help the coaches coach) or just help organize things. If this is you, or you'd like more information please emails us.