January 5

Happy 2019!

Saturday looks like a balmy -6 at ski time, though that is a bit deceptive because it will feel more like -11. Still pretty great skiing weather. We were tracked last week and they put in our grid! So this Saturday, along with the regular games and skiing, we'll be doing some skills and drills work.

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

December 29

Tomorrow we will have a "jackrabbits lite" day. Coach James and Coach Ted are off visiting family, so we won't be able to split into groups. We'll do some warm-up, a game or two, and then head out for a ski. Tomorrow is going to be chilly. According to the models it will be -17 at ski time, but feel like -24. So dress warm. Layers, good socks, and mitts instead of gloves. 

Pro tip. Bring your skis in tonight and wax them tomorrow morning while the skis, the wax, and your hands are warm. It is WAY easier to wax a warm ski.

For those of you off doing holiday stuff tomorrow, - the best of the season to you! And for those of you able to join us, we'll see you there! We are bringing some of our extended family along! Yours are welcome too. No excuses not to get out and embrace winter!

Saturday December 15

Saturday is looking warm and should be a nice day for skiing. We'll be doing some relays and movement games and then head out on our nicely groomed trails for a ski. We are still working on getting our grid tracked in - which will be important as we start to do more work on skills and technique.

As always, if you have any questions let us know.
See you Saturday!

Saturday December 8

We have our first ski under our belt now. This week depends again on whether or not we have our grid tracked. For the younger ones, we are still focusing on movement on skis. The hill is a great tool for that and we'll spend some time there as well as other games. For the older ones we'll have a good enough track for distance ski for sure. We have a few other surprises in store as well!

We'll try to get going as close to 10:30 as possible, so if your little people (or anyone in your crew) needs some more time, please arrive in time to prep.

It looks like it will be about -12 at ski time, but will feel like -19 -- a winter day for sure.

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.