Note: The following summary of Petr’s views on cross country skiing in Canada was originally written by Petr, but has been significantly coloured and expanded by Rod to reflect the stuff of recent, long, and informal conversations on skiing in Canada. The text is intended to reflect Petr’s views and is published here with his permission, but there was a lot of language help, and faults do not originate with Petr.  

 

Background

 

Here are a few thoughts regarding Canada and the Canadian Cross Country Ski system. My experiences and philosophies originate in the Czech Republic, and they reflect approaches to athletic development that are common throughout Europe. In the Czech Republic, as in Canada, the overall number of skiers is so small that the loss of any junior skier cannot be afforded. Unlike Canada, however, Czech skiers routinely achieve top-ten international performances. It is important to recognize why.

 

In both Canada and the Czech Republic it is well known that top skiers peak around ages 25-27 years and that they commonly start training around ages 10-11 years. Although both countries draw on the same pools of knowledge, it is what actually happens during the 15 years of systematic training in-between that determines international performance levels. The differences reflect culture – the culture of children, parents, coaches, sports organizations, and the modern world.

 

For high-performance athletics, the most fundamental cultural differences between the Czech Republic and Canada lie with the recognition that a 15 year and longer time horizon is needed for systematic athletic development, and in having the patience required to allow the age-dependent progressions in to occur. Where time and patience are valued, it is much easier to accommodate lack of facilities, to motivate others, to recognize and value progressions, and to avoid the loss of athletes through burnout.

 

High performance coaches work to achieve the ultimate expression of athletic development and prowess, and they need to be concerned with all phases of athletic development. For each athlete involved with cross country skiing we need to examine what we do throughout more than 15 years of systematic, progressive training, not simply the last five. My views reflect a need for fundamental cultural change in how we choose to grow our high performance athletes. Effecting cultural change is the most difficult task of all.

 

Why is Canadian cross country skiing behind the world?

 

•    Coaches coach in isolation without regard to the specific, age-dependent progressions required for sustained athletic development, without the patience required to achieve them, and without the tools needed to recognize success. We need to establish a community of coaches that will focus on sustainable age-dependent development, not performance.

•    What happens during youth has a profound affect on all that follows, and the earlier bad habits are acquired, the greater the future consequences for health and high-performance athleticism. From the outset children are conditioned – either knowingly or unknowingly, by families and by school systems (PE teachers, coaches) to lifestyles characterized by minimal physical activity and a focus on short-lived goals and achievements. Parents and educators are ill equipped to provide leadership, and the modern world compromises all future health.

•    Lack of year-round athletic focus. Young athletes waste time pursuing varied activities under different coaching systems, and they are instructed without either continuity or sense of personal long-term development. Worst of all, the different coaches peak kids’ condition (Premature sport specialization) in a few months (includes cross country ski coaches) so that after a few such yearly peaks child-athletes become burned out and quit skiing entirely. Check the records – burnout is commonplace!

 

Necessary Steps

 

1.    Define the Approach: Establish the Long Term Athlete Development Model (LTADM) as the most valuable and fundamental guide to cross country skiing. The LTADM clearly lays out the pathways and approaches necessary for future success. The core challenge for its successful implementation, however, is cultural change. Few currently recognize how to actually implement and live its recommendations. From all clubs and all coaches there needs to be a full correspondence and recognition of commitment and changes needed to implement and follow the program.

 

2.    Establish Leadership: Establish and grow a talent base of coaches who are committed to coaching and who are willing to positively engage with living the LTADM. Encourage personal coaches who coach only one student (no matter what age and level) to create a group of more athletes. Paid, professional coaches should work only with kids committed to year-round training programs. Do not support any long-distance (via internet) coaching. Personal coaching means meeting athletes personally and work with them on daily basis. As a fundamental part of the system a Coaches Committee must be established to represent all high performance coaches/head coaches around the province (or Canada). The main duty and responsibility will be to meet annually and participate on creating of Year-round Provincial Training Plan, discuss, understand and implement of all LTADM requirements and forward those massages to local clubs coaches and personal coaches.

 

3.    Establish a Ski Community: Clubs are the sources and nurseries of athletes. For the most effective athlete development and growth, clubs and their coaches must encouraged to provide mutual support as part of common endeavours.

 

4.    Establish and Grow an Athletic Community: We need to redefine our athletes and their understanding of athleticism. A core part of the challenge is to ensure that the athletes recognize that they are part of an athletic community, with both rights and responsibilities. Membership must be earned through commitment and work, with success defined on the basis of teamwork and age-specific progressions, not race results. By socializing, kids naturally expand their limits. Recognize the critical value of teamwork and training partners, and establish clear role models for each phase of age development. Canada is defined by its geography and space – we need new approaches to building a fundamental athletic teamwork that works throughout the year through use of email as a means of communicating both corporate and community news (NOT coaching), through training camps that are established as ongoing institutions designed to achieve year-over-year outcomes, and through corporate recognition, and rewarding, of athletic actions and values.

 

5.    Define the Commitment and the Responsibilities: The entire system must be based on a discipline and reciprocal respect to each level of the system (HP Committee, HP Coach/Provincial Head Coach, Club’s head coaches, Personal coaches).  Each level of the system carries out a defined duty with full responsibility to their supervisor – work to establish goals and the markers needed to recognize their successful completion.

 

6.    Overall Medical Support: There must be a full medical support by a sport physician  for medical observation, physiological testing, illness and sport-injury therapy. Also post-training regeneration must be an essential part of the training system (undivided from training totals, a massage therapist should not be missing in any high performance provincial camp and in the Nationals).

 

7.    In the longer perspective there has to be a deliberate plan to Seek, Identify, Recruit, and Care for youth Talent, a plan based on science and research, and an integrated, working organization.Through that Cross Country Canada can be sure the system can work.