The Bill Koch Youth Ski League Parent/Leader Manual lan ng d N E o w r d e i N c S k i n A io s s o ci at Dorcas D. Wonsavage November, 2005 For the Love of Our Children There is hardly a higher calling than raising children. The experiences children have growing up come from choices, behaviors, and attitudes of adults in their lives, and these experiences become the very foundation of the rest of their lives. By exposing our children to cross country skiing, we can help build in them a love of health, sport, nature, winter and freedom that will enhance their lives. A love of skiing will be a lifetime friend for our children. Free heel skiing lets the body find fluidity and efficiency over snow. Under our own power we glide and float through whiteness. Who says people can’t fly? A love of health will give our children a standard for mental and physical fitness. Nordic skiing requires we use our whole bodies, strengthening our cardiovascular systems in addition to our muscles. The simplicity and purity of the XC motion allows each skier to focus on the mind-body connection. A love of sport, competitive or recreational, opens the door to fun, play, and joy. Positive skiing experiences for all our children is paramount. Not everyone can come in first, but everyone can challenge him or herself, learn from experiences, encourage each other, and celebrate together. A love of nature connects our children to the world. When we ski, we work with nature; we dress and wax for the day, we choose trails and routes that make sense in the conditions, and we strive to move efficiently through the landscape. As our reward, we witness nature’s beauty and power: in the woods, on mountain tops, over frozen lakes and rivers, and above us in the storm, stars or sun that occupy the sky. A love of winter allows our children to live fully all year long. Many people insulate themselves from winter, but skiers revel in the snowy season. They get outdoors, they make their own warmth, they breathe deeply, and they sleep well at night. A love of freedom leads children to self- expression, respect for others, and curiosity which will enrich every aspect of their lives. There is something liberating about donning skis and floating over the snow… Free the heel and the mind will follow! All for the love of our children. Kate and Bill Koch (right): Bill signs warm ups at the 2003 New England Bill Koch League Festival, Putney, VT 2 The Bill Koch Story ‘Kochie’ was born June 7, 1955 in Brattleboro, VT, and grew up in Guilford, in southeastern Vermont. He and his younger brother, Fritz, used to race the school bus to The Putney School. Originally, Bill was a nordic combined skier, terrific in the cross-country portion and pretty good in ski jumping. But, when he was just age 16, he just missed the 1972 Olympic Team - he would have been the alternate. So Bill decided to focus on cross-country skiing. Four years later, at the 1976 Winter Olympic Games in Insbruck, Austria, he was the Olympic silver medalist in the 30-km race. And his name became a household word, forever associated with the sport of cross-country skiing. After rocketing to success, though, his skiing was hobbled by an asthmatic condition. But he returned for the 1979 season, competed in the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, NY, and then, with Coach Mike Gallagher’s approval, took off the 1981 season so he could try something different. When the first World Cup season was staged in the winter of 1981-82, Bill won four races and captured that first official World Cup title. Bill was back on top. Prior to 1981 there was only one technique in cross-country skiing, the “diagonal stride,” in which both skis stay in prepared tracks. But while competing in a race on a frozen river in Scandinavia at the end of the 1980 season, Bill was surprised to see a Swede, Bjorn Risby, go sailing by him with a different technique. Risby had one ski in the track, but was pushing off to the side, like a speedskater, with his other ski. The technique was faster. Risby won the race and Bill decided he had to learn the technique, which was known as “the marathon skate” or the “Siitonen Step,” named for Finnish fireman and ultra-distance racer, Pauli Siitonen. He perfected the technique in the Winter of ’81, then jolted the international community in ’82 when he used it to win in Le Brassus, Switzerland. From 1982 to 1985 there was huge controversy over the skating technique. Norway, the Soviet Union, and several other countries claimed it wasn’t “Traditional”, while Gallagher and then Canadian Coach, Marty Hall, led the opposition with the counter-argument, “How traditional are fiberglass skis and kevlar poles?” They also pointed to the central element of racing - the idea is to go from Point A to Point B in the fastest time. Controversy raged. Almost every race was a verbal battleground as Norway - which had the political muscle - tried to have “skating,” made illegal. Some races were designated “free’ and any technique was okay. Other sites produced machine-made snow berms, or installed netting alongside the tracks to prevent the side-step. Finally, at the 1985 World Championships in Seefeld, Austria, outside Innsbruck (coincidentally, the same site where Bill had won his 1976 Olympic medal), the issue was decided by the weather. There had been little snow that winter, so when the Championships began, organizers were unable to set machine-made tracks, lest they churn up dirt and create a kick waxing nightmare. They had to leave the tracks un-set. Every race became a skating race. Then and there the final agreement was made - half of all races would be “free technique” ( freestyle, or skating), half would be “classic” (diagonal stride, skis striding in machine-set tracks). Even relays would be 50-50 - the first two legs classic, the last two skating. At that point, tracks were still left in during “Freestyle” races, so skiers could choose to skate or to classic. Only later were Freestyle races groomed without tracks. Coincidentally, Bill didn’t compete in 1985, but he was in Seefeld, serving as race analyst for ABC-TV with Al Trautwig. “I didn’t invent skating,” Bill is always meticulous to say, “but I did help popularize it.” In the United States Koch put the sport of cross-country skiing on the big stage twice. Once when he collected his Olympic medal in 1976 and again in 1982 when he made Europeans realize that skating could be used at any distance, not simply long distance races. The sport has never been the same. Growing up in southern Vermont, Bill loved to ski and jump and play on skis. He was on his skis every chance he got, even skiing to school. Each year Bill skied a little more and raced a little faster. When the snow melted, he ran, biked, and hiked with his ski poles with the dream of one day being the best skier he could be. That dream took him all the way to the Olympics, a silver medal, and an overall World Cup win. And he took that dream back to Vermont, where he continues to share his dream and his love of skiing with everyone he meets. In New England we are honored to call our youth ski program the Bill Koch Ski League. He is an inspiration to all skiers, young and old. — Paul Robbins, a freelance writer in Weathersfield, Vt., was nordic correspondent for the U.S. Ski Team in 1982 and has covered every Winter Olympics since Lake Placid in 1980. The New England Bill Koch League Mission Statement The mission of the New England Bill Koch League (NEBKL) is to introduce young people to the lifelong sport of cross-country skiing with all of its recreational, social, fitness, and competitive opportunities. The Bill Koch League Teaching Philosophy The New England Bill Koch League believes that children should have the opportunity to have fun while learning to cross-country ski. The NEBKL believes in creating a safe and healthy environment where children can develop physically, psychologically, and socially. All NEBKL activities and competitions are designed to teach each young athlete to participate to the best of his or her respective abilities. NENSA and the NEBKL The New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) is the parent organization of the New England Bill Koch League -- Bill Koch League skiers are the youth skiers of NENSA. NENSA provides support for BKL members and club leaders in the form of annual membership benefits, insurance, and a range of educational and competitive programs for individuals and clubs. BKL District Chairs form the BKL Committee of the NENSA Board. One of the members of the BKL Committee is a NENSA staff member oversees NENSA’s youth programming. The NENSA Mission Statement It is the mission of the New England Nordic Ski Association to implement educational, recreational, and competitive programs at all levels of cross-country ski racing. NENSA works to create and sustain a vital and active skiing community in New England, and to provide the support structure necessary to bring athletes to their highest potential at regional, national, and international events. 5 Acknowledgements The BKL Manual began first as a project by the US Ski Association in 1990-1992. Working for USSA with a grant from the Olympic Job Opportunities Program, Dorcas D.