The Nova Scotian team proved to be a great host for this year’s Atlantic Camp. The scenic sea side location of Chester, NS provided a perfect back drop to those athletes gunning towards the Canada Winter Games (CWG). The location provided some unique training opportunities including; roller skiing sea side along the Atlantic Coast, hiking up a local mountain, ski striding a 10 minute hill, and making use of the amenities of the local community school. With the heat and humidity of July, we also made use of an ocean fed pool and jumping off more than a few wharfs into the ocean.
The 2011 CWG will be held in Martok, Nova Scotia approximately a 1 hour drive northwest of Halifax in the Annapolis Valley. Martock is just minutes from Windsor, NS whose claim to fame, aside from being the home of the private and prestigious King’s College, is that it is believed to be the birthplace of hockey. The hope for this camp was that we could travel north to Martock to do some reconnaissance training prior to the Games. Unfortunately, the trails and chalet were still under construction so we were advised not to attend.
This year’s camp was different from previous Atlantic Camps because of the addition of Paranordic athletes in attendance. It was a great opportunity for the athletes of both groups to get to know one another prior to the CWG, which will be a combined event for the first time this year. This camp is also unique in that it serves both Anglophone and Francophone athletes. Although for the most part, the Francophone’s are bilingual and must function with mainly English speaking coaches. However, it provides us with a great language learning opportunity for the athletes and coaches involved.
The Atlantic Camp this year was a joint camp with able-bodied and paranordic athletes participating. Fifteen participants came from throughout Nova Scotia, 7 from New Brunswick, and one Newfoundland paranordic athlete attended. From the total of 23 athletes, 4 were paranordic athletes (2NS, 1NB, 1NL). NS Head Coach, Daniel Murray was the chief organizer, and was assisted by current elite athlete Ian Murray and NB coach Claudette Maltais and myself, CCC High Performance Coordinator East, Lisa Patterson. Para-Nordic coach and past CCC Para-Nordic Development Coordinator –West Jeff Whiting, provided guidance to the NS Paranordic coach Sue Hill and NL coach Margaret (Muggs) Tibbo.
The developing athletes learned much technique from the coaches, and work ethic from Daniel and Ian Murray who were ideal training role models. Athletes were presented with an Olympic slide show from an Olympic Forerunner perspective. As well as a goal setting workshop of which provided guidance on committing to their training to help them attain their racing goals. Ian emphasized that athletes need to believe in themselves since coming from smaller divisions can seem like a big hurdle to jump. Both Ian Murray and Milaine Theriault are proof that an athlete can succeed as an elite cross country ski athlete even if coming from small towns and small provinces.
Athletes will likely next meet at the CWG in February.
