Central Maine Ski Club

The Central Maine Ski Club really picked up steam with the creation of our youth programs in the winter of 2009, but our history goes back a few more years.  I moved back to central Maine in the summer of 2001 to join my wife Tracey who had been coaching at Colby for a few years.  Just before that first winter,  I sold my car to Jean Koons.  Jean turned out to be not only a crafty negotiator, but also the mom of two boys who had done some xc skiing in New Zealand the past summer and really liked it.  That March, at the NENSA J2 Championships at Sugarloaf, Jean approached me to see if I would be interested in coaching her boys and another Messalonskee student Sam Mathes.  I agreed and we set up a schedule of a couple days per week with the remaining training to happen with the Mt. Blue team in Farmington.

It was a coach’s dream to suddenly get to work with three of the very best skiers in New England!  Ben, Nils, and Sam absorbed all of the training I could give them; we used our time on snow efficiently, doing technique work one day and interval training the other.  Today, Nils is the top ranked collegiate skier in the East, competing for Dartmouth College.  Sam routinely knocks on the door of the top ten and is one of Colby’s very best.  And, right now Ben is hanging out in the Olympic athlete’s village getting ready for the first race of the 2010 Olympics.

Ben, as a citizen of New Zealand, has qualified to represent his home country in these Olympics. He will be racing in Monday’s 15K freestyle race as well as other events throughout the week.  I will do my best to keep you posted on how things are going for Ben, the first Central Maine Ski Club Olympian.

After watching the afternoon race a couple weeks ago, hearing about the results of Wednesday’s race, and seeing the progress in my K-2 group, I have no doubts that Ben just might be the first of many.  I know for sure that he just one of many Central Maine Ski Club members who will be a lifelong skier and enjoy staying fit and healthy by sliding on skis through central Maine’s winter.

By Pat Cote, a CSMC coach

February 12th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Subscribe to comments | Comments are currently closed | Trackback URL