The Cold Lake Blizzards skied their way to success at their first major race of the season in Edmonton.
Seven skiers tested their skills at the North Zone Nancy Greene Race series on Sunday, Jan. 20.
“We had a total of seven racers at the race, and seven placed within the top 10 in both runs,” explained head coach Jarred Pawlowski. “Everything from first place podium finishes all the way down to eighth place was the lowest that we placed in the top 10.”
Ten-year-old Eva Schafer earned her first gold medal since joining the team four years ago. She also won a silver in the 10-year-old category.
“It felt really great,” she described.
Pawlowski noted the Blizzards are a unique club when compared to the ones in urban centres, because their coaches are mainly volunteers.
“We have a lot of fun while we’re practising, and the kids seem to respond well to it. If you look at the records we have as far as top 10 finishings and team winnings, we’ve been very successful,” he said.
Coaches try to keep the practices exciting for the kids, and change them up in order to prevent their skiers from getting bored.
“Getting (the younger participants) engaged and leading drills or thinking of about what we should do be doing next as far as building on certain activities or drills that we’re doing... Some of the older kids, in order to train for racing, it’s a lot of repetition down the hills and we get into friendly competitions with that. A lot of the kids respond pretty well to that,” detailed Pawlowski.
For their next major competition, the Blizzards will be competing on their home hill during the Blizzard Blast at Kinosoo Ridge Ski Hill and Snow Resort on Saturday, Feb. 9.
Schafer said she’s ready to compete on familiar terrain, and hopes to add to her trophy case.
To get the kids pumped up for their races, Pawlowski said they encourage them to cheer the loudest when each team member hits the slopes.
“They do take a lot of pride in hosting their own race, because... a lot of our club is parent-run and being the organization that we have an exceptional parent volunteer group and committee. We have the influence of the parents getting excited to host the race and being involved... The kids see it, it rubs off on them, and they feed off of it.”
There will be 175 racers participating at the Blizzard Blast. This marks the fourth year the Cold Lake Alpine Ski Society is hosting the event.
