Reflections from a ski coach
As our epic season comes to a close, I’ve found myself reflecting on what has been an interesting season for me.
For the first time in many years, I switched to “the dark side” as Sasha calls it and became a coach for a K1 team out of the Alpine ski club in Collingwood, Ontario.
Having been on the instructing side for the better part of the last 15 seasons, I was looking forward to coaching kids who were inherently more focused on ski improvement and going fast.
I was also looking forward to refining and in some cases acquiring some new skills – like setting a GS and Slalom course for different training outcomes.
Overall the season was a success – but a few things surprised me about the coaching culture that I wasn’t aware of before…
1) It seems like there is a hate-on for Instructors from coaches that I was completely oblivious too in the past. It was like the old snowboarders vs. skiers storyline from years ago. Not to say that all coaches hated instructors, but there certainly wasn’t the level of mutual respect I was expecting.
2) Certification levels don’t mean anything – it’s all about your racing credentials. Coaches who had only taken the introductory coaching certification course (level 1) did not take feedback well from more certified coaches – unless they had FIS racing experience.
I’ve always said that the best athletes are rarely the best coaches….otherwise the coaches would still be racing 
3) You don’t ski as much when you are coaching. Coaches work longer days and have lots to do – like setting and tearing down courses, driving to different mountains for races each weekend and even engaging in dry-land training outside on-hill time. The best coaches at our hill were the hardest working & most dedicated staff at the club.
Are my observations unique to the privates clubs in Collingwood….or are these common culture characteristics for all race programs?
I’m going back to Alpine next year (assuming they want me back ), but I’m still undecided as to whether I should ask for another K1 team, look for a slightly different role within coaching that will free up more time for personal training, or go back to the Instructor side.
Regardless of what I end up doing, I’m going to make a conscious effort to build more bridges between the Instructor and Coaching programs.
View Comments
Hey Phil,
I don’t know how much time Sasha has coaching at clubs other than Alpine but I’ll throw in my two cents.
You’re more or less right on the money when it comes to the coaching culture and dynamic and how it compares and contrasts with instructing. I can’t really put my finger on it either but for some reason it’s the feeling that coaches, for the most part have come from a racing background and while they take skiing (and racing) seriously they never act like it. It’s that strange combination of ‘serious but fun’ that seems to differentiate us from the instructor crowd that in my experience seems more casual and less dedicated.
Additionally after taking my 2 instructor last spring (and having never instructed or taken my 1) instructing seemed so ‘Mickey Mouse’ by comparison. the way I figure it a lot of what we’re taught through racing are skills that have a quantifiable goals; lower times, lower points, higher rankings. Instructing on the other hand seems way more qualitative and as such seems so much more subjective and arbitrary. Maybe there’s a perceived vanity with instructing; the more certified you are (the more pins you’re clearly wearing on your CSIA jacket) the more opinionated you can be. Conversely, as a coach people may not know which certifications you’ve got, but it doesn’t matter, having raced with others you’re coaching with you don’t need to prove yourself, your work and skiing speak for themselves. As a result it’s a much more tightly-knit community that’s not nearly as welcoming to outsiders.
This winter I coached at Cypress and I don’t think it’s quite the same as Alpine (marked understatement). Perhaps it’s because coaches at Alpine are primarily members and a larger percentage of instructors are non-members but working at a public club didn’t seem to have as large a divide. The kids at Cypress were another matter altogether though. As it’s a public club and it’s close to Vancouver I’m still convinced it’s a feeder club for the Whistler program; it’s pretty bottom-heavy (primarily young, inexperienced kids) and participants are nearly as skilled, dedicated or (oddly enough) independent) as the ones at Alpine for the given age. Not to say it wasn’t enjoyable, for the most part it was, but rather it was very, very different.
With Cypress’ dynamic it’s easy to understand how many of the coaches are instructors-turned-coaches who have little-to-no racing experience so as a result the smaller divide pretty much explains itself. What I found peculiar though was my initial disdain for the people I was working with; by and large I felt I was working with newbies so maybe I’m one of the worst perpetuators of said rift. At times I couldn’t believe the amount of hand-holding some of these people required (and did for their kids), it was just a situation I had never experienced and totally wasn’t prepared for. After a while some of it made sense and I got over it but I’m still blown away at how different the program is here compared to Alpine.
Needless to say it was a humbling experience, one that’s made me more patient, if not more receptive to instructors in general. Well, at least the ones who don’t wear their certification pins like merit badges (hey, check out my sash!).
And perhaps not the most appropriate place for this, but seeing as you moderate these and can pull it out… a few pictures from this season:
At Cypress:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/macdonalder/sets/72157603722650222/
At Whistler (we caught some of the Women’s DH):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/macdonalder/sets/72157603967175369/
And there will be some from Sun Peaks after the long weekend
.
Chris
Chris – thanks for sharing your persective on the coaching culture…and your picts!
I think you may be on to something in that there is a “private club” culture that overlaps with coaching culture.
It’s amazing to think that the private clubs only exist in Ontario
I hear you on the instructor side – although i can tell you that the level 3 course and certification process is a challenging one that requires a broad set of skills to be successful – like the bumps, skiing dynamic and doing short radius.
Coaching levels seem to be more about how fast you can ski – which of course is important, but I know coaches who can ski a course fast but watching them free ski makes my eyes hurt
Will you go back to Cypress next year?
I think I’ll be back at Cypress next year, having skied at Seymour and heard of (but not yet skied at) Grouse, Cypress has the best terrain and (next year once we have our new lodge) facilities as well. However different the program may be it’s still coaching, which I love doing.
With regards to the difficulties of instructor certification I have no doubt the 3 and 4 are difficult; that, in concert with the fact I’ve never formally ‘instructed’ are what keep me from believing I could successfully complete them. Further, I question the need; seeing as I’ve only coached it doesn’t make a tremendous amount of sense.
My 3 coach on the other hand… next year maybe.
Well I thought I would join the discussion here.
I think that in general there is a correlation between people who were good and dedicated racers and those who were just out there to be there, to what types of coaches they will be. Here in Southern Ontario there is a bit of a culture that promotes racing FIS not necessarily because the athlete wants to, but because that is what everyone just does! I was some what part of the culture and although I never raced FIS I had friends that raced FIS just to please their parents. So in general I think those that were dedicated to their racing, concentrated on dryland, nutrition and just loved the feeling of being outside and on the snow generally end up to be great coaches.
I also think in racing we focus too much on racing and forget to promote skills – last I heard this winter hand position was a skill, not a symptom of the deficiency of another skill (typically we see hands that are back because the athlete lacks a centred and mobile stance). In terms of the CSCF (coaching) and CSIA (instructing) federations, I think that the best coaches provide a meld of the two – promote the three core competencies (centered and mobile stance, turning with the legs, and balanced on two edges) while teaching the athlete to run a good line through the gates.
Either way, coaching or instructing, I think people should try both sides of the federation and find out what works for them in terms of teaching.
Leave a Comment