Nordic Skiing

Tryout Information:

Nordic Skiing is a no cut athletic program.  Therefore, any student-athlete that comes out for Nordic Skiing will be placed on either Varsity or Junior Varsity.  The Varsity team will be comprised of ten (10) skiers and those team members will be based upon race times. 

Brief Overview for Nordic Skiers

To join the Nordic Ski Team you do not need to have any experience skiing, we will teach you how to ski. We will do it two ways, when there is no snow we will work on dryland drills to help build endurance and skiing coordination as well as try to simulate skiing through roller skiing. Once we have snow, we will get you on skis and teach the two different types of skiing:

1. Skate Technique

2. Classic Skiing Technique

Season:

1. November 11 - Season Begins

2. February 6, 2020 - Section 4A Championship - Battle Creek Park Reserve

3. February 13, 2020 - State Tournament - Giants Ridge, Biwabik

4. Practice start time is 3:30, we meet at the Atrium at South Campus

   1. Middle School and North athletes take the bus to South

   2. Change in the locker rooms as quickly as possible so we can begin practice

5. 5:00 PM practice end when there is no snow

6. Once there is snow, we will take a bus from South to a practice area (usually Battle Creek Regional Park) and take the bus back to South, practice usually ends at 6:00

7. The current meet schedule is at Suburban East Conference

8. Our races are 5K and change disciplines based on the race. There are couple of meets that are a little different, we do one Skiathlon, which consists of one Sprint Relay and three pursuit style races, 5K in the morning and 5K in the afternoon. 

9. Most meets start at 3:45 and end around 5, there is a Varsity and JV race both for males and females

10. We use TeamSnap as our team management software, once everyone is signed up I will switch communication to that platform

Skiing Gear:

There are two places in the area that are great to go to, they give discounts to high school skiers and are knowledgeable! Finn Sisu and Joe’s

If it is your first year we have equipment that we can lend, it is older and not always the best, but is is a good way to try the sport out

1. Skiers will eventually need Poles, Boots and Skis for Skate Skiing, as well as, Boots and Skis for Classic skiing

2. As for clothing, all you need is athletic wear that you can wear in cold weather and still workout, think winter running. Here are some examples of ski specific clothing, we recommend you purchase two pieces of clothing, LOBSTER GLOVES and SKI PANTS:

   1. Pants

   2. Lobster Gloves

   3. Jacket

White Bear Lake Nordic Ski Team Lettering Criteria

Skiers can earn points through different actions on the team. These include practices, volunteering, racing, academics and good sportsmanship. Points can also be deducted if skiers do not represent White Bear Lake Nordic and White Bear Lake Area Schools in a positive way.

To earn a Varsity Letter, a runner must accumulate a total of 100 points achieved in the following manner.

 Competition Points:

• Varsity Appearances: Automatic 100 points if an athlete has skied on the top seven for the Varsity team at least 6 of the 9 Varsity meets. ( Not including Invites like Mesabi )

• Varsity Conference, Section or State: Automatic 100 points

• Four Year Participant in the Program: Automatic 100 points

• Meet Performance: 10 points per race if your time is in the upper one-half of all times

• Attendance during the season: 100% attendance for races = 40 points, missed once = 30 points

• Team Practices: 10 points if a skier works on specific techniques with a new skier joining the sport

 Non Competition Points:

• Team Leadership:    Team Captain = 10 points, Appointed leadership positions = 10 points

• Team Contributions: Must be sanctioned by coaching staff, i.e. t-shirt design, bulletin board, practice activity, fundraising, volunteer work through Nordic.  10 points

• Education: A GPA of 3.5 or higher 10 points

• Acts of Sportsmanship: Witnessed by coaching staff or brought to the attention of coaching staff by an external witness (teacher, staff member, administrator, parent, official, etc.) in which an athlete has demonstrated the above mentioned character or integrity. 10 Points  “Other than sportsmanship coach asks athletes to perform”

 Point Deductions:

• MSHSL violation during the season (Lose 1/2 points earned)

• Act witnessed by coaching staff or brought to the attention of coaching staff by external witness (teacher, staff member, administrator, parent, official etc.) in which an athlete has demonstrated lack of character or integrity.  (Lose up to 1/2 of your points earned)