One happy skier!
There is not a single down side to spending some time a couple days a week skiing with kids. If you’ve ever thought about starting a youth ski club, and you have the time, I’m here to say DO IT. They will make you laugh and smile every day and inspire you with their perseverance and general exuberance for life.
This is the second year I’ve had a Nordic Ski club with students at my school. I stress here I have a CLUB, not a team. We don’t compete or race. My goal is to get kids outside being active and to share a passtime I love. Nordic skiing also has the added benefit of being a lifetime sport.
Here are a few things I’ve learned about skiing with kids:
Skiing on the snowmobile trail, also an old railroad bed, behind our school
1. Remember, it’s all about fun.
2. You don’t need a destination or Nordic trails. The fields that surround a school can go a long way if you incorporate a variety of challenges and games. We use the local snowmobile trails and I join the town’s snowmobile club. The club is always happy to put up caution signs for us in the areas that we use the most.
3. Mix games, free ski, and fundamentals. I didn’t know any games to play on skis or how to instruct students until I attended an institute put on by OSI (Outdoor Sports Institute.) Join their coaching network and attend a weekend workshop. Not only will you meet great people, learn a ton, and have a blast, folks from OSI will travel to help you out if you ask them to.
4. Teach the kids terminology and how to care for equipment. Obviously, this will extend the life of the gear. It’s also an excellent life lesson on taking care of what we have and showing respect. We wipe down our skis everyday before putting them away neatly.
An instructor from OSI demonstrates how to get up after falling.
Soccer fields are a great place to play games and practice new skills.
12. Used and outdated equipment is fine, as long as it’s in good condition. Kids don’t care. They want to be outside, with their friends, having fun. I found a bunch of three pin skis and boots and bamboo poles from the 1980s in the attic of my school. I dragged them down to my classroom, and said, “Hey, you guys want to try out these skis?” Not surprisingly, everyone said, “Yah!!” Also, please think back to when you learned to ski. If you are in your 40s, like me, there’s a good chance you wore jeans, or long johns under sweatpants. And if you were like me and my goofball classmates, you wore gigantic socks pulled up over whatever pants you wore. Again, kids don’t care. Kids will wear rubber boots without socks if that’s what they need to do to go outside. Seriously.
Skiing without poles is an important and fun skill to practice for beginning skiers.
13.Kids are tough, but don’t let them decide that they don’t need gloves, hats, or a coat. Although lots of kids get warmer than adults, for the most part, dress them to the same degree as you are dressed. If they do get too warm, they can shed a layer, or tuck their hat in a pocket. Gloves or mittens are non-negotiable. They fall in the snow too much to go without.
14. Teach etiquette. Things that seem like common sense to you are not so to kids. Teach them the basics: let people by who are faster. If you want to go faster, ask politely, “May I go in front of you, please?”
15.Kids get really thirsty skiing. I’m not sure why, but kids get insanely thirsty skiing. More thirsty than they do playing basketball or running hard at recess. I have not had kids take small bags out on the trails because I don’t want them to fall onto a water bottle and hurt their backs. Instead, I encourage them to drink water all day on skiing days. It helps a lot.
16. Have the adults carry walkie talkies. Yes, I know there are these things called cell phones. If you want to use those go for it, but a walkie talkie can be clipped to your pants instead of having to fish in your pockets, and you don’t dial someone by mistake or forget to turn your ringer back on. At some point, you’ll need to communicate with the adult at the front or back of the pack.
17. Explore, play, take breaks, take in the scenery, watch wildlife. It’s all about fun.
How to start?
First Steps:
Heading off into the woods, students get to see how the landscape changes with each season.
Get very clear on how often you want to ski and the hours you want to offer. I suggest two or three times per week at the most, for two or three hours each time, for the first year or so. If you can only do one day per week, do it.
Get permission. Below are some documents you may use as templates or examples: a ski club proposal, permission slip and calendar. You can use the proposal when presenting your offer to the school principal. You may have to get permission from the superintendent as well. You can also start a club through your town’s recreation department. Consult your town’s rec department to find out the steps to take.
Funding
Seek funding. Will you rent or buy equipment? Start a Go Fund Me Page or Donors Choose. Some schools have a policy against using Go Fund Me, so check first. You can start an “adopt a skier” campaign so that people can donate a specific amount to buy or rent gear for one child. Also, ask the local recreation departments for money since you are offering recreation to kids from their town.
Apply for grants through Cliff, WalMart, and L.L.Bean. Tap into community coalitions whose aim is to foster health and well being in your community. Schools are being given a lot of money for Covid relief; there might be funding for outdoor pursuits.
Gearing Up
Advertise on FB that you are looking to buy gently used Nordic Ski equipment for a youth ski club. People will donate equipment and give generously. I’ve purchased some “like new” equipment for next to nothing. Someone from the local ski mountain saw my post, and because they had to make room for new inventory, they donated a dozen pairs of NNN boots in excellent condition.
Visit your local ski shops in the summer to arrange purchasing gear in the fall. This way, they can cut you a deal if you are affiliated with a school.
In the fall, find out who wants to participate and their sizes. Take down each child’s name, height, weight, and shoe size. You may want to bump up the shoe size by one after you convert to European size. You’ll need these figures when buying or renting equipment. If you can, get waxless skis. They are easier to use and take care of.
Volunteers at the head and end of the group wear blaze yellow vests. Both skiers and snowmobilers can easily see us.
Enlist Volunteers
Encourage anyone who likes to ski to join you. When I was a child, the librarian at my elementary school--willowy, kind, and prim--took a rag tag group of us students skiing on Friday afternoons. Talk to the school’s PE teacher. They could be an ally for getting gear and may want to participate.
Armed with a calendar, gather volunteers. Hit up your friends and community members to join you. If you are running your club out of a school, invite school board members, parents, volunteers, and PTO members. When you ask them, and they say yes, ask them if you can put them down for specific dates. If they aren’t ready to commit, ask if you can follow up with them the next day once they have a chance to look at their books.
Let the merriment commence!