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About the Team
About the Team
Cross-country skiing at TCGIS began in the winter of 2021/2022 as an intramural sport with 16 skiers, many of them beginners. The Nordic Ski Team is now an interscholastic sport at TCGIS and competes in citizen races and in the Minnesota Youth Ski League's (MyXC) Wednesday night Team Sprint Series. Depending upon snow conditions, the team either practices on the groomed ski trails at Como Golf Course or at Battle Creek Regional Park. The school currently partners with the MyXC to provide rental equipment.
Cross-country skiing has two techniques - classic and skate – and the TCGIS Nordic Ski Team only skis classic. From a developmental standpoint, it's easier to learn the basics and provides a foundation to learn how to skate ski. Students who want to compete in high school will need to race with both and they will be better skiers in either technique if they have mastered the classic technique. The team also lacks access to rental equipment, staff and funding to teach both techniques.
The first Nordic ski team at TCGIS
Coach Kirsten
Coach Kirsten
Between being a high school exchange student in Switzerland and attending college in Maine, I learned to love downhill skiing. However, when I moved to Minnesota for graduate school, I quickly realized I needed a new winter sport that was more conducive to the landscape here. A friend who had skied on her high school’s Nordic ski team invited me to ski with her and I was hooked! I found the basics easy to learn and I enjoyed the exercise as well as spending a few hours skiing in the woods with friends on a winter’s day.
Over the years I’ve been sharing my love of Nordic skiing by teaching other friends to ski. It’s so rewarding to witness their joy at learning something new. From these informal lessons I learned that in addition to skiing, I also enjoy coaching. When my children (also TCGIS students) started participating in the Minnesota Youth Ski League’s SkiSparks program, I volunteered as a coach in their club and now I lead the Battle Creek Sunday SkiSparks Club.
Whether or not students go on to ski competitively, my goal as coach of the TCGIS Nordic ski team is to nurture lifelong skiers. I hope they grow to see the sport as a fun way to keep their bodies moving during Minnesota’s long, cold winters and to support their physical and mental health.
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