This is a compilation of all the feedback that CCAK received recently regarding current Junior Olympic policies. The comments are listed, in full, in the order that they were received. Comments are anonymous, unless the person speficially requested that their name be included.

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As a parent of both a past Arctic Winter games competitor and JO athlete I wanted to speak out in favor of the current system, that is a unified Alaska team. My child's experience at both events was overwhelmingly positive. The entire concept of having kids from all over the state, those affiliated with individual teams, high school teams or independents, all drawn together under the banner of Team Alaska, creates an entity with an energy and power far surpassing individuals or specific teams. Thanks to thoughtful parents and team members, my child was made to feel welcome in a group of kids that already knew each other well. By the time they traveled I felt they all were solidified as "Team Alaska" rather than athletes from separate teams. A team that travels, eats, trains and competes together is not only a structurally superior unit when it comes to performance and race results but also presents itself to other divisions as a stronger force. When competitors come together and race under the banner of Team Alaska the athletes gain from the experience and knowledge of fellow competitors and coaches. Finally, friendships are made that transcend "team barriers".

I have reviewed the Cross Country Alaska Junior Olympic Team - General Operating Principles and Policies on the CCAK website and I have just a few comments regarding:

1. General Philosophy and
6. Waxing

It is my opinion that the "General Philosophy" as outlined in the General Operating Principles can best support success for our skiers at this event as well as for future championships that our young skiers may qualify for. It is critical that our young athletes learn to thrive in a "select team" environment, in which they must get along with and work together with other athletes that they may not know personally until the Junior Olympics week begins. Not only is it critical for athletes to learn to function in such an environment, but it is often the catalyst for friendships and aquaintances that enrich the experience for any skier and that may never have developed outside of this "select team" environment. Participation as a member of a cohesive New England Team at Junior Olympics in Anchorage in 1987 is still a fond memory for me, not only because it was then that I realized I'd like to live here in Alaska someday, but also because we had such good team spirit, we had good results, and ended up winning the Alaska Cup. It was a proud moment for us all to be named the "best team", when even the slowest skiers on our team were on the podium as members of a championship team. The feeling could not have been the same if we'd not worked together as a cohesive unit.

Regarding waxing: The waxing strategy as outlined in the Operating Principles is consistent with my experiences at major events at everything from regional championships to Olympic Games. There is always a waxing staff that tests various waxing products and methods, the information is made available to all athletes on the team, and all the skiers consult with the waxing staff and use their own experience and judgement to prepare the skis for the best chance of good results. This is a proven strategy that is in practice at every World Cup and most likely every Alaska high school race. I see no reason to change this strategy.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment.

As a member of several World Junior, World Championship and Olympic Teams, I have encountered similar situations to those found at Junior Olympics. It is not always possible to be coached and supported by your home club at big events, and the sooner you can learn to function on your own, working with other coaches, staff and athletes, the better chance you will have of being successful. While it is nice to represent your home club, and to work with those you are most comfortable with, it is also important to represent the greater community that helps support you, and to collaborate with fellow Alaskans. By bringing top athletes and coaches together, the chances for success are even greater. Alaska is stronger as a team!

There are plenty of opportunities to compete for your home club at JO qualifying events, the US Senior National Championships, SuperTour races, etc. Junior Olympics is a unique opportunity to represent Alaska! One that you can look back on and be proud of.

Alaska has a rich history of being a strong team. It would be a shame to see that history fade away only to overshadowed by a bunch of individual interests.

I support a unified team!

I would also like to see discussion or policies regarding parents involvement as "coaches", drivers, over-parenting, etc. Setting bounderies, for acceptable behavior for parents when with Team Alaska.
I would also like to see on the coaching selection an athlete representative (someone who has/is on the Junior National Team), whether a voting rep or non-voting rep, but a voice of the athletes. Where the rep is voted by their peers at the previous JO's to serve 1-2 years term.

I also think that the different coaching positions should be listed to the athletes so if an athlete has a question they know who to talk to and not just hearing "I'm not the person that does that, but I will try to find out."

In the end we are TEAM ALASKA! Not a bunch of individuals that are grouped together for a couple of races, and if we keep the attitude of "I", then "WE" will not win the Alaska Cup.

Alaska Junior Olympic Coaching Manual

This manual is extremely detailed – but also inflexible. Snow conditions can change rapidly and waxing “protocol” needs to be flexible to adjust to these changing conditions.

Teams exist in Alaska and the rest of the world. Teams are the future of Cross Country Skiing and not going to go away. Kids that choose to join a team have the benefit of having worked with a set of coaches. These coaches and skiers work efficiently together. The coaches know these kids, how they ski and the particulars of waxing their skis. The kids know what ski prep their coaches expect. To succeed at Junior Nationals Team Alaska must take advantage of this relationship. Coach selection should be such, and coaching structure should be set up, so that Coaches work as much as possible with the kids on their training team. Yes, there are some athletes that are not part of a training team. These kids would be assigned to a coaching team. Coaches might have groups of kids assigned to them – but ultimately all groups are Team Alaska and would be expected to work together for the benefit of Team Alaska.

I believe the following quote from the Coaching Manual is an example of the pettiness and contradictory nature of the manual. It is also very insulting to the coaches.

“11. Athletes will have one pair of skis waxed for the upcoming race. If a particular coach and or athlete would like an additional pair waxed then that coach, and/or athlete may wax their skis with personal wax (not team wax) after the entire team’s skis (one pair each) have been waxed. This waxing must also be done not in the presence of other athletes or team members (not good for team confidence)

This seems to imply that without this statement coaches are going to wax multiple skis for some skiers and ignore the needs of others. Let’s give the coaches a little credit. If this is the kind of behavior we can expect it is going to take more than a statement in a coach’s manual to rectify things. The second part of the statement is even worse. It seems to encourage coaches to give some skiers special treatment - as long as they are sneaky about it. Oh yes – that really sounds good for team confidence to me. Sorry if I am getting sarcastic about this – but is this really the philosophy of Team Alaska? Was this procedure really unanimously approved by all members of the Competition Committee? Let’s get a manual that lets coaches coach to the best of their ability. Sometimes it will be necessary to wax a couple pairs of skis for a given skier. Maybe they are going late and the coaches realize the initial wax call was not right or conditions have changed or…I’m a parent, not a coach but I know it is best be open and up front about what is happening and not condoning secret waxing missions for some athletes.

I went over the JO Procedures document and am suggesting changes that I hope will satisfy many of the concerns from parents without breaking away from the team philosophy. [View in PDF format]

After having been very involved in both the United States and Alaskan Cross Country Communities for many years, I feel it is important to write a letter that summarizes my thoughts on the current debate regarding the Junior Olympics Team structure. I believe the Alaska division should compete as one united team at Junior Olympics.

It is important that the U.S. Ski Community continue to find ways to improve the development our junior athletes and prepare them for the long term success at an international level. Club programs play an important role in this development phase by providing both junior and senior athletes year round training programs, racing support and technical services. However, I believe we need to work together as a community to better prepare our athletes for international success.

In my opinion, competing at the Junior Olympic as one united team provides the Alaska division the opportunity to bring together our young athletes. This venue allows the younger athletes the chance to learn from the more elite athletes. There is also value in providing Alaska’s elite junior athletes the opportunity to mentor and teach the developing athletes in our community. I made my first Junior Olympic team at the age of thirteen and it was incredibly valuable experience in my overall development. I can still remember following the older skiers around and watching how they waxed their skis and how they mentally prepared for races. That experience instilled in me the strong desire to help the younger athletes as I became one of the older skiers on the Junior Olympic team. In my final year as a junior, I missed the Junior Olympics because I was competing on the World Cup in Europe, but I can remember still talking to and encouraging many members of the Alaska Junior Olympic team. I feel that I believe this is the type of atmosphere that we need to create for our skiers in the Alaska division.

I offer an additional argument for participating as an Alaskan division. I believe the Junior Olympic experience actually prepares our elite junior athletes for the challenges of competing at international level. My experiences at the Junior Olympics taught me a great deal about dealing with new teammates, interacting with different coaches and competing in unfamiliar competition situations. The skills I learned at the Junior Olympics ultimately prepared me for similar situations when I qualified for the Olympic Games or World Championship and was forced to compete in a similar setting.

Finally, I was very proud to represent Alaska, both at the Junior Olympics and the Olympic Games. I hope we can find a way to continue to encourage our future athletes to be proud to be part of the Alaskan Cross Country Ski Community, as well as their individual club or team.

In general, a skier (and his parents) gets most of his ski knowledge from one source - the skier's coach. This knowledge is critical, but it is never complete. I believe that being exposed to only one perspective is unhealthy, both in life and in skiing. No matter how good the coach, a skier needs to seek out multiple sources of information so that he learns to make decisions for himself based on what works for him. This goes for training, waxing, race strategy, etc. As a skier progresses through college and then to elite national racing, this self-sufficiency becomes essential for success. I have seen many times. Skiers who rely on an excellent club program for all their support end up falling through the cracks when they have to adjust to a different program (such as a college team) or when they have to attend races on their own (and eventually they will). On the other hand, it seems that a disproportionately large number of skiers from smaller towns, and much more modest support systems, succeed at reaching the elite level. I believe this is because those skiers learned early on to take advantage of all the resources available to them, instead of relying solely on their primary coach. Being a member of Team Alaska, and being exposed to new coaches and new ideas, is a critical step in learning to become a complete skier.

I understand that parents want their children to do well at JOs. I believe that a Team Alaska coaching staff that is able to take advantage of the expertise of all the best coaches in the state will produce the best results for all of our skiers. But I also believe that anyone who thinks of the Junior Olympics as the be-all to end-all, do-or-die races in a young skiers career is taking a very narrow, short-sighted view that will be detrimental later on. When a skier goes on a J1 Scando trip, or to World Juniors, or the Olympics, she will need to interact with, and rely on, skiers and coaches that she doesn't know well. Currently JO's helps prepare them for this situation. Without this experience at JOs, I believe that their results will suffer at these more important races down the road.

Beyond the issue of what we each think about CCAK's policies, we also need to understand that most of CCAK's policies are mandated at the National level by USSA. In my opinion, the parents and coaches who are pressing for change from CCAK are barking up the wrong tree. They need to be addressing their concerns to USSA. USSA mandates that the Junior Olympics are a regional event (IE. each region sends one unified team). USSA sets the team size for each region. USSA allots the number of coaching bibs to each team, essentially making it impossible for a team to have multiple sets of coaches. I believe that CCAK currently does its absolute best to accommodate athletes, coaches, and parents within the constraints of USSA's rules. If people want to effect change, they need to address their concerns to USSA.

In conclusion, I believe the current system works in the best interest of all Alaska junior skiers. The current JO team structure provides valuable experiences that cannot be had by segregating the team into their everyday clubs. Cross Country Alaska does its best to ensure success at JOs, while working within USSA’s rules and keeping the costs as low as possible.

It is important that parents and coaches stay involved with CCAK even if their ideas are not immediately adopted. CCAK is a volunteer organization, and anyone who wants to see change must get involved. Rather than go to one meeting with a take-it-or-leave-it proposal, parents and coaches should take an active role on a monthly basis. Only then can we look beyond the scope of our own clubs to the best interest of the state as a whole, and help craft policies that will ensure the best for ALL of our young Alaskan skiers in the years to come.

1. General Philosophy
As written this statement doesn’t address how individual skiers will be supported to assist them in reaching their goals and maximizing their potential to succeed at competition. Success in racing is not likely to be achieved simply by everyone doing the same thing and looking alike. The philosophy should allow for flexibility and innovation.

2. Travel
The decision to travel as a large group limits the ability of anyone to make alternative arrangements. Terms such as “cost-neutral” should be defined. How the trip leader will determ the increased cost of someone making alternative arrangements should be described. The deadline for making these requests should be established in advance.

4. Dining
Dining as a group will be somewhat dependent on what the housing arrangements are like. This section should have more flexibility to allow smaller groups or skiers with special dietary needs to be accommodated.

5. Uniforms.

Is it intended that “It is encouraged, though not required, that team members purchase a Team Alaska uniform”? Or, is this referring to the purchase of a new uniform is the member already has the current uniform?

6. Waxing
This section does not provide sufficient flexibility for coaches to support individual skiers, especially skiers that may have a high potential of superior performance at JO’s. The policy stated here also differs from the policy stated in the Coaching Manual. Every effort should be made to ensure that each skier has adequately waxed skis. It should be acknowledged that some skiers in the judgment of the coaches would have more than one set of skis waxed for competition.

8. Changes in these Policies
8.1 The May 15 deadline is too early. These policies ahave been adopted without review or public comment. If there is a valid reason for this deadline it should be stated.
8.2 It should be mandatory for a meeting to be held in March or April following the JO’s to gather feedback and discuss possible improvements to the program.
8.3 The trip leader should not be the only person who can propose changes to these policies.
8.8 Any proposed changes that are rejected by the Competition Committee or the Oversight Committee may be appealed to the CCAK BOD.
8.9 Any parent, coach, team member or other interested party may submit a proposal for change to these guidelines directly to the CCAK Competition Committee.

As a parent of a two-time JO skier and as a long time, and active supporter of cross-country skiing in Alaska, I am commenting on the current rules and regulations regarding Team Alaska. My primary concerns regarding my daughter skiing for Team Alaska were her safety, her health, and her continued enthusiasm about skiing. She traveled the Houghton Michigan and then to Midway Utah with the. I was fortunate to be able to go to both JO venues and watch her race. Both times she traveled and stayed with the team and I traveled and stayed in separate accommodations. Both times I was very comfortable with the setup provided for the team. I felt confident that she was safe, that she was getting enough rest and that she was eating properly. Her experiences at both JOs were positive and the most significant part of that positive experience was training with a more diverse group then her own club and having a large coaching staff to learn from. She is now in college and skiing for her college team. Her JO experience, with coaches from different clubs and schools, and teammates that she had not trained with previously, significantly improved her ability to address and work with the coaches and team mates she now has in college.

1.) Philosophy: I support the CCAK philosophy that a strong Team Alaska is essential to our mission and our success.

2.) Team Travel: I believe that the travel arrangements should be the same for all athletes. I wish that they were more evenly distributed and that athletes from Fairbanks, The interior, and the Kenai did not have to “ get themselves to Anchorage” and that the overall team support would cover the costs of flying to Anchorage for those athletes.

3.) Team Housing: I feel the team housing is absolutely essential in cementing the Team Alaska strength. Separate housing would be tantamount to tossing the entire concept of Team Alaska. I hope that this year with JOs in Anchorage we can somehow manage to inspire that team Spirit.

4.) Team Dining: I feel that dinning as a team not only reinforces the Team Alaska spirit but also presents a united front to all other teams competing against Alaska.

5.) Uniforms: All Jo athletes I have met are proud to wear their Team Alaska Uniforms.

6.) Waxing: Waxing will always be a challenge because it can be very difficult and any poor skiing performance is can on the wax technician. We have all heard that more than once and will no doubt hear it again.

7.) Finances: Cross-country skiing at this elite level is expensive. I wish it was not but it is, and anyone who skis at this level of competition has already accepted that fact. I am glad that CCAK provides scholarships for qualifying skiers who cannot afford the trip.

8.) Procedures for Change: The procedure for changing policies seems fair and transparent.


Coach Selection: I trust the current system to choose the best coaches for our team. I believe that coaches should be determined by experts and not parents. Coaching Manual: The coaching manual should be entirely in the hands of the coaches committee, the coaches, and the competition committee.

Coaching Selection Procedure

As I have stated above I have coached at several JO’s. The process has only become more and more professional each and every year. It was not long ago that a group of coaches sat around a table and voted for themselves. As CCAK had grown, so has it operating standards. The current standard as policy is quite professional and takes into account all aspects of the requirements demanded for coaching at the Junior Olympics. I believe that this is not only a development aspect for the athletes but for the coaches as well. I want to stress that because I put a heavy development aspect on Junior Olympics, I do not take the competition lightly or the process involved.

I want to provide some history about the coaching selection process for everyone to understand. In all but 1 year, not all applicants have been chosen to represent Team Alaska in the coaching staff. Meaning that all of those who applied, except for 1 year have been on the staff at JO’s. Hopefully the Alaskan coaching pool becomes deeper and we have more and more applicants then there are duties for. The latest process allows for the best coaches from around the state to represent Team Alaska at Junior Olympics.

There have been discussions about allowing certain criteria for club coaches to be named based on the number of athletes who make the team. The best answer to this question has been, “if you have the best club with the most athletes, then you must have the best coaches with in this club.” I believe this to be true, and the current system is designed to appoint the best coaches for all of our athletes.

Coaching Manual

The coaching manual is simply a guide to help guide the team through a process. It provides a framework to operate under. The manual outlines several different areas of concern that a Team Leader or Head Coach should address. I look at this document as a blue print to refer to when making up the structure of a team. This is certainly not a binding agreement between all coaches involved, but a frame work under which to guide them. Any discrepancies with the documents are and should be worked out between the Team Leader and Head Coach and staff members. If the overall goal is to provide the best situation for athletic performance then all parties should be able to work out any minor differences.

All the documents look good to me. They are reality-based, reasonable, and easy to live with. I don't see anything that should cause any problems for any coaches or athletes who would attend, or coaches who would not attend but would send athletes. These documents should reassure all parents and non-attending coaches that Cross Country Alaska is doing its best to select a coaching staff that will work for "their" athletes, regardless of what program they are from, to arrange travel and accommodation in a manner that keeps the team organized and makes it possible for the coaches to do their work most effectively, and to structure a coaching staff to perform all necessary tasks in an effective and successful manner to the benefit of all the skiers on the team.

This system also prepares athletes for how trips are organized and how coaching staffs are structured for international trips should the athletes progress past Junior Olympics. Athletes and coaches will learn how to get along with and work cooperatively with athletes and coaches from other programs. This is not only an important skill, but is an important learning, growth and development tool for both athletes and coaches.

These JO team organization and JO staff organization documents also provide an excellent framework for use by people who are named to a trip leader or head coach position for the first time. By having documents like this in existence, a certain amount of consistency of organization is assured from one Junior Olympics to the next, regardless of staff leadership.

These documents are also generally philosophically consistent with the team model utilized by every other division and district team at the Junior Olympics, including those division and district teams that have been beating the Alaska Team in recent years. It seems to work effectively for them.

The staff selection document describes a process that has been used effectively for the past two Junior Olympics. It is not the only way to select coaches, but it has produced effective staffs. This system was established in response to charges that the system used for many years in the past was open to question because the people who voted on the candidates included many of the candidates or others with close ties. Given that concern, this system is a reasonable alternative.

In summary, I see nothing objectionable, and many things that serve well the skiers and coaches in Alaska.

3.1 Junior Olympics outside of Alaska
All members of the team will stay in the team hotel. Any request for exceptions (such as medical conditions documented by a physician or college students residing at the location) must be presented in writing to the team manager and/or Head Coach by _________ (date/time frame).

If the Competition Committee or BOD of CCAK deem it necessary to “word smith” these documents I have suggestions. Again, I do not feel this is necessary, but I’d like to put my two-cents in the process. My suggestions are outlined in the “Long Version”, but fall into two categories:

1. Expand the general explanations with the new athlete in mind. Assume the reader knows little about the process, purpose, and logistics of the JO trip.

2. Change the text to a slightly more positive tone. This is a purely stylistic change – again strictly word-smithing.

My favorite part of going to JOs my first year was hanging out with all the skiers from different teams. I had never gotten to know most of the winter stars skiers until I made the JO team for Houghton. I could point out who the faces to go with names on the results list, but i had never had the occasion to spend any length of time with skiers from other schools.
But when I made the team as a first year J1, I was instantly welcomed into the community of "elite" high school skiers. I made a new friend just in the fairbanks airport, then more at the last high school races and JO's themselves. Team Alaska is the part of JO's that last far longer than the week in March.
I dont know how Team Alaska would still be a team if we didn't live, wax and race together at JO's.

Furthermore, the current policies make for a unique experience as far as coaching. Most skiers in Alaska-myself included- have had at the most a couple coaches in all the time they've been racing. Getting to JO's and suddenly having a dozen more coaches, most of whom I had previously had very little contact with, improved my skiing and made the transition to a different coach at college a lot easier.

The coaches at JOs have always been awesome for me, and I think that trying to select based on club affiliation after the team had been picked would not allow for coaches from smaller clubs or groups to help and have an influence.

James Mery

I strongly support the General Philosophy that “Cross Country Alaska believes that the vision and mission of CCAK are best served by having a single, unified Alaska Team. This means a team that travels together, is housed together, eats together, meets as a team, is uniformed in identical competition suits and warm-ups, and whose staff operates as a single entity, dedicated to the success of the Alaska Team as their highest priority.”  The policies that follow this statement seem consistent with this philosophy and I generally support them as well.
 
I am the parent of a 5 time JO skier with top ten individual finishes, plus several relay team medals.  I know how important it was to my teenager to be part of the Alaska team, and not some subset of training groups within Alaska.  Much was learned from new coaches with different experiences and approaches, and numerous friendships were forged with other skiers (and coaches) as a direct result of the being part of the Alaska team. Many of those friendships will likely last a lifetime; long after high school skiing days have passed.
 
I believe that one part of the coaches’ manual needs more thought.  This section states:
 
“Athletes will have one pair of skis waxed for the upcoming race. If a particular coach and or athlete would like an additional pair waxed then that coach, and/or athlete may wax their skis with personal wax (not team wax) after the entire team’s skis (one pair each) have been waxed. This waxing must also be done not in the presence of other athletes or team members (not good for team confidence).”
 
I do understand the logistical challenges associated with the whole Alaska team and coaches waxing multiple pairs of skis for a single race.  However, I think the manual needs to state that the option of waxing and taking an additional pair of skis to the race venue shall be clearly communicated to the skiers.  This has not been done in the past.  To the contrary, skiers have been told that they could only wax and take one pair.  Yet once at the venue, skiers who had personal coaches as part of the JO team staff often had multiple pairs of skis with them.
 
The requirement of using personal wax for a second pair of skis is impractical, as is the implication that this waxing must be done when no other skiers are in the waxing area.  These requirements effectively neuter the extra pair option for the individual skier, especially those who does not have their own coach as part of the JO coaching staff.  Stated another way, these rules facilitate the inappropriate opportunity for some JO coaches to wax extra skis “after hours” for the better skiers in their own personal programs, to the detriment of other fast Alaska skiers who may be in direct competition with the skier getting special treatment.  There needs to be a better way to level the playing field among all Alaska skiers.
 
The one pair rule seems especially counterproductive to skier and team success in sprint competition.  JOs are held in the spring.  The nights are generally cold and days warm, at least in Outside venues. The qualifying round is often on rock hard snow/ice in the morning, yet the heats are in the afternoon slop.  Those kids with separate pairs of appropriately flexed skis should be encouraged to wax up both pairs using team wax.
 
Finally, I really don’t think anonymous comments should be posted.  It provides a venue for cowards to propagate shameless and defamatory gossip.