History: 1995 to 2000
by Mike Carleton, RMR President in 1999-2000
CLUB START-UP
The Rocky Mountain Racers ski club officially started in Calgary, Alberta in October 1995. At the time the club was unique in Canada in its approach to development of Cross Country skiing and Biathlon athletes. Now after nearly two decades of operation, RMR continues to be a significant player in the Nordic scene.
Rather than a traditional ski club that has a variety of Nordic programs and activities, or maintains a home based trail system, RMR’s focus at the outset was on development of junior and senior athletes. Key objectives included “helping athletes achieve excellence in their sport”, and “preparing them for Provincial, National, and International competition”. Athlete contracts were implemented that clearly defined the responsibilities and expectations of the athletes, coaches, and the club, and these contracts also included guiding values and beliefs associated with meeting the club’s objectives. “Administration” costs were kept to an absolute minimum, with the club budget almost fully dedicated to support of the athletes.
by Mike Carleton, RMR President in 1999-2000
CLUB START-UP
The Rocky Mountain Racers ski club officially started in Calgary, Alberta in October 1995. At the time the club was unique in Canada in its approach to development of Cross Country skiing and Biathlon athletes. Now after nearly two decades of operation, RMR continues to be a significant player in the Nordic scene.
Rather than a traditional ski club that has a variety of Nordic programs and activities, or maintains a home based trail system, RMR’s focus at the outset was on development of junior and senior athletes. Key objectives included “helping athletes achieve excellence in their sport”, and “preparing them for Provincial, National, and International competition”. Athlete contracts were implemented that clearly defined the responsibilities and expectations of the athletes, coaches, and the club, and these contracts also included guiding values and beliefs associated with meeting the club’s objectives. “Administration” costs were kept to an absolute minimum, with the club budget almost fully dedicated to support of the athletes.
To achieve its objectives, it was felt that professional coaching was essential, and that the coaches needed to have the leadership skills and expertise capable of taking athletes to the national level. Other key components included an expected year around commitment to training, access to the best training facilities and resources available, opportunities for International competition, and use of educational resources like the National Sports School (NSS) in Calgary to provide the flexible time required to train and compete at this level.
Although it was desirable to have all the athletes centred in Calgary or Canmore, RMR proved effective at supporting athletes, particularly during their school years, at “remote” locations. Good examples would be David Leoni – biathlete from Camrose and Drew Goldsack – cross country athlete from Red Deer, who both lived at home until finishing school, and ultimately went on to compete at the Olympic Winter Games as members of the Canadian team.
The RMR approach embodied many elements of what has evolved in Canada as “National Training Centres”. Other Nordic clubs in Canada have also adopted many aspects of the RMR approach.
The club started small. In the first season of operation 1995-96, there were 5 athlete members: Rhonda Sandau (Calgary), Sandra Keith (Calgary), John Frosst (Calgary), Erik Carleton (Calgary), and Brendan Wypich (Toronto, Ontario). In the years that followed there was slow but steady growth, and RMR was to become a significant feeder system to the National Teams. The file “Rocky Mountain Racers 1999 - 2000 A Season to Remember” is a good summary of performances of the athletes on the team at that time. Through these first few years, there were often great challenges - financial, logistical, political, and personal - to keep a program of this nature on track. However, the club persevered, and the results obtained were significant.
A separate file is being prepared that will include all the athletes on an annual basis who were members of RMR.
COACHING
RMR’s first Head Coach was Scott Dymond, originally from Ottawa. Scott was completing his NCCP level 4 at the University of Calgary, and needed the practical experience. He was recommended by Dave Wood, who was the National Team Coach for many years. Scott stayed with RMR for several years, and during his time helped many athletes attain a high level of competitive achievement. Scott demonstrated leadership abilities in many ways, in particular with regards to training methods and programs. This included for example a complete focus on training year round which was not that common amongst the club system at the time. He was also skilled at teaching technique and adapting “International” methods, basically keeping current with the latest developments in the sport. Scott also accessed specialists at the University of Calgary, for ideas and guidance with regard to strength training and other aspects.
Another approach was to effectively integrate the training of both cross country skiing athletes and biathletes. RMR biathletes trained and competed successfully in cross country races, both classic and free technique, while continuing to dedicate training time to the shooting requirement of Biathlon. This all proved to be very beneficial in their own sport. The Cross country athletes benefitted from having a larger training group, and a greater “Team” awareness.
RMR took full advantage of CODA’s Haig Glacier facility during the summer and Sovereign Lake-Silver Star for early season training and competition. During the dryland season, Scott really emphasized running, mountain biking and road biking, roller skiing and strength training. The running was both “long slow distance” and “intensity” focused with athletes encouraged to enter 5K and 10K races. Critical speed tests were regularly used to assess athlete’s fitness levels.
To make the training more fun and interesting, unique camps were organized. This would range from Golden for example, where activities such as white water rafting were part of the agenda, to the Dachstein Glacier in Austria for early season training on snow.
At competitions, Scott proved very effective at managing the many details of transportation, punctuality, equipment, waxing, race support, and overall organization so important on race day.
Scott was sometimes doing “double duty”, by coaching for Cross Country Canada (CCC) or Cross Country Alberta (CCA) at camps or on trips. At the time this was necessary because of limited funds available to the club, and “Partnerships” occurred with other sport organizations. Scott always did his best to teach his athletes to be “independent” if necessary, to keep up their programs and also be able to prepare and compete effectively even if Scott was away. It was often a challenge however for the club to balance the benefits of “partnerships” and the coaching experiences therefrom, compared to having your Head Coach available to work directly with the club athletes.
In 1998, the club had grown and more resources were needed. Richard Boruta from the Czech Republic, with extensive biathlon coaching experience and a recent arrival in Canada, was recruited as the Biathlon Coach. Scott and Richard worked very well together. Later Petr Zidek from Canmore came on as an assistant and over the years has made a significant contribution to the club, especially with regard to shooting.
PARENTS AND SUPPORTERS
As with most organizations involving athletes in sports, the parents played a huge role in the operation of the club. This is not only with administration and Board aspects, but the hands on involvement as vehicle drivers, wax assistants, cooks, and in so many other ways.
In addition to family support, RMR in the early days actively sought out “Athlete Centred Environment Support” or “ACES” volunteers. These were people who played a major role in a variety of tasks, from soliciting sponsorships, to helping at events or volunteering at casino fundraisers. It was perhaps easier to attract these supporters because of the single focus of the club, i.e. helping young athletes achieve their goals, while at the same time seeing the benefit of strengthening the Nordic sports system nationally. Many of these volunteers had extensive sports experience, not just limited to the Nordic sports, and understood the amount of effort and commitment required to develop and support athletes at this level. There were other volunteers who had no direct experience in sport, but wanted to help in some way. This occurred for example with the first edition of the club web site which was hosted for years by Craig Nelson of Cameo Systems Inc. at no cost to RMR.
THE NATIONAL SPORTS SCHOOL (NSS)
From inception RMR felt that athlete education was as important as athletic achievement. Many athletes attended the National Sports School (NSS) sponsored by CODA and the Calgary Board of Education, then based at William Aberhart High School in Calgary. The NSS facilitates “flex time” to the extent that athletes are not encumbered by the time constraints associated with the traditional school curriculum. RMR celebrated athletic achievements – high academic marks were recognized.
FUNDING CHALLENGES
At the outset, RMR was starting from scratch from a financial standpoint. Coaching payments and other expenses were made by the parents. Fundraising projects were on the scale of “bake sales”. Eventually as noted earlier, partnerships were arranged with other sports organizations to share coaching expenses. A grant was also obtained from the ASRPWF foundation which helped ensure continuity of the program through the second season of operation.
At the first opportunity (after two years of incorporation), an application was made to Alberta Gaming to host a casino. RMR was one of the first charities to host a casino at the new Calgary Casino in 1997, and by taking advantage of scheduling opportunities, had a casino every year until 2000. Proceeds from the casino had a significant impact and with other fundraising efforts, enabled continuation and strengthening of the professional coaching program.
Casino funds were also allocated to purchase a Team Van, a 1997 Ford 350 V10 in 1998. This really helped address many transportation problems and costs, as the team travelled extensively in BC and Alberta, in part because of the “remote support” to athletes, and for training and competitions which extended into the USA for Spring Series races. It was however a tedious task to manage the obligations associated with operating a vehicle of this nature. There are stringent requirements from Alberta Transportation with regard to safety, vehicle inspections, insurance, etc. The van was originally a 15 passenger vehicle, but the club converted one row of seats for transport of wax and equipment, so it was used as a 12 passenger van. The van served the club well for several years, and even made a trip from Alberta to Thunder Bay and back.
MT. SHARKFEST
With particular encouragement from Dr. Franco Leoni from Camrose, RMR initiated an annual event called “Sharkfest” in 1998 at the Mt. Shark Racing Trails in Kananaskis Country. Mt. Shark has a unique history in the Nordic scene, having originally been developed as a backup site to the Canmore Nordic Centre in the early eighties. The site has hosted many premier events including the North American Championships in 1985, and the Canadian Nationals in 1986. Many well-known athletes competed there including Pierre Harvey and Vegard Ulvang. The relatively remote location, often challenging driving conditions on the Smith-Dorien access road, and limited parking have posed some very interesting challenges and adventures.
Other than two shacks originally moved there in the eighties, pretty much all facilities for competitions have to be brought in and set up, and all power is from portable generators. Sharkfest however has a popular following with the beautiful mountain scenery, and of necessity, “old-fashioned” methods of running races. Many Sharkfest volunteers have been “old-timers” from the Olympic era who enjoyed coming out and re-living the memories.
One unexpected development the first year was a conflict over the name. A group in Florida claimed they had the right to the name “Sharkfest”, which is used for some activities involving protection and education about sharks, and we were threatened about copyright infringement. The way around this problem was to name our event officially “Mt. Sharkfest”. In any case, the RMR hosted Sharkfest continued for 10 years at Mt. Shark. Normally an Alberta Cup event, in 2000 it included two distance events for the Senior Nationals. That year the Nationals had to be moved from Thunder Bay due to lack of snow. Some Lappe Nordic volunteers came to assist, and despite a significant increase in the usual number of entries, the races were a big success.
Although it was desirable to have all the athletes centred in Calgary or Canmore, RMR proved effective at supporting athletes, particularly during their school years, at “remote” locations. Good examples would be David Leoni – biathlete from Camrose and Drew Goldsack – cross country athlete from Red Deer, who both lived at home until finishing school, and ultimately went on to compete at the Olympic Winter Games as members of the Canadian team.
The RMR approach embodied many elements of what has evolved in Canada as “National Training Centres”. Other Nordic clubs in Canada have also adopted many aspects of the RMR approach.
The club started small. In the first season of operation 1995-96, there were 5 athlete members: Rhonda Sandau (Calgary), Sandra Keith (Calgary), John Frosst (Calgary), Erik Carleton (Calgary), and Brendan Wypich (Toronto, Ontario). In the years that followed there was slow but steady growth, and RMR was to become a significant feeder system to the National Teams. The file “Rocky Mountain Racers 1999 - 2000 A Season to Remember” is a good summary of performances of the athletes on the team at that time. Through these first few years, there were often great challenges - financial, logistical, political, and personal - to keep a program of this nature on track. However, the club persevered, and the results obtained were significant.
A separate file is being prepared that will include all the athletes on an annual basis who were members of RMR.
COACHING
RMR’s first Head Coach was Scott Dymond, originally from Ottawa. Scott was completing his NCCP level 4 at the University of Calgary, and needed the practical experience. He was recommended by Dave Wood, who was the National Team Coach for many years. Scott stayed with RMR for several years, and during his time helped many athletes attain a high level of competitive achievement. Scott demonstrated leadership abilities in many ways, in particular with regards to training methods and programs. This included for example a complete focus on training year round which was not that common amongst the club system at the time. He was also skilled at teaching technique and adapting “International” methods, basically keeping current with the latest developments in the sport. Scott also accessed specialists at the University of Calgary, for ideas and guidance with regard to strength training and other aspects.
Another approach was to effectively integrate the training of both cross country skiing athletes and biathletes. RMR biathletes trained and competed successfully in cross country races, both classic and free technique, while continuing to dedicate training time to the shooting requirement of Biathlon. This all proved to be very beneficial in their own sport. The Cross country athletes benefitted from having a larger training group, and a greater “Team” awareness.
RMR took full advantage of CODA’s Haig Glacier facility during the summer and Sovereign Lake-Silver Star for early season training and competition. During the dryland season, Scott really emphasized running, mountain biking and road biking, roller skiing and strength training. The running was both “long slow distance” and “intensity” focused with athletes encouraged to enter 5K and 10K races. Critical speed tests were regularly used to assess athlete’s fitness levels.
To make the training more fun and interesting, unique camps were organized. This would range from Golden for example, where activities such as white water rafting were part of the agenda, to the Dachstein Glacier in Austria for early season training on snow.
At competitions, Scott proved very effective at managing the many details of transportation, punctuality, equipment, waxing, race support, and overall organization so important on race day.
Scott was sometimes doing “double duty”, by coaching for Cross Country Canada (CCC) or Cross Country Alberta (CCA) at camps or on trips. At the time this was necessary because of limited funds available to the club, and “Partnerships” occurred with other sport organizations. Scott always did his best to teach his athletes to be “independent” if necessary, to keep up their programs and also be able to prepare and compete effectively even if Scott was away. It was often a challenge however for the club to balance the benefits of “partnerships” and the coaching experiences therefrom, compared to having your Head Coach available to work directly with the club athletes.
In 1998, the club had grown and more resources were needed. Richard Boruta from the Czech Republic, with extensive biathlon coaching experience and a recent arrival in Canada, was recruited as the Biathlon Coach. Scott and Richard worked very well together. Later Petr Zidek from Canmore came on as an assistant and over the years has made a significant contribution to the club, especially with regard to shooting.
PARENTS AND SUPPORTERS
As with most organizations involving athletes in sports, the parents played a huge role in the operation of the club. This is not only with administration and Board aspects, but the hands on involvement as vehicle drivers, wax assistants, cooks, and in so many other ways.
In addition to family support, RMR in the early days actively sought out “Athlete Centred Environment Support” or “ACES” volunteers. These were people who played a major role in a variety of tasks, from soliciting sponsorships, to helping at events or volunteering at casino fundraisers. It was perhaps easier to attract these supporters because of the single focus of the club, i.e. helping young athletes achieve their goals, while at the same time seeing the benefit of strengthening the Nordic sports system nationally. Many of these volunteers had extensive sports experience, not just limited to the Nordic sports, and understood the amount of effort and commitment required to develop and support athletes at this level. There were other volunteers who had no direct experience in sport, but wanted to help in some way. This occurred for example with the first edition of the club web site which was hosted for years by Craig Nelson of Cameo Systems Inc. at no cost to RMR.
THE NATIONAL SPORTS SCHOOL (NSS)
From inception RMR felt that athlete education was as important as athletic achievement. Many athletes attended the National Sports School (NSS) sponsored by CODA and the Calgary Board of Education, then based at William Aberhart High School in Calgary. The NSS facilitates “flex time” to the extent that athletes are not encumbered by the time constraints associated with the traditional school curriculum. RMR celebrated athletic achievements – high academic marks were recognized.
FUNDING CHALLENGES
At the outset, RMR was starting from scratch from a financial standpoint. Coaching payments and other expenses were made by the parents. Fundraising projects were on the scale of “bake sales”. Eventually as noted earlier, partnerships were arranged with other sports organizations to share coaching expenses. A grant was also obtained from the ASRPWF foundation which helped ensure continuity of the program through the second season of operation.
At the first opportunity (after two years of incorporation), an application was made to Alberta Gaming to host a casino. RMR was one of the first charities to host a casino at the new Calgary Casino in 1997, and by taking advantage of scheduling opportunities, had a casino every year until 2000. Proceeds from the casino had a significant impact and with other fundraising efforts, enabled continuation and strengthening of the professional coaching program.
Casino funds were also allocated to purchase a Team Van, a 1997 Ford 350 V10 in 1998. This really helped address many transportation problems and costs, as the team travelled extensively in BC and Alberta, in part because of the “remote support” to athletes, and for training and competitions which extended into the USA for Spring Series races. It was however a tedious task to manage the obligations associated with operating a vehicle of this nature. There are stringent requirements from Alberta Transportation with regard to safety, vehicle inspections, insurance, etc. The van was originally a 15 passenger vehicle, but the club converted one row of seats for transport of wax and equipment, so it was used as a 12 passenger van. The van served the club well for several years, and even made a trip from Alberta to Thunder Bay and back.
MT. SHARKFEST
With particular encouragement from Dr. Franco Leoni from Camrose, RMR initiated an annual event called “Sharkfest” in 1998 at the Mt. Shark Racing Trails in Kananaskis Country. Mt. Shark has a unique history in the Nordic scene, having originally been developed as a backup site to the Canmore Nordic Centre in the early eighties. The site has hosted many premier events including the North American Championships in 1985, and the Canadian Nationals in 1986. Many well-known athletes competed there including Pierre Harvey and Vegard Ulvang. The relatively remote location, often challenging driving conditions on the Smith-Dorien access road, and limited parking have posed some very interesting challenges and adventures.
Other than two shacks originally moved there in the eighties, pretty much all facilities for competitions have to be brought in and set up, and all power is from portable generators. Sharkfest however has a popular following with the beautiful mountain scenery, and of necessity, “old-fashioned” methods of running races. Many Sharkfest volunteers have been “old-timers” from the Olympic era who enjoyed coming out and re-living the memories.
One unexpected development the first year was a conflict over the name. A group in Florida claimed they had the right to the name “Sharkfest”, which is used for some activities involving protection and education about sharks, and we were threatened about copyright infringement. The way around this problem was to name our event officially “Mt. Sharkfest”. In any case, the RMR hosted Sharkfest continued for 10 years at Mt. Shark. Normally an Alberta Cup event, in 2000 it included two distance events for the Senior Nationals. That year the Nationals had to be moved from Thunder Bay due to lack of snow. Some Lappe Nordic volunteers came to assist, and despite a significant increase in the usual number of entries, the races were a big success.
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