Rebel ski team at Mt Hutt

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 254, 14 September 1988, Page 1

Rebel ski team at Mt Hutt

Parents of some Turoa Race Academy skiers are unhappy with the selection process for the team chosen to go to the Nationals and have sent their own team.

Ski Academy directors John Ball and Tim Clark are adamant the Turoa Ski Academy ski racers who are this

week attending the National Ski Championships at Mt Hutt were chosen fairly. Two race academy skiers have gone to the nationals independently, with possible a third attending for one of the races. The Parents feel as many racers as possible should have gone to the Nationals for the experience of competing, while the race academy say they have set a minimum standard of racing for the Turoa Race academy team. The academy directors admitted it was a philosophical decision, that is, whether the nationals are a participation race or an elite race. They say the nationals should be an elite race, with skiers taking part enjoying a reward for ability achieved. "If 20 kids were at that level 20 kids would have been sent down," said Mr Ball. They cited the recent Rossignol and Homestyle races as participation races, where they encouraged as many racers as possible to compete, for the experience. One of the academy parents, Mr Trevor Jones, says the team and its selection are like a 'closed shop'. He said he can't understand why his son is not in the team, because he was chosen for the nationals last year ' and has improved greatly since then. He said Mr Ball had told him his son had

no chancc and that he was given no explanation why his son wasn't chosen. "They are not giving parents any information," said Mr Jones. "Only those that are 'in the know' seem to be getting anywhere." Mr Ball admitted there had been problems with communication this year, because of the bad weather and problems with the coaching staff levels. He said last year's head coach had pulled out in July. "On June 18 we had confirmation that he was coming but by July 6 he wasn't," said Mr Ball. He said at that late stage it was very difficult to find a replacement. One of the t o p coaches already on the staff stepped in, but that left one position vacant. The academy directors said this year the logistics of sending a large team to the South Island had to be taken into account, as well as the potential of the racers. "We are limited to the the number o f coaches we have the ability to send," said Mr Ball. "Whakapapa is so much closer w e were able send many more." They said the t w o racers that had gone independent of the Turoa team, one of whom was Mr Jones' son, would be better to spend the lime training. The bcncfit of the x Turn page 2

Rebel ski team at Mt Hutt

From page 1 competition would be minimal, they said, because they would be so far behind ihe other racers. The dissatisfied parents claim the academy tried to discourage the indepcndent skiers from going to the event, and that director Tim Clark tried to persuade Nick Kwasniak, who is going with thcm a s coach/manager, not to go. "He said 'We can't stop you but we want you to completely disassociate with Turoa and North Island skiing," said Mr Jones. Mr Clark said he had

approached Mr Kwasniak to confirm that he was going and in what capacity. "They certainly can go," said Mr Clark. "I told him it was an elite racers' race, but I definitely didn't say that (that the independent skiers had to disassociate themselves with the academy)". "They're still o u r kids." said Mr Clark. Mr Ball said "I would have told Mr Jones his son was not at the level to benefit from the competition." Mr Kwasniak was yesterday unavailable for comment on his reported conversation

with Mr Clark. Mr Jones and Glynis Helton, another race academy skier's parent, said the selection process described by the academy was not adhercd to in relation to two of the official team. The selection was to be on results of races this year, training atti-

tude on and off the snow, development potential, and coaches' decision. The parents say two of the official team have not fulfilled the training requirements. They say the two have never attended dry land training, and that they have a poor attitudc to training.

Mr Ball agrees the two in question have been spoken to about their poor attitude but that they had improved, and that their race results made up for it. He said this year race results account for 99 per cent of the decision. Mr Ball said the two boys in question would suffer in their ski racing if they didn't improve their training attitude, but that the academy wasn't going to dump them. Mr Clark said a racer should not compare his training to another. "You've got to look at yourself, not at other people to be a good racer," he said. Another gripe of the parents is the cost of the trip. The official team have had to budget $700 for the Mt Hutt event while the independent skiers have managed to fit in a week's racing for $450, according to Mr Jones. Mr Clark dismissed this criticism saying there were many factors that could be different such as time spent in the South Island and the number of coaches. "Are we comparing apples to apples? Are they getting the same?" he said. As for the general Turn page 14

Rebel ski team at Mt Hutt

From page 2 level of race training in the academy, which some parents are unhappy with, Mr Ball said this year training was not as good because of the bad weather. He pointed out that the school holiday s have suffered an unusual number of closed days, cutting into training time. He also said the problems with finding coaching staff h a d some detrimental effect on the academy.