Junior Nordics program offers new options for young skiers

WASILLA — With demand increasing for Mat-Su Ski Club’s Junior Nordics program, organizers have added two more options for school-aged skiers.

Coach and program coordinator Dave Musgrave said the group is upping the total number of spots available in the program from 300 to 350 by adding a home school session on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1 to 2 p.m. Since the trails the club uses at Government Peak Recreation Area can only handle about 150 skiers at one time, the two after-school sessions (Monday-Wednesday and Tuesday-Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m.) are reserved mostly for students with less flexible schedules.

Parents Scott and Robyn Johnson, for example, home school their five children but are not able to fit ski practice at Government Peak into the middle of their day. They do, however, bring all their kids to the evening session and count that as the children’s physical education credit with Mat-Su Central School. The school also reimburses the Johnsons for the Junior Nordics enrollment fee, Robyn Johnson said.

“One of the things that's really attractive about Junior Nordics for our family is that it offers programs for all ages all at the same time,” she said.

In each session, the skiers are split into groups based on skill level and coached accordingly. The number of groups varies according to how many coaches there are (and they could always use more, Musgrave said).

In addition to the convenience, cost effectiveness and together-time Junior Nordics allows the Johnson family, it’s the little things that have made the most impact for 14-year-old Meredith, who simply likes the view from the base of Government Peak.

“I like being able to be outdoors when the sun sets and that’s really pretty,” she said.

Musgrave said that’s not a bad reason to want to ski with Junior Nordics.

“Having fun outdoors, that’s the main thing,” he said.

It’s important for skiers to learn general skiing etiquette and to respect trails and equipment, too, Musgrave said, but no one is required to race.

Parents Rhett and Rebecca Buchanan said they’ve appreciated that philosophy as well as the Johnsons. Though they’ve raced with their 12-year-old son Layne a few times in the last couple of years, it doesn’t matter to them if any of their four kids end up joining a high school racing team.

“Whichever route our kids go is great,” Rebecca Buchanan said. “We’re not pushing them to be the next Kikkan Randall.”

But there’s room for young skiers who have that dream, or at least the desire to be competitive, in Junior Nordics, too.

On the fast track

Homer High School graduate Sydney Thielke, who until two years ago headed up a biathlon program in Wyoming, will be coaching a group of Junior Nordics skiers toward racing in January. Thielke has been coaching eight Valley middle school students through the Anchorage-based Alaska Nordic Racing (ANR) in summer and fall sessions, but will work through Junior Nordics during their season from January to March.

On Dec. 19-20, those eight middle school athletes entered their first races, Besh Cups 1 and 2 at Kincaid Park in Anchorage.

“It was a little bit humbling (for them) in terms of what ski racing is like, but all of them did exceptionally well and all of them had fun,” Thielke said.

One of those rookie racers is 12-year-old Aila Berrigan, who took whose older sister Rya skis for the Palmer High School team.

Their mother, Lori Berrigan, said both her daughters have been skiing for years, but without a competitive middle school program, they haven’t been able to progress as quickly as other skiers with that opportunity.

“The kids who are dominating in the field are training year-round starting in middle school,” Berrigan said. “In order for kids in the Valley to be competitive, they’re gonna have to start younger to keep up with the kids in Anchorage.”

Berrigan said she’d also like to see a club like Alaska Nordic Racing (ANR) offered locally to Valley high school skiers during the off-season months, since Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA) rules preclude year-round training with a school coach.

“Once they get into high school, there’s not really any program to catch them,” she said.

Thielke said she hopes her role with Mat-Su Junior Nordics will start a trend north of Anchorage.

“We want kids to be excited enough about skiing that they keep doing it in high school,” competitively, she said.

For more information on local Junior Nordic programs, visit matsuski.org or denalinordicskiclub.org.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.