A GREEN JUNIOR OLYMPICS 2009 – RAISING THE BAR
The spotlight of U.S. Cross Country skiing will once again swing around to the Auburn Ski Club Training Center and Far West in March of 2009. The U.S. Cross Country Ski Junior Olympics (a.k.a Junior National XC Championships), an annual celebration and focal event for aspiring cross country athletes ages 13 – 19, comes to Truckee, California. More than 400 of the country’s best skiers, chosen through their divisional qualifying process, will come together for a week of hard-fought competition. JO’s will bring some of the athletes national honors and begin for them a journey that will lead them to International and Olympic competition. For all the skiers coming to the start line, JO’s will be the pinnacle of success won through plain old hard work and dedication to the sport. Success for the 2009 JO’s starts now for both organizers and athletes, as the quality hours laid down in the summer will become the foundation for success next winter.
As organizers of the event we have a huge, but rewarding task on the horizon. Our challenge is to produce an event worthy of the athletes and coaches who have worked so hard to be here. The success of our 2005 event is still a fresh memory and gives us a leg up on the process. We learned a lot from 2005, but even with a head start on the process we can’t rest on the success of 2005.
The 2009 Organizing Committee believes as skiers we have a responsibility to protect our most important winter resource, snow. A new goal for the 2009 JN’s is to improve the event’s environmental impact through the application of energy conservation, waste management, socially responsible purchasing, community involvement, and alternative energy generation. The Organizing Committee will be spearheading the effort along with the help from many dedicated and passionate volunteers from the local community and abroad.
Our hope is to start a larger discussion within the ski community, and to set a new standard for future Junior Olympics to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly. The bottom line is simple, our current path is unsustainable and is impacting our snow, our sport and our lives. We can be the next drivers for change, but it will take hard work and patience. The 2009 JO’s is a starting point for the Nordic community in the US from which we can continue to build and improve, because simply, we can and we must do better!
In the next two months our event website will begin to fill up with additional information about the 2009 JO’s. Needless to say the entire Nordic community here is excited to be hosting JO’s again. We look forward to working with the volunteers, sponsors, athletes and coaches for a successful 2009 Junior Olympics.
CLICK HERE for a Fasterskier.com interview with Nick Sterling