British Ski Team Newsletter
It's been a fantastic start with a successful training camp
in Chile for the Alpine team and some great results to report,
on what promises to be a very highly exciting season.
 Chilly
in Chile
For the first time during the summer, the whole of the Alpine
Team, from Development to World Cup, spent a month of intensive
training in South America. The snow conditions were fantastic
allowing the teams to have full days of training with excellent
speed training in Downhill and Super G courses, with the athletes
able to train on large jumps at high speed. This was an opportunity
many of the athletes had never had before.
It was a great opportunity for the younger team members to
spend time learning from the World Cup team and to get them
all working together between different age groups and abilities.
All the athletes were focused and worked extremely hard in
preparation for the season. They are motivated and positive
and this was seen in the notable results achieved by Dave
Ryder, Jan Kochalski, Ed Drake, Finlay Mickel, Noel Baxter,
Dougie Crawford and TJ Baldwin, putting them in a great position
for 2007/8. The training proved to give good grounding for
the athletes with Finlay Mickel finishing as the South American
Super G Champion.
Whilst the majority of the team trained in Chile, Chemmy
Alcott trained alongside the German and Monte Carlo World
Cup team in Argentina.
Stars of the Silver Screen
The 7th of November saw the launch of the British Ski and
Snowboard Teams at the Vue Cinema in the West End of London.
The event featured two new documentaries on the teams, as
well as hosting an exclusive preview of the latest Warren
Miller film 'Playground'.
The event, which was a great success, was attended by over
300 guests, including a wide range of media and was hosted
by former Olympic Skier and BBC Presenter, Graham Bell. Interviews
were given by many of the athletes on their hopes for the
forthcoming season.
Supporting the Team
As ever, we'd like to thank our sponsors whose support is
invaluable to the teams. Besson has provided the team with
newly designed branded race suits and apparel and Forcefield
is making sure the athletes have the best body protection.
We'll hear from them and other sponsors throughout the season.
Collaborating with Lucozade
One of the latest sponsors to add it's backing to the British
Snowsports teams is Lucozade.
Along with providing the athletes with sports supplements,
Nick Morgan from the Lucozade Sport Science Academy will work
closely with the teams providing education, workshops and
nutritional strategies.
Sports science is of growing importance to athletes but very
little research has been done on snowsports. With every competition
the margins between winning and losing and even team selection
are very small. The better the rigors and demands of the sport
are understood, the more sports science can help aid training
and performance.
The athletes will learn the basics of sport nutrition, understanding
the demands of competitive training and how nutrition can
help performance. It is recognised that the needs of demanding
training and competition schedules cannot be met by food alone
and that supplements must be part of the diet.
The British athletes will be receiving a range of Lucozade
products manufactured and tested to the highest standards.
They are tested by an independent laboratory for all substances
banned by World Anti-Doping Agency WADA, so they are assured
all products are safe to take.
Nick will work with the team and coaches over the season.
They will look at what is involved in a training or competition
day, such as battling ski lifts and carrying equipment, and
how to counteract temperature and altitude. This will help
to develop the best nutritional strategy and maximise performance.
If the building blocks are right then the athletes are on
track to get the most out of training sessions and set themselves
up for the best results.
Scottish win at Young Persons Sport Awards
Scottish skier, Eilidh McLeod, 16, was named Scotland Regional
Winner at this year's OCS Young Sports Person Awards. The
awards, now in its tenth year, acknowledge and support sporting
achievements by young people.
Since joining the British team at 12, Eilidh has enjoyed
a run of successes, holding the title of 2006 Scottish Ladies
Slalom Champion and being the only female in the British Championships
on the podium in every event.
The ten regional winners, including a disabled winner each
receive £2,500. The prize money is a great benefit to
the younger athletes as it will boost their opportunity to
travel abroad. Eilidh says: "I'm ecstatic! The money
will help a lot, because there is so much travelling - to
where I need to be to train and compete. But what I think
is more important is that the OCS Award will increase people's
awareness of the sport and perhaps lead to a few more people
trying it."
An inspirational award scheme which celebrates different
sporting achievements can only enhance the sport of skiing
as being a lifestyle worth taking up.
Stars of the Future
The British Children's team, aged from 12 to 14, were in Tignes
recently for a week's intensive training camp. The goal was
for the eight girls and four boys is strong technical skiing
and to fine their skills ahead of the race season. This was
the first of what will be an enhanced programme from Snowsport
GB for the youngest team members and hopeful stars of the
future.
It was an aspirational week for the children who were joined
by Alain Baxter for two days as a guest coach, kindly sponsored
by Lord Moynihan and also Emma Carrick-Anderson. Alain enjoyed
spending time with the younger team, with training and competition
schedules, it's a rare opportunity.
Jenny Shute from Snowsport GB who has arranged the week says:
"The children worked really hard on what were difficult
icy conditions. We had experienced world class coaches and
it's great we had Alain and Emma, both Olympic athletes, to
inspire the next generation of the British Ski Team."
Watch out for.....
World Cup Skiing will begin on Channel 4 from Sunday 18 November
and will be shown every Sunday until the end of the season.
A documentary on the ski team will be shown on Channel 4
in early December. We'll confirm the dates as soon as we know.
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