Board British Snowboard Team Newsletter
It's been a fantastic start for the snowboarding team with
successful training camps in Saas Fee for the Half Pipe and
Snowboard Cross teams and we have some amazing results to
report, on what promises to be a highly exciting season.
Top placings for Britain's female Snowboarders
 Zoë
Gillings, Britain's No.1 female snowboarder, started off the
2007/08 winter season in style by achieving her best result
in a World Cup Snowboard Cross for three years. She took 6th
place in the Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup Competition in
Valle Nevado, Chile, the opening event of the 2007/08 Season.
The competition was won by reigning World Champion Lindsey
Jacobellis from the USA.
After the race, Zoë said: "I am absolutely thrilled
with this result, as it shows that all the hard work and training
over the summer is paying off. It was a great competition
with most of the best riders in the world in Chile, and so
I am so pleased to be up there challenging them. This is a
great start to the season, and I am very excited about the
rest of the winter when I can hopefully achieve a victory
in a World Cup - that's my goal for this year."
Zoë Gillings won the Valle Nevado FIS World Cup back
in 2004, but following a career-threatening foot injury in
2005 she has had a tough battle back to full fitness. It seems
she has won that battle, and now has the chance to take on
the best in the world once again, and to win World Cups in
the next few seasons. Zoë's ultimate goal is a medal
at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010.
Lesley McKenna has also had a fantastic start to the season
with three high ranking finishes. Lesley spent the winter
training in New Zealand at Snow Park and Cordrona with team
member Ben Kilner and fellow Brit, Jenny Jones. She also found
time to fit in some coaching as well.
The first competition of the season for Lesley was the Burton
New Zealand Open at Snowpark, a Five Star Tournament attracting
world class riders. Lesley was up against Olympic gold medal
winner Kelly Clark, TTR Women's Champion 2007, Torah Bright
and World Champion Manuela Pesko and was delighted to make
10th.
Lesley triumphed in the World Cup in New Zealand at the end
of the summer, qualifying 6th and finishing with 8th position.
Her World Cup success has continued with a well-deserved 11th
place during the Half Pipe World Cup on the 1-2 November in
Saas Fee, Switzerland.
She's riding better than she has since she broke her ankle
and can't wait for the season ahead.
London Launch
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 Snowboard Teams
As ever, we'd like to thank our sponsors whose support is
invaluable to the teams. Forcefield is now the official supplier
of body armour for the British Snowboard team, in a new three
year deal. Forcefield is an award winning brand and market
leader in soft armour technologies and the team now has the
best body protection available.
The Scandinavian expert in Nordic ski-wear, Craft, is also
sponsoring the team with underwear and outerwear. It provides
lightweight, great-fitting clothing which allow maximum performance
and freedom of movement.
The team is also off to a flying start with Zoom Airways
who is providing flights for the British Snowboard Team whenever
they need to fly to Canada. This support will help the athletes
to concentrate on their riding and help with vital preparation
in the run up to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver 2010.
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.
Three new coaches join Snowsport GB
Snowsport GB is delighted to welcome three new coaches to
the Snowboard team.
Leo Addington from Canada will be coaching the World Cup Half
Pipe team - Leo brings a wealth of knowledge and experience
to the team from his time coaching at the Canadian Olympic
Park in Calgary, and with the Canadian Snowboard Team. Snowsport
GB is delighted to have secured Leo's services for this season,
and hopefully through to the Winter Olympic Games in 2010.
Leah Sill is the new Coach of the Snowboardcross Development
Squad, and this new programme has already attracted 6 riders,
who have not trained with the British Snowboard Team previously.
Sonia Shaw is an ex pro-rider and brings a wealth of experience,
contacts and knowledge and will be coaching the Junior Team.
The future champions
An exciting development for British Snowboarding is the launch
of the new Junior Programme coached by Sonia Shaw, with fourteen
young athletes aged between 13-16 have been invited to join
the programme. The aim is to give them an overall grounding
and transferable skills in all snowboarding disciplines, setting
them on the perfect pathway into the Development and World
Cup teams. The Youth Team is being sponsored by SnowZone which
allows them free access to the indoor slopes for training.
The Development Team has also grown dramatically from three
to twelve athletes across both freestyle and boardercross.
It's all great news for snowboarding and we're looking forward
to them winning lots of competitions in the future.
What to watch out for in Snowboarding.....
World Cup Snowboarding will begin on Channel 4 from Friday
30 November and will be shown every Sunday until the end of
the season.
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