** Editors note: The Coaches Around the Country colum is back again for a second winter. This column will highlight our ski coaches from around the country… including elite coaches, college coaches, high school coaches, volunteer coaches, and learn-to-ski coaches. This is an effort to sample a diverse group of coaches and recognize the people who are the backbone of today’s skiers. If you would like to nominate a coach for an interview, please email robertwhitney99@hotmail.com. Please give coach’s name, email, phone, and several paragraphs describing the nominee.
Pete, head coach for the Fairbanks XC (FXC) ski club, is the first of the the Coaches Around the Country column this winter.
<br />Between loops, I imagined that one day I would be the American that the<br />Norwegians would try to naturalize to make their relay team stronger…<br />Besides the imaginary ones in the backyard, I didn't actually enter a<br />ski race until I joined the local high school team. This came on the<br />heels of a dark time in my life when in middle school – during a brief<br />but fervent obsession with soccer – I sold all my ski gear to buy more<br />soccer junk. Luckily, by junior year of high school I had burned myself<br />out on soccer, and decided to devote myself to ski training. It was<br />definitely a learning experience the first year, but the second time<br />around I trained well enough to qualify for JO’s, and do well at the<br />State Meet and the Eastern High School Champs. </p><p>From there I went on to ski for four years at Williams College, had a<br />great time, grew and learned a lot, trained my butt off and so on. When<br />all that came to an end, I realized that I didn't have what it took to<br />hack it as a full-time racer, so I decided to get into coaching. After<br />some searching, I ended up in Lake Placid with NYSEF, where I spent two<br />years having a great time with an awesome group of kids and a great<br />boss. As those two years drew to an end, I started to feel like I<br />needed a change if I was going to continue to develop as a coach, so I<br />started to look at various jobs and ended up taking one in Fairbanks,<br />Alaska…</p><p><I>2. You are in your second season with Fairbanks. How's it moving along, and what's it like starting a program (FXC) from scratch? </I></p><p>In fairness, I can't claim I started it from scratch; there were a lot<br />of committed individuals here before I showed up. They set the<br />groundwork for this program, and really made sure it was set-up to do<br />something good for the kids of Fairbanks. In fact, their thoroughness<br />and professionalism is really what drew me here.</p><p>Nevertheless, since I've been involved with FXC, it has been quite a<br />ride. When I showed up in town about 16 months ago, there were 4 kids<br />signed up for the program. Now we have about 25 athletes with a couple<br />others interested for this winter, and more wanting to get involved<br />next summer. In truth, that sounds like a lot more rapid growth than it<br />has felt like most of the time, but I guess that's just a matter of<br />being here on a daily basis. Still, there is a lot of good energy in<br />the Fairbanks ski community right now, and that is really exciting to be<br />a part of.</p><p><I>3. You grew up skiing in the East. How is that different than Alaska skiing?</I></p><p>To say the least, Alaskan skiing is pretty intense! At my first Besh Cups<br />(Alaska JO qualifier races) last December, I was quite impressed by the<br />size and quality of the field, as well as to everyone's (from the littlest<br />competitors to the oldest coaches) commitment to kicking butt. I feel<br />like there are a few more laid-back types when you head to an Eastern<br />Cup, not as much intensity in the waxing, for example. I think it mostly<br />has to do with the differences in the geographic make-up of the racer<br />base, the size of the teams, and the stability of snow conditions in Alaska<br />vs. the East. I really don't see one as being inherently better than the<br />other, simply different answers to different situations. </p><p>There's also this 6 months of consistent snow thing. Skiing 20-some Ks<br />in extra blue conditions in mid-October as I did earlier today is pretty<br />easy to adapt to.</p><p><center><img src=)
Biking in Denali National Park
4. What's your biggest gripe with coaching, and how would you change it/what would you do?
I guess my biggest peeve is 'guruism.' I’ll explain…. I get kind of irritated when
people act like there is one way to success in this sport and they have
it. Mind you, I think it is important to have a philosophy and purpose
with what you are doing, but I think there is an important distinction
between that and thinking that what everyone else does is bogus and
there is nothing you or your athletes could possibly learn from them.
To me, the answer is pretty simple: don't think that way!
5. One thing you would change about US skiing?
At the junior level, I can't stand the attitude that pursuing the sport
as a life-long activity and on the road to an elite level athlete can
not possibly be combined. Some people act like challenging a kid to
excel is a disservice to he/she, as if the only options on that road
are either excellence or flame-out. It's as if there is no benefit to
training besides improved performance because it can never be fun and it
is simply the most boring and dreary thing possible. (This probably
isn't too far from why we have such a problem with obesity in this
country……) Certainly training involves work, yes there will be
discomfort at times, and yes you will get ten times more out of your
experience in the sport from challenging yourself and striving for a
goal – even if you don't reach it – than you probably ever realized.
6. Best part of skiing?
Hands down it has to be the ski community. No matter where you go in
the country, it seems like there is not a better, more grounded,
fun-loving, genuine group of people.
7. Best part of coaching?
There aren't too many jobs where it can be an important skill to act
like a kid…
8. What do you do for fun when not coaching and working?
As for fun, when I get a day off I like to get out of town and do
something outdoors. Usually it's a hike or run within an hour or two of
town, sometimes maybe a canoe trip, or bike trek someplace cool like the
road in Denali. Every once in a while, I'll take the chance to go
someplace farther away, like this September when I went down to Skagway
and Whitehorse and joined up with the rest of team PBR for the Klondike
Road Relay. That event, by the way, is probably the most fun race I
have ever been part of. By itself, a road race in the right atmosphere
can be pretty fun, but when you throw in the whole team aspect with
everyone in RVs, racing through the night, and finishing the whole event
off the next night with a bunch of sleep-deprived runners dancing to a
'live' band under a big tent by the Yukon River, it is tough to beat. I
don't think I've ever gotten grass stains on my feet before while
dancing in thick wool socks. (And, yes, since you're wondering, I do
have an impeccable sense of fashion.)
9. Country or Butt-Rock?
Butt-Rock. No contest. I hate country… except for that one Garth
Brooks song which I will occasionally lip-sync during circuits……
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