The Alberta World Cup Academy is pleased to welcome Christian Flury and Eric Groeneveld as coaches for the 2009-2010 season. Christian and Eric join Head Coach Mike Cavaliere and the rest of the Academy support group in working with the 20 athletes named to the Academy team for the upcoming year.
Christian comes to the Academy from Davos, Switzerland where he was the head coach of the Swiss Sports School Davos for the past 6 years. His extensive experience began as an athlete and he represented Switzerland at the 1996 World Junior Championships before transitioning into coaching and receiving a formal education at the Swiss Olympic Association’s Federal Sport School.
Christian has coached athletes to the Swiss Olympic team, World Cup wins and multiple World Junior and U23 medals. He has been chief wax technician at the World Championships and Olympic Games, and Deputy Chief of Competition at World Cup events in Davos.
“I’m very excited to join the Academy and be a part of the Canadian ski community,” says new coach Christian Flury. “Along with my experience in Nordic coaching I think I bring a slightly different perspective and some ‘Swiss ingredients’. I look forward to working with Mike to help the athletes reach their goals.”
Christian joins the Canmore community along with wife Barbara Flury-Mettler, herself a two-time Olympian, and their one year old son Jon-Arvid.
While Christian and Mike lead the Academy into it’s second season, they will have the assistance of apprentice coach Eric Groeneveld, a Canmore native who has spent his whole life around skiing and begins his coaching career after a successful junior career. Eric brings an enthusiastic approach to his first coaching position and looks to learn from his experienced collegues.
“When Mike approached me this year about becoming a coach, I saw it as a great chance to transition away from competition but stay involved in skiing – a sport I love,” said Eric Groeneveld. “Mike has been a fantastic mentor and the more I’m involved with the team the more I enjoy myself. I’m learning new things every day that I know will help me become a coach that can contribute to Canadian skiing.”
Mike Cavaliere adds, “The Academy is not just about athlete development; we also strive to develop more and better prepared coaches. With Christian and Eric we’re going to accomplish even more this season. We’ve more than doubled our coaching capacity and in Eric we’re going to contribute to the development of one more very qualified coach in Canada.”
The Academy, based in Canmore, Alberta is currently preparing for a testing camp that runs until June 28th prior to an on-snow camp at the Haig Glacier the week of July 13th.
The Alberta World Cup Academy arose from the success of the 2005 and 2008 Alberta World Cup events, to support Alberta and Canada’s path to international excellence in the sport of cross-country skiing. The result of committed volunteers within the Alberta World Cup Society, the 2009-2010 Academy team includes 20 athletes with experience ranging from World Junior Championships to Olympic Games competition who look to exceed the incredible national and international success of the first year team in the coming season. More information on the Academy is available at www.albertaworldcup.com.
