U20 National Training Group Camp Underway in Park City

16 of America’s best junior skiers descended on Park City, Utah, to participate in the week-long U20 National Training Group Camp August 13. In its second year, the camp serves as an opportunity for junior skiers to develop a strong, national training group at a relatively young age.

To be nominated for the National Training Group (NTG), U20 athletes must have either qualified for Junior World Championships or Youth Olympic Games, garnered a top women’s top-10 or a men’s top-15 at the U18 Nation’s Cup (formerly known as the J1 Scando Cup), or earned a podium finish in the U18 category or won the U20 category at the Junior Olympics.

Once nominated athletes must attend the U20 NTG Camp, compete in U.S. Nationals, and race internationally for at least two weeks to become part of the National Training Group.

According to Bryan Fish, the U.S. Ski Team Development Coach, earning a spot on the in the NTG serves athletes well especially when it comes to international racing, Building a strong team environment can make international traveling and racing much easier, and thus more successful, Fish said.

“They can lean on one another when in a foreign venue,” he wrote in an email.

As a requirement for the NTG, the U20 camp serves many purposes.

According to Fish, the most important aspect of the camp is the development of a group that can push themselves in both training and competition. The coaches of the camp, including U.S. Ski Team women’s coach Matt Whitcomb, men’s coach Jason Cork, and Fish, attempt to create a productive training environment where athletes can learn from one another.

While much of the training at the camp includes technique and agility exercises, the U20 athletes also have the opportunity to take advantage of the many U.S. Ski Team resources.

Participants have access to the U.S. Ski Team’s Sport Science Staff, which includes a strength coach, nutritionist and chef, and a performance psychologist.

In addition, the camp provides testing for athletes so that they can improve their training in specific areas for the rest of the summer and fall.

The tests include:

– Classic max tests on the Center of Excellence’s ski treadmills to review fitness and technique

– Hemoglobin mass tests which serve as a back-up test to our treadmill test and also provides information as to whether an athlete may be low in iron