The Alpine Insurance Alberta World Cup Academy (AIAWCA) and the Biathlon Alberta Training Centre (BATC) are excited to announce a new partnership for the 2020-21 season as they work together to launch a new biathlon program designed for athletes pursuing post-secondary studies in Calgary.
This new program will see the BATC deliver biathlon specific training in Canmore, while the AIAWCA will deliver cross-country skiing training in Calgary. Programs will be designed on an individual basis to best support each athlete in their sport, academic and lifestyle goals.
Developing programs that meet the needs of young developing Canadian athletes has long been the focus for both the AIAWCA and BATC. After successfully conducting two years of post-secondary cross-country ski programing in Calgary allowing athletes to train while attending University of Calgary, it became apparent that the same was needed for biathletes. “Over the last year, each of our programs have been receiving interest from new athletes to make this stream of programming available,” explains AIAWCA high-performance director Chris Jeffries. “When we looked at how this might be possible, the first and best option was always to partner with the BATC, the leader in developing biathletes in Canada.”
Both the AIAWCA and BATC were founded with a purpose to help nationally competitive athletes in club-based programs transition into full-time competitive training, preparing them for future international success. This transition typically happens just as athletes are finishing high school, meaning that historically, they had to choose between becoming a full-time athlete or pursue post-secondary education and leaving the sport.
“Acting on feedback received from past and present athletes, we at the BATC are proud to partner with AIAWCA to now make it possible to pursue excellence in both sport and academic ambitions,” stated Matthias Ahrens, BATC Head Coach. Collaborating with AIAWCA was not only a natural choice because of the shared DNA between our two disciplines, but one that I am excited about based on Chris’s proven track record in developing internationally competitive cross-country ski athletes from within the post-secondary programming stream.”
About the AIAWCA
The Alpine Insurance Alberta World Cup Academy (AIAWCA) is a vibrant, inclusive National Team Development Centre (NTDC) that exists to develop world-class and world-leading cross-country ski racers and citizens for Canada. T he AIAWCA operates training groups for athletes U20 and above in Canmore and Calgary, developing Olympic, World Cup, World Junior and national team athletes. For the past two years, AIAWCA has offered the option of combining post-secondary education and high performance training in Calgary. By delivering high-quality programming and unique training opportunities to ambitious skiers, the AIAWCA aims to become a global force in the development of high performance Nordic racers. www.albertaworldcup.com
About the BATC
The Biathlon Alberta Training Centre is a national biathlon high-performance training centre recognized by Biathlon Canada. Our goal is to provide development programing targeting nationally competitive athletes, and coaches, preparing them for success at international and Olympic level competition. The BATC delivers a development system that supplements and supports existing local, regional and national programs respecting Canada’s “Long-term Athlete Development” model (LTAD). Additional information about the BATC is available at: www.biathlon.ca/biathlon-alberta-training-center/.
