Organizational Philosophy - Age Group Development
Seven Philosophical Priorities For Successful XC Programs
No matter where you go in the world or what the activity is, organizational philosophy will always be the guiding light for how programs develop or stagnate...succeed or fail. If you just want to get rolling on suggested programs for various age groups and could care less about guiding philosophy...save some time and skip this section.
However, if you really want to have a clear picture of where your program could be/should be/would be headed (whether you are an athlete, parent, group leader, volunteer, or administrator), this may provide some food for thought.
After analyzing literally hundreds of XC programs over the past couple decades, I've come up with the following "golden seven" priorities for success. If you are just starting out on this noble quest, these are some suggested beacons for your new program. If you already have the ship underway, see how well your program stacks up...and perhaps where changes could be made.
1.) Maximizing Individual Potential
Although it has been debated for years (particularly with regard to youth and teen sports) careful research into successful programs shows that you can indeed strike a positive balance between participation and competition.
All too often, program leaders and coaches needlessly feel compelled to choose one or the other of these priorities. I say needlessly because the very nature of XC skiing places absolutely no limitations on programs with regard to choosing who plays and who sits on the bench. With everyone eligible to play, it then makes sense to focus on a goal of maximizing the potential of every single participant up to the level of commitment they choose to make.
If someone wants to dedicate a large portion of their life to skiing fast...a good program can help them. If someone simply wants to learn how to ski as well as they can...a good program can help them. Likewise with everyone in between.
We don't have to choose one or the other. Unfortunately, many times programs needlessly do indeed pick one road at the expense of the other.
2.) Maximizing Potential Is The Most Enjoyable Road
Going along with the premise that participation and competition can indeed be complementary is the concept that maximizing potential will be the most enjoyable route for most individuals.
Look at it this way...even if Joey and Lisa never want to win a single ski race, they would be very strange people indeed if they said they enjoyed skiing inefficiently. Thus, in order to ensure that these two kids have a good time whenever they are on skis, as a program leader you are going to want to teach Joey and Lisa to ski as well as they possibly can while they are in your program. What is claimed here is that in doing so, you will inevitably use precisely the same program as you would for athletes that someday want to win the Olympics.
Certainly at more advanced age group levels differences will crop up between what an elite-oriented athlete does and a more casual participant. But these differences are usually tied to the amount of time devoted to the sport as well as other resources (money being at the top of the list).
The bottomline is that at younger and beginner levels, virtually no differences should exist between a program designed to get 1000 kids on snow and a program designed to produce the next Bjorn Daehlie or Beckie Scott.
The end result is a maximization of potential in order to achieve an individual's goal.
3.) World-class Development Depends On Every Step Of The Ladder
A preriquisite to actually achieving full development of individual potential is to philosophically accept that the road to any goal begins at home. All too often we find youth, junior, and even collegiate coaches saying that developing future Olympians is not their problem. Of course it is their problem!!!
Following the arguments set forth in item #2, the techniques, training plans, program direction, etc. that will take that once-in-a-lifetime, genetically-gifted youngster to a gold medal are exactly the same as the techniques, training plans, and program direction that will develop individual potential in a skier that simply wants to learn how to ski as well as they can...without any particular competitive goals.
Differences merely lie in how far an individual wants to follow through on the road to the top and...how far they can follow through given their raw genetic composition...and what mitigating factors intervene along life's ski trails.
4.) Coach/Instructor Education Must Be A Lifetime Commitment
If we accept the philosophical framework laid out in items #1-3, it then follows that program leaders, instructors, and coaches continually maximize their ability to develop athletes to the athletes highest potential. The problem with this premise is that continuing education is not always in the hands of the local leader or community. The individuals involved must get enough community and/or program support in order to follow through on this directive otherwise it most often will not happen.
Whereas many talented and motivated coaches/instructors have started out with a strong commitment to continuing education, what we all too often see (at least in North America) is a plateau or, worse yet, a complete cessation of educational efforts after just a few years do to the sheer demands of the job versus little to no pay. Further, since the educator is fully aware of the need to stay "on top of change in the game", often we see these folks either pull back into a defensive shell (where the "been there, tried that" mentality pervades) or they simply leave the sport due to an inability to keep coaching fun or mentally/emotionally satisfying.
The irony is that the work vs. pay inequity is not the core problem here. The fundamental problem is that continuing education is often too hard to incorporate into the already over-loaded situation XC ski coaching presents. Yet this need not always be the case.
Look into any sport that a particular country excels at and you will see ways in which continuing education happens despite all obstacles. Example: The U.S. is unquestionably a world power in basketball and swimming yet hundreds of U.S. coaches in both sports operate fantastic programs with massive time commitments with little to no pay. In Norway, Italy and other powerful XC nations, similarly XC coaches and programs abound--also operating on shoestring budgets. What makes the situation different for many of these coaches is two things:
A. In successful sport systems, good educational opportunities come to the coaches rather than the other way around. It is simply amazing how many great coaching resources are available to basketball coaches including books, videos, websites, camps, clinics, and more. Yes, many English-language great books, videos, etc. are available that are good tools for XC coaches...but the problem is that 999 times out of a 1000, they are designed for general public consumption rather than XC educators. The web section you are looking at right now is a rare exception in that it is designed for XC coaches and program leaders rather than for a mass-media audience.
Unfortunately, short of major shifts in cultural priorities, it is unlikely that we will see quantum changes in this situation soon. The demands of trying to compete on a global stage are simply overwelming national programs the same way individual coaches/programs get overwelmed on a local scale. The good news is that regional and localized educational programs are developing that are filling some of the void.
The very best recommendation for coaches and program leaders concerned about this issue is to focus efforts on 1-2 educational projects that are within the realistic scope of your resource base (time, money, etc.) and find a way to make those projects happen on a continual basis. It does not matter whether you choose to put together a simple coaching newsletter, a 1-2 day coaches retreat, afternoon mid-season coaches clinics, even a local/regional coaches website...just find a way to do a couple things that can serve to educate and motivate your educator base. Final note: whatever you do, aim for a wide range of education levels.
5.) Progressive, Healthy, Balanced Development
This is by far the most contentious issue in any development model. What one program contends is healthy another program is going to consider the fast-track to frying kids. I maintain that the only way to objectively measure what truly is progressive, healthy, and balanced is to take a big-picture, long-term look at any aspect of development.
When we succomb to the lure of short-term prizes over long-term goals--we have undeniably abandoned our prime philosophical directive to maximize individual potential.
6.) Generational Balance and Community Interaction
This tragic missing link in much of U.S. society simply cannot be omitted from successful development programs. Programs that try to exist in a vaccum are doomed to exclusion and eventual demise--even within otherwise strong XC communities. It is simply not enough to have a great kids program or a great Masters program or a great H.S. or college team (if available). A truly developed and integrated community will have ALL of these components working with and giving to each other to produce a greater sum.
If you have a significant part of your XC community "outside" a communal leadership circle...you have a fundamental problem! If you have several elements outside this circle, well, let's just say you don't have a recipe for long-term success.
Thus, a litmus test for a succesful program and/or community is if one hand not only knows what the other is doing...but also regularly cooperates with, communicates with, interacts with, and supports the other community XC elements. If not, you've got your work cut out for you.
7.) Fun Must Be Inherent To All-The-Above
There is no question that any aspect of XC skiing must be fun if any individual is going to participate over a long period of time--at any age. The choice lies in whether or not a program exists merely to whoop-it-up at all costs any which way you can...OR...that the program has enjoyable and fullfilling elements built into planned, long-term, progressive goals.
A well-designed program and a prepared leader can, indeed, find a way to reach long-term goals and also have a great time along the way.
On to Leadership
