SkiPush - A Norwegian Junior Project
Translated version...Original author, Bernt. R. Nilsen
The following translated and excerpted material originally appeared in the Norwegian magazine Birkebeiner during the 2001 winter season. Many thanks to Inge Scheve of XC Oregon for providing this information to the English-speaking XC world.
During the 2000/2001 season, the Norwegian Ski Association (NSF) started a program (Skitr¿kk, loosely translated SkiPush) to retain more junior skiers in the sports organized in NSF.
The NSF goal is simple: Retain more junior skiers who are already in the system. Research shows that during the adolescence, a significant number of junior skiers drop out. NSF will not passively watch this development. As we know, teenagers don't ski much, and would rather avoid being outside at all, so we realize that NSF has committed to a daunting task.
Take Juniors Seriously
With SkiPush, junior skiers are going to be handled professionally. NSF is thinking new and differently about teens and skiing. More and more teenagers want a different ski sport, especially when it comes to activities, organization and use of resources: Teens want to make more of the decisions themselves.
SkiPush is not a preplanned project, rather SkiPush changes as it goes. Nor is it a new division of NSF to replace the existing race-oriented junior track. SkiPush is designed to support the existing activities by generating advice and new ideas on how to retain the juniors. Specifically, SkiPush targets mastering new techniques combined with social activities. NSF encourages skiing communities to recognize that teenagers want time to do other things than just ski.
Combining Tradition and New Ideas
SkiPush is new thinking about skiing teenagers. It's a new philosophy that combines community organizers and tradition with new knowledge about what teenagers want in an activity. That's why the first year of Ski Push's existence has revolved around internal communication concerning what teenagers want. NSF produced a library of information brochures, videos and slide shows. The organization hosted seminars, conferences and theme nights on junior skiers of all levels all over Norway. All of this with junior skiers invited to participate in the discussions, the committees and the project groups. These teenagers have contributed to keeping SkiPush evolving. SkiPush has not been - and should never become - a static program where adult ski coaches need to accomplish some predetermined performance goal.
Concrete Tasks
More specifically, SkiPush can be divided into several Push areas:
- Training and racing Push must be varied and challenging. New race formats must be developed in cooperation with the juniors and must focus on being daring and well rounded.
- SkiPush ski areas must challenge juniors in new ways. These areas are compact and flexible while being close, accessible and more challenging than conventional junior ski areas.
- Extreme SkiPush labels signal that the ski club contributes to more varied outdoor activities, from simple community outdoor activities to adventure survival treks.
- Social SkiPush is an effort to create hangout for teens regardless of their athletic ambitions. Social SkiPush organizers set the scene for more than just skiing by realizing that sometimes teens ski just to meet other teens.
- Multi SkiPush integrates disabled teen athletes, their coaches and leaders in the skiing communities. Accordingly, ski areas, environments and arenas must be handicap accessible.
- Equipment SkiPush will create an environment where teens can try different skiing disciplines without ruining their parents or sitting out because they can't afford the gear. In Equipment SkiPush, ski clubs stock an equipment library where teens easily can borrow and swap equipment.
The goal is not that all ski clubs must integrate all SkiPush focus areas, rather the idea is that these focus areas can serve as a launching pad for individualized SkiPush programs that involve junior skiers more actively than the current norm.
Current Projects
Some areas in Norway already have SkiPush programs in business. Five pilot projects (in Oslo, Fjord, Troms¿, Drammen and Rindal) are designed to display different interpretations of SkiPush. These projects have yielded a rich knowledge bank of what kind of ski sport juniors want.
NSF communication with the juniors resulted in these projects. In the next step, NSF plans to involve teens who currently don't ski to tap into what it would take to get them on skis - in other words, create a unique sport they have developed according to their interests. Skiing can be one of the coolest sports for juniors when made relevant to their world. The Internet homepage is the main communication tool in this process. On the SkiPush Web site, teens can check the latest updates on techniques, meets, activities and social events in the skiing communities. Finally, this is also a place where skiing teens can chat about their concerns. More unconventionally, in November/December 2000, SkiPush aired a movie theater commercial targeting teens to create awareness and brand SkiPush. In the upcoming season, SkiPush is further prioritizing external communication.
More Activity Ahead - What Has SkiPush Accomplished So Far?
Awareness of the importance of targeting teens in new ways has increased much more than it would have without SkiPush. Most notably, NSF internally created junior committees both centrally and in several geographic sub-organizations. Evidently, the project has been criticized within NSF, but criticism is an integral part of evolution. Although - as critics rightly point out - SkiPush has so far been more concerned with ideas and plans than with concrete tasks and activities. However, this is a long term project rather than a quick fix. In this long term process, the next step will be involving the different skiing disciplines organized in NSF on what specific tracks SkiPush will make in the clubs and communities. In other words, the next phase will be more activity oriented and will target both organized and unorganized teens. Additionally, the internal and external communication process must continue. Without this continuous communication, SkiPush will wither and die.
The Eight Keys to SkiPush
What do we know about juniors' needs? What do juniors want? These values create the basis of the SkiPush philosophy on skiing and teens.
- Excitement - SkiPush activities must be daring and varied. Teens must be challenged.
- Spontaneity - Fewer miles and more impulse. Teens demand action here and now!
- Self governing - Teens want to decide and preferably independently of adults.
- Centralized - Where the teens are: The activities must be close and accessible.
- Cooperation - Creating new alliances. Be open to new ideas. Communicate broadly.
- Social - Skiing is more than trail- and track activities. Teens gather to meet and make friends.
- Stash - Expanded and different equipment focus. Teens like to see and be seen.
- Balance - integrate boys and girls like they are in any other social context.
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