When the club was based at its temporary Welwyn home in 2008/9, we experienced regular attendances of between 35 and 55 racers at our Monday night sessions. Whilst some training groups were very well supported on a consistent basis, others were somewhat inconsistently attended. Generally speaking, most that came along also raced for the Club at weekends on plastic slopes in a wide range of competitions.

With the move back to Hemel and into the Snow Centre has come a doubling of the membership and a proportional increase in attendees. A few months in and we are still experiencing fluctuating numbers although this is gradually settling into a reasonably predictable pattern that can be readily managed.

It is to be hoped that the increase in numbers will also transfer into race entries; members are reminded that we are, after all, a “race club”.

It is also to be remembered that race performances provide a good indication of your improvement; as one of our senior coaches often remarks: “you train to prepare yourself for racing; you race to determine how your training is progressing”

Monday Training

Over the past four months, a pattern of group size and make-up has been established and we are now able to assess the positioning of each group (and the individuals within each one) as part of the intended overall progression.

It is intended that the progression through the Monday night groups will equip the performers with the skills, fitness and race craft to enable them to move (by invitation) into the more advanced level operated by Jon and Phil on Wednesday evenings.

As part of that progression, HSRC is committed to providing the very best grounding to the younger members of the club and it is our intention over the coming months to implement the recommendations of SnowsportGB with regard to the development of these younger age groups, collectively referred to as “Minis” (encompassing children under 10 years of age / BG2 and below).

SnowsportGB have published their guidance in an advice note entitled “Fun 4 Minis” accessible on their website. In brief this makes the following observations:

• All children love to compete
• It is critical to gain a balance of technical skills development and racing opportunities in the age group 8-10 years
• A concentration on race training at a young age together with a focus on results is dangerously counter productive
• For this reason SnowsportGB do not sanction any mini “races” as
  championship events
• SnowsportGB wish to promote fun and all-mountain skiing where possible and reduce the focus on “traditional racing”
• They wish to encourage race organisers to move away from traditional racing formats for younger age groups
• They wish instead to encourage the introduction of “Combi” events that are more a test of free skiing skills. These would still be challenging and fun and remain very competitive

At Hemel, we have the ideal conditions to be able to lead on the implementation of this initiative. We will of course still prepare our racers for the events in which they are eligible to complete but it is to be hoped that these events in themselves will change over the coming seasons.

Sunday Training

From mid October (first session 11 October 2009) and through until mid April, it is anticipated that the numbers of free skiers on weekday nights (apart from Mondays) will make training very difficult. In order to provide us with the appropriate training conditions, our previous Wednesday session moves to an early Sunday morning slot (07.00 to 09.00) prior to the normal opening time of the Snow Centre. We are able to accommodate up to a maximum of 60 skiers in these sessions which will largely mirror our Monday training arrangements. We have booked two thirds of the slope to accommodate racers undergoing specific gate and course work. The remainder of the slope will be used on occasion by other ski racing clubs such as Kandahar and SASA; on some days we will have the slope to ourselves!

On Sunday, we have initially asked Phil, John, Paul, Steve R and Rod to provide the training. Because of the limitation on numbers we have also to control the number of coaches available and this may mean that perfomers are trained by a different coach to the one more familiar to them on Mondays. Exact numbers will of course vary initially and we will undoubtedly be making changes to these groups as the weeks go by as we learn from experience.

Adult Training (Monday and Sunday)

One of the results of increased membership numbers and the move to snow has been a large increase in the interest shown by adults. This group has always been catered for on Mondays by Steve Cooper but has now been further supplemented by the introduction of a performer group on Sunday morning. These groups will focus on core skills initially but will offer a progression into race training. They are taken by Steve Cooper (Monday) and (making a welcome return to the Club) Rod Ferguson (Sunday).