Andrew Casey takes over as head coach of provincial nordic team

CORNER BROOK  Andrew Casey of Corner Brook is the new head coach of the provincial cross-country team.

Casey’s appointment was made official at the annual general meeting of Cross-Country Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook over the weekend, although he was approached weeks ago and immediately accepted the position.

The Corner Brook native took over the role from Will Fitzgerald of St. John’s. Casey, who hails from a family heavily involved in the sport, is a former provincial nordic ski team member.

“I was looking forward to this for a while,” Casey said. “I think it will be a good opportunity to give a bit of my experience back. I hopped on the opportunity right away.

“It’s all about taking the experiences I had and putting them back into the kids and giving them opportunities,” he added. “When I skied ... I didn’t have a coach, per se, so it’s pretty important to have one and if I can give that to the kids provincially, or even locally, I’m more than willing to do that.”

Fitzgerald spent two years as head coach of the provincial team, but stepped down because of work and family commitments. However, Fitzgerald will remain a key contributor to the sport by assuming the executive role responsible for Junior Development.

Judy May of Humber Village was responsible for Junior Development for the past 20 years, but now she’s taking on the newly created position of Policies and Procedures Director.

Stayed involved in the sport

Casey, a former National Development Centre skier, hasn’t raced since 2007, but has kept his hands in the sport thanks to a volunteer coaching gig with the Avalon Nordic Ski Club while attending school at Memorial University of Newfoundland. The Bachelor of Kinesiology graduate is picking away at an Education degree, so he’ll be staying in St. John’s for the foreseeable future.

The 24-year-old said that lack of access to provincial team skiers is the biggest challenge facing the sport locally.

“I think we’re doing a good job of trying to overcome that,” he said. “But we’re so spread out over the province and our numbers are so low we don’t have club coaches. Having a coach in Corner Brook or a coach in Labrador City and one in St. John’s at the club level is the most important thing. Then you would have someone like myself send out programs and delegate from afar.”

He’s optimistic that vision could become a reality. The issue was brought forth at a strategic planning session after last weekend’s AGM.

“I think it’s recognized,” said Casey. “It’s just that you need to find those individuals within a certain club to step up, volunteer their time, or get paid depending on how big the club is, to coach the local athletes there.

“It’s hard for me to coach an athlete that’s in Labrador City or St. Anthony or wherever,” he said. “I need to be on the side of the trail giving technique tips or yelling at them up the hill, motivating them. That’s impossible to do over email. If you can’t talk to the athlete on a daily basis, it’s hard to know what they’re doing or if they’re even following the programs, so I think the most important thing we can do as a province is get club-based coaching.”

Casey has already started work towards the upcoming season, sending out training programs to kids he knows are likely to be on the provincial team, although since the team hasn’t been selected, he said it’s a “very unofficial type of thing.”

Training camps upcoming

He’s also in the process of organizing training camps, with one tentatively slated for Corner Brook in late-June or early-July. Another camp will see team members make the trip to Ontario to train with national team members and coaches.

“Basically the best athletes from across the country,” he said. “So our kids are really going to get some exposure there to see what high-performance athletes really put into their training and, if anything, show them that they’re no better or worse than other athletes, they just need to make adjustments to their training program.”

A new slate of executive officers were installed during the AGM with Gerry Rideout of Labrador returning as president of the non-profit organizaton. The new executive also includes Jim Gallant  of Stephenville (treasurer), Natalie Hughes of St. Anthony (secretary), Lloyd Button of St. John’s (vice-president Eastern), David Tanton of Gander (vice-president Central), Greg Noonan of Stephenville (vice-president Western), George Pink of St. Anthony (vice-president Northern), Carmen Hancock of Forteau (vice-president Labrador), Tina Newbury of Corner Brook (Jackrabbit Director), Erik Charron of St. John’s (Coaching Director), Gordon Brewer of Corner Brook (Officials Director), Keith Nicol of Corner Brook (CANSI Director) and Margaret Tibbo of St. John’s (Paranordic).

A number of provincial championships were awarded during the weekend with Blow Me Down Trails in Corner Brook getting the green light to host the 2012 CCNL provincial championships Feb. 18-19. The 2012 provincial midget cross-country ski championships and Kids Ski Fest  have been awarded to Airport Nordic in Gander at a yet to be determined date.

The provincial body is still looking for a club to host the 2012 Newfoundland Marathon pencilled in on the calendar of events for March 3.