Sun Peaks skier and former head coach of the B.C. Alpine team, Johnny Crichton, has recently been appointed as B.C. Alpine’s athletic director, giving him responsibility and coaching oversight over every ski club in the province.
It’s a big change for Crichton, who admitted the job “wasn’t even on my radar” when he was asked to take it on.
“I’m still trying to get my head around it. It’s a change of pace but I’m definitely excited for it,” he said.
And while it’s a busy role, Crichton hopes it will allow him to spend more time with his family and skiing in Sun Peaks during the winter season.
“Most of the work actually takes place during the summer —the programming and preparing the athletes and laying all the groundwork, so hopefully once the snow falls, everything clicks into place.
“In the past, with the B.C. team, I was on the road for 40 days at a time in Chile or Europe. While I’ll still be doing some of that, hopefully I won’t have such big periods away.”
Crichton said his main goal in the new role was to better align the coaching practises across B.C.
“My priority is to align the province with the message we’re teaching — whether you’re in the Kootenays or up north or in Sun Peaks, I want our coaches to have the same philosophy and the same tools.
“It’s really coaching the coaches, so if a kid is moving around the province or moving up in the system it’s a bit more seamless than it was in the past.”
Crichton said his new role would also give him “a little bit more say in bringing people to Sun Peaks to train.”
“Just this year for example, we used to run a program called Rising Stars, where we’d bring the best 16-year-old skiers from B.C. and Alberta together for a training camp. That program disappeared, so I’m bringing it back, and I’m bringing it back to Sun Peaks.”
Crichton said Sun Peaks would continue to be a training ground for the B.C. ski team as well.
“I’ll still be overseeing those guys, I just won’t be on the road as much as I used to,” he said. “Hopefully this winter I’ll be bringing the family up to Sun Peaks and getting to ski a bit more.”
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