“It doesn’t matter how competitive you are if you’re not having fun you’re not going to be in the environment to learn,” said Wade Rettie Sun Peaks Alpine Club (SPAC) program director.
In the midst of preseason training the SPAC Racers are focusing on basic movements to prepare for another competitive season while incorporating some fun activities to strengthen the team’s dynamic.
“We’re trying to create a group activity, create that good kind of team feel and bonding because there are kids that have moved from one age group up to the next (we’re) trying to help them interact with their new, old familiar teammates,” explained Rettie.
For Some athletes that team dynamic was strengthened over the summer by attending a summer training camp at Mt. Hood, Oregon, where the U14 and U16 athletes were able to get 14 training runs in a day.
“The key for me with summer camps is it’s the time to go and work on your drills. I find that if you’re trying to teach new skills and drills in our winter we’re already a little bit behind just because we want to get on snow and we want to start working on things specific to the sport. If we’re still trying to teach how to do proper drills and warm up we’re kind of putting ourselves even farther behind,” he explained.
This winter the club will welcome two new head coaches for the U10 and U12 accelerated programs and a few new assistants.
Jeff Robinson and Cam Watson will bring a wealth of knowledge and years of experience to the program.
“What I’m trying to do is do a bit of hiring locally and then also trying to ensure that we’ve got our next wave of coaches coming up as well so by hiring as much experience as we have. I think assistants have the ability to learn and flourish within the club and the hope and thought is we can have a strong program for years to come,” said Rettie.
As the newly appointed program director(named to the position in July 2018), Rettie said he and the club were set up for success this season by former director Montana Molyneux.
“I think the strength as a club as a whole is the community of the club, the support that the athletes have from the parents, coaching staff and the community of Kamloops and community of Sun Peaks.”
Before setting their sights of the start of a new season the club is looking for support from the community and will host their 20th annual Oktoberfest at the TRU Grand Hall in Kamloops. Tickets are available at sunpeaksracers.com.
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