Junior roller skiers in action

Roller ski racing

International sprint racing

Rollerski Club

Junior rollerski programme

JUNIOR ROLLERSKI PROGRAMME, BEGINS JAN 2010

From Programme Organiser - Felicity Bertram
Head Coach - Yevgeniy Gorbenko

I'm Flic and I will be administrating the junior programme. I've been a junior rowing coach for the past 10 years, and am taking on this project to bring the great sport of rollerskiing and cross-country skiing to teenagers in South West London and Windsor.

Why?

Roller skiing is a sport for everyone - involving endurance, strength and agility. Whether you want to cruise around smoothly on wheels to relax, or race around as a challenge. It's based on cross-country skiing and, if you do it correctly, it's very easy to transfer roller ski skills onto snow.

Cross-country skiing is great fun, and the fitness you will gain from this ultimate strength-endurance sport is superb both in sport and life. As with most things in life, the more you put in, the more you will get out.

* Cross-country skiing / rolelr skiing is a physically intense strength-endurance activity that requires huge amounts of cardiovascular fitness;
* Power is required from all four limbs and from the core muscles, and elite skiers have recorded the highest VO2max scores in tests;
* Elsewhere in the world, cross-country skiing is widely used as cross training for elite athletes from other endurance sports such as triathlon, cycling and rowing. The GB rowing and canoeing teams have regular on-snow training camps.

For more information, or to register your interest, please e-mail flic@rollerski.co.uk or 07736 408749. Please don't hesitate to get in contact.

Sessions

Initially all of the junior club will be based in Richmond Park and the surrounding area (SW London). The draft programme below shows the basic plan for the first part of the year, with the option to start in Richmond Park in January, or on courses at Dorney Lake during half term.

Roller-skiing and cross country skiing requires endurance, strength and agility, so as well as roller-skiing during the sessions, we will also be working on these in the sessions with games and exercises - making it a great sport alone, and also as additional training to support other sports.

The first phase will be technique focused, and will assume zero prior knowledge. Key elements will be building up balance, technique and skiing concepts to relate rollerskiing to skiing on snow.

Coaches

Yevgeniy will be the Head Coach of this programme. Having previously been a Youth Coach in Russia, he has a wealth of experience to develop a great programme for juniors.

We have many other excellent and experienced instructors who will also be involved. All coaches are CRB checked and insured, qualified by Snowsport England and observe the SSE Child Protection Policy.

  
         
 

 

      
 

THE PROGRAMME

  • The first session is free, to give you a chance to try out the sport without obligation - we are sure you will be back for more!
  • Thereafter junior club fees are payable by standing order. Please e-mail flic@rollerski.co.uk for a membership form and details of this.
  • Fees at the start of 2010 will be £50/month for those doing 2 sessions per week, and £30/month for those doing 1 session per week (consistently Monday or Wednesday)
  • Fees have been set to cover costs of equipment (purchase and maintenance), coaching and supervision. We aim to have all juniors racing, and want to prepare them as well as possible. Fees may be reduced if we can secure external funding support or sponsorship
  • Race entry fees, and additional events such as holiday courses and extra day trips may incur additional costs

 

 

 

 
Jan Monday afternoon/evenings Richmond Park from 18th January
  Wednesday afternoon/evenings Richmond Park
February Monday/Wednesday training Richmond Park
  Half-term courses 1-Day Courses at Dorney Lake
March Monday/Wednesday training Richmond Park
  Sunday 28th March 1st Race - Hillingdon
April Monday/Wednesday training Richmond Park

Future Plans

With the huge range of coaches and members already in the club, there is a huge amount we can do with the juniors' club once we've got it up and running. Racing at events all around the country...day-trips skiing along the south coast or Bristol-Bath...skiing on snow at Hemel Hempstead...a trip abroad to ski and race in Norway or Austria/Germany...

  
 

 

      
 

Safety

When roller-skiing, children should wear helmet, sun-glasses (clear in winter) and knee and elbow pads. You may already have some of these items, but advice on purchasing these can be given and they will also be available to purchase through the club.

Roller-skiing requires the use of ski-poles with a metal tip and travelling at speed on wheels. Juniors will be expected to be sensible during sessions to ensure their safety and the safety of others.

 

  

Sponsorship

The potential of this programme is imense, both from giving the juniors the chance to do an exciting sport, which will benefit their health and fitness, challenge them, and give them a team to work with, and also in terms of developing young competitive roller- and cross country skiers.

If you would like to become a patron of the junior squad, or are interested in sponsoring/funding us, then please contact flic@rollerski.co.uk

 

  
 

 

      
   

IMPROVE YOUR SPORTING PERFORMANCE: WHY XC SKIING?

  • Cross-country skiing is a physically intense strength-endurance activity that requires huge amounts of cardiovascular fitness;
  • Power is required from all four limbs and from the core muscles, and elite skiers have recorded the highest VO2max scores in tests;
  • Elsewhere in the world, cross-country skiing is widely used as cross training for elite athletes from other endurance sports such as triathlon, cycling and rowing. The GB rowing and canoeing teams have regular on-snow training camps.
 
         
 

Picture: Olaf Tufte, Olympic Champion sculler and top 100 finisher in the Swedish Vasaloppet

  

Picture: skating rollerskiing