Lake Wanaka, New Zealand – Staff at Snow Sports New Zealand are busy gearing up for the Southern Hemisphere winter, now a little bit late in coming, with some new initiatives in place.
With last week’s commitment by Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) to continue its investment in the National Sport Organization (NSO) for the next three years, Snow Sports NZ is able to move forward in a positive direction. Funding of NZ$300,000 per year, over the next three years, will allow focus on sport and athlete development for the five sporting codes: Alpine, Freeski, Snowboard, Cross Country and Adaptive, which is embodied within all sports.
“We are very thankful to SPARC,” said Snow Sports NZ’s Acting General Manager, Ross McRobie. “This is a major commitment to the NSO. We can now approach and work with other sponsors to further enhance our level of operations for the betterment of all snow sports.”
Terms of the agreement with SPARC have yet to be finalized.
“We still need to work out the terms of the funding but SPARC is committed to continuing its partnership with Snow Sports NZ,” said SPARC Sector Engagement General Manager Dave Adams. “Our emphasis will be on ensuring the organisation is focused and capable of delivering its strategic objectives.”
Staff members are currently planning the 2011 Snow Sports NZ Annual Awards Evening, which takes place July 30 at “The Venue” in Wanaka. Tickets for the event will be available within the next week.
SSNZ Director of Coaching and Sport Development, Adam Dooney, has been working diligently to develop an awards based FUNdamental Skills Development Programme for ski and snowboard that will be rolled out this year. The programme is being designed to fit in with current resort junior/youth programmes.
“We are excited about the FUNdamentals program,” said Dooney. “We have also continued to focus on putting pathways in place for coaches and athletes from grass roots through to pre-elite.”
Business Operations Manager, Suzy Gendall and Funding and Operations Manager, Heather McClintock have been instrumental in establishing the new Snow Sports NZ online membership system for all sports. The membership system went live June 1st. Efforts have now been turned towards development of a new user friendly website, which will be launched in the near future along with an online events registration system.
Adaptive Snowsports Manager, Libby Blackley, continues to put passion and unprecedented effort into ensuring that children and adults with disabilities have unlimited access to snow sports and that No Exceptions is adhered to. Blackley is busy working with the various resorts around New Zealand to continue to develop adaptive instructors and programs and to host events such as the Adaptive National Championships and an Alpine Development Camp, which is part of the pathway to develop skiers with a disability to high performance athletes in preparation for the 2014 and 2018 Winter Paralympics. Snow Sports NZ is also bringing the WSF Para-Snowboard World Cup to New Zealand in August as part of the Winter Games NZ, along with assisting the alpine and cross country adaptive events at the upcoming Winter Games NZ.
Snow Sports NZ will once again work with the Freeski Sport Committee to host the NZ Freeski Open, an event that brings the world’s best freeskiers and big mountain skiers to Wanaka. The NZ Freeski Open will be held this year in early September at Snow Park and Treble Cone. Additional events on the Snow Sports NZ calendar include the annual Junior Nationals of Freeski and Snowboard and the Alpine Nationals.
David Howden continues to represent Snow Sports NZ as New Zealand’s representative on the International Ski Federation (FIS). He recently traveled to Slovenia for the FIS Calendar Conference where he said that he received considerable interest in the upcoming Winter Games NZ.
Snow Sports NZ now shares its Reece Crescent office space with Winter Performance Program (WPP) staff.
“Working side by side with Winter Performance Program staff is great,” said Dooney. “It allows for much better communication as well as collaboration towards common goals for our sports.
“It’s all systems go at Snow Sports NZ,” added Dooney. “The office is buzzing and we’re looking forward to an exciting season ahead.”