HAVE JUMP SKIS, WILL TRAVEL
If you were a competitor on the jump hill or on the xc trails then you probably have vivid memories of particularly good or devastatingly bad performances. When I am asked to recall some of my clearest memories of parenting young athletes I often am reminded of travel.
At first, travel was easy. We could almost see the jumps of the Andover Outing Club from our house. Getting there entailed a 5-minute drive to the Blackwater Ski area where Proctor Academy maintained the jumps and cross country trails. This was, however, just the beginning. It wasn’t long before we were driving somewhat longer distances, often on snowy roads.
Getting to Plymouth, NH for the Koch League Festival wasn’t too much of a challenge when we would often carpool with a minivan full of kids.
As skills improved and higher-level competition became the pathway to more ambitious goals, we found ourselves on the roads to Lake Placid in winter and summer. We found what some called perverse enjoyment in seeking out and finding every little local shortcut to reduce driving time between Andover, NH, and the facilities at Lake Placid.
Time raced on and the miles logged in driving began to approach the miles of athletes training and racing. Our son, Jed Hinkley, was working his way up the steep ladder of Nordic combined competition. His performance in World Juniors in March 2001 at Karpacz, Poland (which we attended; a flight and more driving) boosted him to a start position in the first period of the 2001/02 World Cup season and an event in Steamboat Springs.
On a Thursday in early December 2001 Dani Hinkley, my copilot, and I set out in our VW Golf from Andover, NH. After a morning-long faculty meeting, we pointed the car west, destination, Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Straight through tag-team driving brought us to Denver, in a blizzard, at about 11:00 p.m. Friday. A Super 8 motel spotted through the blowing snow lured us in for 4 hours of sleep. Then on the road again we arrived in Steamboat Springs, found a place to park, and walked to the jumps in time to catch the trial round. I don’t even remember what Jed’s results were, although I do remember that we were happy to be there to watch. I also remember that we set out into the sunrise on Monday morning with a full tank of diesel fuel as we returned to Andover. I guess our carbon footprint was not small, but these days we stay closer to home.
2 Comments
Great story that reveals that Junior programs must present many, many local opportunities while pointing to and preparing athletes for opportunities and adventures at regional, national, and international levels that require more travel and more funds as well as talent and motivational improvements. The story comes from a fabulous source… a father and family that climbed and contributed to building the talent development ladders and pipelines. Thank you Bert… and family!
That was a good time in Karpacz when we were also there with our son, Alex, And thank you Bert and Dani for driving Maggie and I back to Prague after the competition.