RXCSF’s youth program had an incredible season this winter. With 85 kids registered, the future of Nordic skiing in the Rochester area is here, and their interest is contagious. We met weekly from December 6th through February 28th, and every practice was on snow. We dealt with a few bitterly cold weeks, but the quality of the snow was worth it! 

RXCSF also hosted NYSSRA’s Winterfest at Bristol, and had a great weekend of racing. We celebrated the Olympics, played games, challenged ourselves, and built a lot of skills and resilience.  

Skiing is not an individual sport, it is a community sport, and I’d like to thank everyone who volunteered in any capacity, coached, brought hot chocolate and snacks, made chili, challenged their own comfort zones by skiing with us, and modeled for our kids a way to participate in this lifelong sport that is not predicated on cuts, travel, year-round commitment, or competition. It is special and it only exists because of communal effort. 

RXCSF is already planning ways to keep our momentum going into next year, and seeking additional volunteers and coaches. If our coaching ranks do not grow into next year, we will need to strongly consider capping our registration at 100 kids.  We also need to expand our gear, as a critical piece of our success has been the ability to reduce barriers to entry by including seasonal loans of skis, boots and poles for registrants at no additional cost. 

If anyone would like to volunteer next season or donate skis/boots/poles to the youth program, please reach out. We are only accepting NNN gear in good or better condition. 

Hopefully the season isn’t over quite yet! 

Chris Kvam

RXCSF Youth Director