Well, the rumour is true….
Soo Finnish is hosting Cross Country Ski Ontario’s (XCSO) 2022 Ontario Youth Championships Mar 11-13, 2022.
This is an exciting opportunity for our Club and community right now. With strong participation rates in our youth programs, with many interested in racing, hosting this sanctioned provincial race will not only help with sport growth in Ontario, but provide our own Club’s youth with opportunities they have missed out over the past two years.
2022 Youth Championships Race Overview
March 11, 12, 13, 2022
- Friday – Training Day
- Saturday – Individual Start, Free Technique
- Sunday – Mass Start, Classic Technique
Course is the 2 km Kinsmen Lighted trail
Eligibility: U14 (Years of Birth YOB 2008, 2009), U12 (YOB 2010, 2011), and U10 (YOB 2012, 2013) athletes only.
Skiers must be members of an XCSO Club.
If you haven’t been contacted already for a specific role, please let us know you’re interested and available to volunteer by completing this form.
The Event Organizing Committee is on overtime right now working through the essential details to get this event sorted in the extremely short timeframe. We hope to have the Race Notice posted on our website within the next week. For now, we are looking for your support: we will need many volunteers, please! We are also looking for sponsorship by the means of borrowing outdoor trade-show-type tents, coupons for food services, and items for ‘swag’ bags.
Our past experienced race volunteers will be necessary to pull this off, but we also need new members of our ski community to apprentice to support our Club’s sustainability. Extra volunteers will be needed to step-in in a pinch to fill roles if any of our volunteers are unable to attend because of failed COVID-19 screening. We are working with Algoma Public Health to have thorough safety plan to ensure our event respects and promotes public health guidance. As per XCSO’s COVID-19 Vaccination Policy – Event Attendance & Participation, all of our volunteers will need to be double vaccinated prior to the event. Volunteers will also be required to follow other COVID-19 considerations, including wearing a mask outdoors (if not actively skiing or consistently distanced 2 m from others). More details will be coming soon.
For those who have children in the eligible age categories – this is the entry-level provincial ski race that is intended to open your eyes and hearts to the world of racing. It’s meant to be the season finale: a safe, fun, and fair competitive event to promote good ski technique and encourage achievement through team effort. It’s the carrot to keep ‘Jackrabbits’ wanting to learn, train, and progress over the summer and next winter! Parents are integral to providing support to their racers at this event, so we suggest one parent to be dedicated to their families’ racers to manage pre- and post-race. But, we hope any other parents can help us out!