From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.
(May 19, 2015) — The Southern Ontario District (SOD) of Cross Country Ontario and Team Hardwood are pleased to announce that a Coaching Development Conference will be held at Georgian College in Barrie, ON from July 17-18, 2015.
The conference will feature two days of interactive sessions with Justin Wadsworth, Head Coach, Canadian National Ski Team, and Timo Puiras, Head Coach, National Development Centre, Thunder Bay. Wadsworth and Puiras will lead a variety of learning and development sessions on skate and classic ski technique, trouble-shooting, athlete progression, waxing, using video analysis when working with athletes and more. Equally as valuable will be the opportunity for coaches of all levels to ask questions, share information and learn from each other during both formal presentations and open forums. A Coaches’ Social is also planned.
The conference will also feature demonstrations and presentations from a variety of suppliers, including Canadian Winter Sports, BSX Insight and Race Splitter, allowing coaches to learn about the latest products and technology available. Former NST Coach Jack Sasseville is also a presenter.
Coaches from across Canada and beyond are invited to participate. Thanks to the support of Cross Country Ontario and the Coaches Association of Ontario, registration for this conference is offered for just $65.00 per coach, which includes participation in all sessions, Friday night accommodation at Georgian College and all meals on Friday and Saturday.
“This is an awesome opportunity for coaches to get together and learn from the best coaches in the country and from each other,” says Ron Howden, Team Hardwood Head Coach and Technical Director, and conference organizer. “We’re grateful to Cross Country Ontario, the Coaching Association of Canada and Georgian College for making this affordable so as many coaches as possible can attend.”
Canada’s Larry Sinclair, a founding member of the Highlands Trailblazers Ski Club and provincial- and national-level coach since the late 1970s, died at age 59 on Jan. 25 after battling cancer. (Photo: “Light the trails for Larry”/fundrazr.com)
There are some things you must know about Larry, for he is no ordinary man. He is one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever met. — Brittany Webster, on Highland Trailblazers Ski Club founder Larry Sinclair
Larry Sinclair was, in a word, dedicated — to his sport and to young skiers, and not just in helping them become top-level athletes, but making them the best people they could be, according to former Cross Country Canada (CCC) President Richard Lemoine.
A provincial and national skier from Collingwood, Ontario, who went on to help found Cross Country Ontario and the Highlands Trailblazers Ski Club, Lawrence “Larry” Sinclair passed away at home on Jan. 25 at age 59 after battling cancer. (Photo: Obitsforlife.com)
And the longtime coach, national-team wax technician and founding member of the Highland Trailblazers Ski Club knew his time was limited. Fifteen days before Sinclair, 59, passed away on Jan. 25 after battling cancer, the NorAm and Junior/U23 World Championships Team Trials were held at Highlands Nordic in Duntroon, Ontario.
“We all knew that Larry was very sick and while we were all hopeful, we knew he faced a huge challenge,” Lemoine reflected in an email. “Despite this, Larry dedicated his efforts to making sure that our trails were ready to be homologated – that included spending weeks laying out some new trails and wielding a chain saw to cut down hundreds of trees.”
The races were a success “and many athletes commented on how the trails were a true test of athletic abilities that separated the very good from the very best,” he added. There were no free rides at Highlands, something Sinclair was proud of: “You have to work to get around the course and grunt your way up every last hill,” Lemoine wrote.
That NorAm weekend, Lemoine and Sinclair’s brother Shawn, the chief of competition, reminisced while watching some of the races. How would Sinclair be remembered? Shawn noted that his brother had created a race site at Highlands, and that the ski resort it had become was an afterthought.
“It was if Larry hung on to make sure that the races were a success. That was the last time he was able to make it to the resort he so loved and dedicated so much of his life to,” Lemoine explained. “Larry touched many in his too brief stay on this planet. He was a mentor to not only athletes but also to many ski coaches and officials. He was also a stalwart in the community for many other causes.”
“Larry touched many in his too brief stay on this planet. He was a mentor to not only athletes but also to many ski coaches and officials.” — Richard Lemoine
A competitive provincial and national skier from Collingwood, Ontario, Sinclair became a coach in the late 1970s, starting his career with the University of Guelph ski team, according to a CCC press release. In 1989, he coached Canada at its first World University Games appearance in Sofia, Bulgaria, and additionally led several junior and provincial team trips to Europe.
Sinclair went on to join Team Canada at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, as a wax tech. He served as the head coach of Ontario and Southern Ontario for several years and received the Heinz Niederhauser Coaching Award for his excellence in coaching.
He helped create Cross Country Ontario (CCO) to promote the regional development of the sport and enable direct access to provincial funding. In the ’90s, he instructed coaches and course conductors and also mentored athletes and coaches as the founder of Highlands Trailblazers, with a nordic facility that’s developed into “one of the finest, all privately funded, cross country facilities in the country,” according to CCC.
“It was a family operation with any profits in a volatile, weather related business, going back into the further development of the facility itself,” the release stated.
“While Larry was such a force in the skiing community he was even more dedicated to his wife Pat and his cherished daughters Kelly and Megan,” Lemoine wrote. “I had the honour of being a good friend of the entire Sinclair family and saw the love and attention he lavished on his daughters.
“We truly lost a great person,” he added. “He will be truly missed. Perhaps the best way to sum up his and his family’s dedication to the sport is that in lieu of flowers the family has requested that donations be made to the ski club he founded so many years ago – the Highlands Trailblazers.”
Unrivaled Commitment
A two-time Olympian and 2013 Senior World Championships team member, Brittany Webster, 27, grew up at Highlands. She remembered Sinclair as “a person with a huge heart who puts everyone and anyone before himself. He has single-handedly developed the Highlands Nordic facility through his sheer love of cross-country skiing and has devoted his life to sharing his passion with others,” she wrote in an email.
Webster first met Sinclair when she was a “keen yet very novice” high-school racer.
“For all Larry knew, I was yet another one of the thousands of high school racers he had seen pass through his club on their way to a University career path who would occasionally drag out their skis once every few years to go for a jaunt on the trails,” she wrote. “The amazing thing was that he treated me just like everyone else, like gold.”
He gave her a 60-percent discount on her first pair of race skis, helped her out with a “great set of boots” and let her use the facility essentially for free.
“I could not even ski,” Webster wrote. “This is the kind of person Larry is, he does anything for anyone in hopes that they will one day share his and their enthusiasm for cross-country skiing with their young ones.
“Perhaps he did not expect it, perhaps he did, but I took Larry up on his offer and went to Highlands Nordic every weekend I could. As Larry saw me develop into a somewhat decent provincial racer he began to develop his race program as best he could to accommodate me,” she added. “With no money and no race program in place, Larry found a way to hire a full-time coach for our little club. His time, effort, and dedication to me took me places I would have never dreamed.”
Three years later, Webster was the top Canadian at 2007 Junior World Championships in Tarvisio, Italy, placing sixth and ninth in two individual distance races.
“I travelled the world racing in different countries, but always always made the effort to come home to Highlands Nordic,” wrote Webster, who now trains with the Alberta World Cup Academy in Canmore, Alberta. “It is a very special place Larry has developed. It is my home, they are my family.”
Sinclair started his days at 5 a.m. and worked until close, 7 p.m., after which he would meet Webster and review her video technique sessions with her.
“Larry takes no days off. Even a few years ago, when he suffered through many chemo treatments to treat his stage 4 cancer, he was up at the crack of dawn getting ready for a 10 hr day at the Nordic Centre,” she recalled.
Whatever spare time he had, Sinclair mulled ways to give back to his sport and his family, she added.
“Every year I return back home I see new changes to the facility,” she wrote. “[Eight kilometers] of new race trails have been built over the last 3 years, there have been additions to the chalet, new wax trailers, and new equipment for the athletes.
“It goes without saying that Larry’s commitment to me, and my dreams has gotten me to the Olympics. Without him I would not be an Olympian. His legacy continues as he mentors young kids just like me and is developing a facility and program that is raising eyebrows and collecting medals all over the country.”
Light the Trails for Larry
After Sinclair’s passing, Lemoine initiated an online campaign called, “Light the trails for Larry,” which initially aimed to raise $9,000 to light at least 3 kilometers of trails at Highlands — part of Sinclair’s vision to provide the public with more hours on snow.
“Larry reached out to the larger community and an affordable solution was found – a mixture of low voltage LED lights – deep cycle batteries – solar panels to recharge the batteries,” the fundrazr.com website explains. “The cost per light is approximately $300 – much cheaper than any other system. A light is required about every 100 metres.”
The first part of the plan is to illuminate 3 k of trails, and eventually, 8 kilometers, which would cost approximately $24,000. Contributors of $300 or more will be recognized with a plaque at the chalet. As of Wednesday, more than $18,000 had been raised.
Coach ‘Pav’ Sudrich with some of her young athletes on the Ontario provincial team. (Photo: coach-pav.com)
Whether it’s her YouTube interviews with world-famous Norwegians, inspiring stories from her past life of ski adventures in the Yukon or her self-described “rampantly enthusiastic” style of coaching, Ontario Ski Team Head Coach Pavlina Sudrich has become well known around Canada’s nordic-racing scene. While her three-year term with CCO (Cross Country Ontario) has come to a close — she announced her resignation earlier this month — Sudrich’s presence in the ski community is certainly not ending with her time as provincial head coach.
“I’m stepping away from CCO but I definitely still hope to be working with CCC [Cross Country Canada] and coaching in the future,” she said in a phone interview earlier this month.
“2013/2014 was my favorite season yet. I spent more time than ever before working trailside with athletes in training and competition. I finally met Petter Northug. Best of all I watched Ontario climb from 4th place at Nationals [1,295 points behind 1st] to 2nd place this year, only 57 points behind 1st.” — Pavlina Sudrich,“Change — And The Next Adventure” blog post
The Decision
There were a number of factors that played into Sudrich’s decision to move away from her role as OST (Ontario Ski Team) head coach, and she considered them during a beach vacation in April.
“This season was full of new, unanticipated challenges,” she wrote on her blog. “I spent over 6 consecutive months coaching on the road. I lived on couches, in mop cupboards, and in a tent. I visited 13 countries in 365 days. I came up against things I could never have anticipated, a trip to Norway that started with no snow, running six races in eight days in three different countries, and the loss of a significant family member.
“Standing in the pouring rain watching sharks swim in the Wineglass Bay I thought about the past season. I was tired yes — but mostly I felt exhilarated,” she continued. “As any good coach knows, there’s a special kind of confidence that comes from overcoming challenges — it’s quite a feeling to know you are capable of more than you realized. I came away from this season even more motivated to work towards becoming on of Canada’s World Cup coaches.”
Pavlina Sudrich at age 18, when she was named to Canada’s “Top 20 Under 20” list. (Photo: Canada’s 2004 Top 20 Under 20)
That’s when she began to think about her job as OST coach.
“My biggest passion is working directly with athletes,” Sudrich said. “Although I had opportunities to do this working with CCO, these opportunities were focused more around training camps and races, when the Ontario Ski Team athletes came together.”
The rest of the time as head coach went towards more logistics type work, planning for the big trips and helping provide oversight and advice for the Ontario Ski Team members’ club coaches.
Sudrich wanted to spend more time working with athletes, rather than in more of an administrative role, to continue her development as a coach.
One of the current issues that is slowing the development of new top-level Canadian skiers is the limited number of top-level Canadian coaches, she said.
“It takes years to develop a World Cup caliber coach,” she explained. “I think that Canada needs to develop more World Cup-level coaches so that they don’t have to rely on Europeans as weekend coaches on the World Cup.”
Sudrich’s goal is to help fill the coaching void and continue her development as a top-level ski coach. She believes the move will allow her to commit herself to the completion of her Level 4 coaching while keeping an eye out for job openings at CCC.
At the same time, she plans to work with top Whitehorse U23 skiers Knute Johnsgaard (Yukon Elite Squad) and Kendra Murray.
Lastly, having spent 10 years living in Ontario, working on her university degree and coaching, Sudrich is eager to return home to Whitehorse, Yukon.
In 2004, Sudrich was named to Canada’s “Top 20 Under 20” list. At 18, she was interested in a career in journalism and creative writing, and using those skills to address substance abuse among Yukon youth. She spent at least 2 1/2 years as a CBC Yukon youth correspondent while “projecting a fun, healthy, and substance free lifestyle,” and “educating the youth through her stories on drug abuse, racism, youth employment, etc,” according to the recipient description. “Many of her stories were presented at a national level.”
Growing up, she was part of the Territorial Experimental Ski Training (TEST) program and eventually the Yukon Ski Team, and worked closely with TEST founder Father Mouchet, who died last December. Sudrich wrote an article in his memory, as well as the Firth twins (when Shirley Firth passed away last May).
Looking Back
Although she thinks it the best move for her development as a coach, she’ll miss her time spent coaching at the provincial level.
Pavlina Sudrich, head coach of the Ontario Ski Team, getting some face time with Martin Johnsrud Sundby. “I hear Sundby attributed his Olympic medal to lots of training, good technique, and this kiss,” she wrote. (Photo: coach-pav.com)
“I had a really good time working with CCO — really challenging job and I learned a lot and grew a lot as a coach,” she said. “I’ll really miss the summer training camps and the long roller skis with groups of athletes. There are great places around Ontario for summer Zone-1 rollerskiing.”
Of the many highlights of her three years as OST head coach, one trip last season really stood out.
“Taking the team over to Norway last year and getting to experience Norwegian nationals was amazing!” she said. “It was great to have our athletes lining up with the likes of Petter Northug for the Team Relay!”
Committed to CCO through June 1, Sudrich will host a provincial training camp at the end of May. After that, she said she’s looking forward to the “unique opportunities the Yukon offers throughout the year, and I’m psyched to hang out with my dad back home in Whitehorse!”
Beyond that she’ll begin coaching the Whitehorse athletes in June and working towards her dream of being one of Canada’s World Cup coaches someday.
“Happiness and opportunity aren’t something you wait around for…” she wrote on her blog. “They’re something you go out and create.”
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![A provincial and national skier from Collingwood, Ontario, who went on to help found Cross Country Ontario and the Highlands Trailblazers Ski Club, Lawrence "Larry" Sinclair passed away at home on Jan. 25 at age 59 after battling cancer. (Photo: Obitsforlife.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/02/482322-54cef53407d1a-shrink-x180.jpg")
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![Pavlina Sudrich at age 18, when she was named to Canada's "Top 20 Under 20" list. http://www.top20under20.ca/en/Awards/Top%2020%20Recipient%20Bio%20and%20with%20Picture.pdf](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/05/Screen-Shot-2014-05-19-at-9.13.50-AM.png")
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