SSA Alpine National Skills Assessment underway

Lead by SSA Alpine Co-ordinator Shawn Fleming, more than 35 children and young adults participated in the SSA Alpine National Skills Assessment at Perisher over the weekend of June 22 and 23.

The U10, U12 and U14 age groups went through their paces on the Saturday while the U16 and FIS athletes hit the slopes the following day.

The specialty alpine program was structured for training members of Perisher Winter Sports Club (Perisher WSC) and included a series of drills, movement prep, free skiing and talks about the importance of skill development.

Perisher WSC Head Coach, Christian Geiger, along with Perisher WSC alpine coaches Bobbi Kelly, Charlee Kelly and Francis Do, managed skill sets including hop turns, one ski skiing and leapers.

Australian National Alpine team member, Henry Heaydon, was on hand to demonstrate skills and talk about his current training and racing schedule.

Shawn Fleming explained: "We start the season off with these guys and bring to the forefront their skills. It is for the athletes to try and develop themselves into better skiers throughout the season. Some athletes may aspire to become better competitors at interschools while others may have dreams of Worlds Cup in their future. We want to provide opportunity for all athletes through the various stages of their progression. In a nutshell, we want to help create better skiers and better skiers can become faster ski racers”.

Results will be given to club coaches and they can sit with their athletes and use the assessments to help build an athlete plan for the season. Bringing the process in-house also helps to upskill coaches. It’s an ongoing process where the club can do further testing and assessment with their athletes when it suits them and they can include the process into their daily training sessions.

A skills assessment session will be held for athletes from Thredbo Ski Racing Club and the Thredbo Mountain Academy next weekend June 29 and 30 and the Victorian resorts will follow.