Lara Hamilton At the start of February 2013 Skike Australia was approached via our website by James Hamilton who enquired about skikes. James along with other Wenona girls school (in Sydney) parents Richard Logan, Ben Stoner and Anne Hemmings had decided that they would in conjunction with the school, establish a cross country ski team for the school. They formed a training squad, met with us in Sydney and purchased skike equipment and they sought and employed a coach. The result was that Wenona qualified 7 girls from an 8 girl team to the 2013 National Interschool Cross Country skiing Championships. The team was comprised of girls from years 6 to 10. For some 2013 was their first season trying XC skiing. In the Nationals their best result was the Division 3 relay which came a close 4th. When we asked James this week he told us that:
"We trained once a week last year using skikes on a large netball court complex with surrounding bike trails. This allowed younger children to get comfortable on the skikes on a flat area for technique training before venturing onto gentle paths. Most children do not use rollerskis as they are still growing and their parents are reticent to buy expensive XC ski boots at this stage. The skikes are less likely to stop on a stick or stone as well due to their pump up tires. We have just started dry land training again in 2014 with 9 girls so far. D’Arcy Baxter is coaching the girls with parent back up. The Sunday dry land training is a 1.5 hour mix of hill bounding, some exercises, some running and skiking. Some of the girls are also doing road running with the schools cross country group as well. The aim is to keep training fun and inclusive. All the girls do other school sports. We hope to progress some of the girls to train with skikes on a 2 km traffic free track with some hills in a few months."
The Wenona team also achieved another success recently with Lara Hamilton being announced as the winner of an Australian Sports Commission scholarship. The following article is about that announcement http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/north-shore/lara-hamilton-scores-asc-grant/story-fngr8ih3-1226836707675
Congratulations to Lara, the Wenona XC ski team girls and the support provided by the coaches, parents, family and school. We are really pleased to see your initial successes and look forward to observing as you continue to progress.
"We trained once a week last year using skikes on a large netball court complex with surrounding bike trails. This allowed younger children to get comfortable on the skikes on a flat area for technique training before venturing onto gentle paths. Most children do not use rollerskis as they are still growing and their parents are reticent to buy expensive XC ski boots at this stage. The skikes are less likely to stop on a stick or stone as well due to their pump up tires. We have just started dry land training again in 2014 with 9 girls so far. D’Arcy Baxter is coaching the girls with parent back up. The Sunday dry land training is a 1.5 hour mix of hill bounding, some exercises, some running and skiking. Some of the girls are also doing road running with the schools cross country group as well. The aim is to keep training fun and inclusive. All the girls do other school sports. We hope to progress some of the girls to train with skikes on a 2 km traffic free track with some hills in a few months."
The Wenona team also achieved another success recently with Lara Hamilton being announced as the winner of an Australian Sports Commission scholarship. The following article is about that announcement http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/north-shore/lara-hamilton-scores-asc-grant/story-fngr8ih3-1226836707675
Congratulations to Lara, the Wenona XC ski team girls and the support provided by the coaches, parents, family and school. We are really pleased to see your initial successes and look forward to observing as you continue to progress.