CXC on a mission to develop skiers of all ages

In the mid-1990s, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) reorganized and discontinued funding for four regional support groups due to a lack of financial resources. This left a void in the upper Midwest for the leadership and structure to support skier education and development.

Fortunately, in stepped the Central Cross Country Ski Association. CXC took over where USSA left off and has grown a membership base and slate of programs far greater than its predecessor organization. The seeds of CXC were sown soon after USSA discontinued its Midwest program, and it officially incorporated in 2000.

Today its development programs are open to children who have just learned to walk all the way up to the Olympic level and on to masters. Its mission is to "provide an organization which enables athletes, coaches and officials to achieve excellence in cross-country skiing through education, cooperation, communication and competition."

with its headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, CXC is the regional governing body for skier development in 12 states: North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and eastern Pennsylvania. It maintains close ties with USSA by adhering to the same goals, collaborating on programs and sharing resources.

While CXC offers programs and education for a broad spectrum of ages and abilities, CXC Executive and athletic director Yuriy Gusev says that the organization recently has been focusing on youths.

"The first step is to get kids excited about winter," Gusev says. "They need to love being outside in the snow before they can think about getting on skis. We find most kids take to skiing pretty quickly after they're introduced to the sport."

CXC often complements the efforts of local ski clubs by providing resources, clinics and training opportunities. One example is the partnership with the Minnesota Youth Ski League, which is also a great resource to many youth ski clubs throughout the Midwest. CXC provides training and development curriculum for the program. Once kids learn the fundamentals and are skiing proficiently on their own, they introduce the idea of competition to kids who are interested. CXC offers programs and services to youth and junior skiers, collegiate and elite athletes, masters and citizen skiers as well as disabled individuals. Its membership has grown from 600 to 2,000 in the past four years. It employs a wide variety of methods to interact with members: in-person training sessions and camps, ongoing coaching, online tips and information, and over the phone advice and check-ins.

More than 400 of its members are enrolled in the CXC Academy. It provides customized training programs designed by professional coaches for anyone to use, from novices through accomplished racers to coaches and instructors, with the objective of improving race times or just becoming better skiers.

The academy works with individuals on yearly and monthly training overviews, objectives and goals to create an understanding for performing specific workouts and exercises. Participants receive a plan to guide their training hours for the entire year. Each month, the program provides a sample week of daily workouts, technique and training videos, and instructions for participants to incorporate into their individual plans.

CXC boasts an experienced coaching staff, most of whom have competed at the elite level. "We're very fortunate to have a knowledgeable coaching staff," Gusev says. "They're at the heart of all we do. They each have different strengths and areas of expertise, so they complement each other very well."

Gusev himself was an accomplished high school and college racer in his native Russia and brings an extensive background in education, racing, coaching and event organizing. He established and organized the Capitol Square Sprints in 2005, now the Madison Winter Festival, in downtown Madison as part of the FIS Continental Cup SuperTour and a U.S. Olympic team qualifier.

Igor Badamshin, the organization's junior development coach, competed in the 1994 Olympics for Russia and has won the bronze World Championship medal as well as multiple top 10 World Cup finishes. The junior development program's goal is to identify talented and motivated junior cross-country racers on a continuing and consistent basis. He's typically working with 15 to 20 athletes at any given time.

Jason Cork joined in May as the elite coach for the CXC team, a group dedicated to support athletes with elite aspirations, namely those who have what it takes to represent the U.S. in World Cup, World Championship and Olympic competitions. Cork has a strong mix of experience from coaching roles at the Durango Nordic Ski Club, Michigan Tech, J1 and World Junior coaching staffs.

Cork works closely with Gus Kaeding, the elite development coach for CXC team. Kaeding has plenty of NCAA ski racing accolades under his belt from his time at Northern Michigan University. But he's best known as the guy who beat Olympian Bj?rn Daehlie to win the 2009 American Birkebeiner 52K classic event.

The full-time staff and part-time clinic instructors include other household names from the elite ski community, including Justin Easter, Everett Myers, Scott Johnston and Jason Kask.

While the U.S. has had limited success on the international racing scene over the past couple of decades, CXC is helping to change that. The stated mission of CXC team is to "close the gap between junior and senior athletes' development by providing professional world-class coaching and training venues. We believe we can be key players in the U.S. National Ski Team drive to achieve Olympic podiums by 2014 and Olympic gold by 2018 in cross-country skiing."

During the 2009-2010 season, team members earned six World Cup qualifications, two Junior World and Under 23 World championships and 45 SuperTour podiums. Garrott Kuzzy and Caitlin Compton earned spots on the U.S. Olympic team in 2010. Compton and teammate Kikkan Randall turned in the best cross-country ski performances of the Games for the U.S. when they placed sixth in the Ladies Team Sprint Free.

CXC team had strong success in the U.S. National Championships with Tad Elliott and Rebecca Dussault taking a second place, and Kuzzy and Bryan Cook earning a third-place podium spot. Dussault won a second consecutive American Birkebeiner title in the freestyle event, and Elliott placed second. In the 2009 Birkie, team members took four of the top five spots in the freestyle event, and as mentioned above, Kaeding won the classic race.

Matt Liebsch, who won the 2009 Birkie freestyle event, credits the program for getting him to the next level. "CXC has a great development program," he says. "Within their program I was taught how to train, recover, eat, sleep and ski. I've also enjoyed working with youth and master skiers around the country to share my passion and knowledge about the sport. CXC does a great job of supporting skiers at all levels. They have been an integral part of my success as a ski racer."

Gusev is expecting strong results from the CXC team in the 2010-2011 season as well. "We have a good mix of veterans along with some fresh faces," he says. "We're looking to build and develop year over year. We'll be very competitive."

He says the key to gaining more international success is grooming athletes at the junior level. "We need to win Junior Worlds or at least be very competitive at this level before we can make the podium at the Olympics. We need to start younger, be competitive earlier, develop strength and skills at younger ages. Those are the steps we're taking."

Gusev is excited about CXC's progress and momentum, and expects to build on an already strong foundation in the years ahead. In 2010, CXC further demonstrated it has the right formula for the promotion and development of the sport when it was recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee as a Community Olympic Development Program (CODP) - the only cross-country ski program and just one of eight organizations across the country that have earned that distinction across all Olympic sports.

"I am very pleased that CXC has been awarded CODP status," said John Farra, USSA's Nordic program director in a press release. "The USSA depends on strong club and regional leadership to help set the patterns of participation, training and competition that leads to Olympic success. CXC has developed into a model regional organization that is providing tremendous opportunities for skiers from within the Central Region. CXC is a great partner that is making an impact upon our sport on many levels."

What advice does Gusev have for the citizen ski racer? He offers a couple of tips. First, get involved with a local club. "Training with others helps a lot with motivation," he says. And second, follow a structured program. "You won't reach your potential if you just go out and ski. You need to work on specific things to improve."

The CXC Academy provides comprehensive, structured programs. But for those who want to develop their own Birkie training plans, Gusev stresses it should include four elements: 1.) over distance training - 2.5 to 4 hours per session; 2.) specific training - no poles, poles only for example; 3.) long intervals - 10 to 30 minutes; 4.) short intervals - 4 to 6 minutes. CXC provides Birkie training plans and videos with tips and techniques to assist citizen and master skiers through www.birkie.com, www.cxcskiing.org and www.cxcacademy.com.

The Central Cross Country Ski Association is expanding its athlete development program. Beginning in the spring of 2011, CXC will offer full support to America's top junior skiers through the addition of an elite development team. Those selected juniors will train side by side with CXC's top senior athletes throughout the year at camps held around the U.S., and will continue to work with their local clubs and coaches during the time between camps. The ultimate goal is to merge the senior and junior programs, excelling in development while maintaining the highest level of racing excellence. The programs will be coached by CXC team coach Jason Cork, coach Gus Kaeding, and junior development coach Igor Badamshin.

Currently, the CXC Junior Development Team has 15 members representing nine different ski clubs in the Midwest. Badamshin has established additional outreach programs in Wausau and Minocqua, Wisconsin, exposing over 50 junior skiers in the surrounding areas to year-round training.

Badamshin said CXC has provided over $12,000 in scholarships to offset training camp and coaching expenses to committed, talented athletes. Starting this spring, CXC will cover the entire cost of training, coaching, camps and racing expenses for qualifying athletes associated with the CXC Elite Development Team. CXC will encourage club and school coaches of participating athletes to attend training camps and bring along their top athletes. CXC will subsidize the coach's expenses during these training camps.

This year CXC is making a commitment to fully support two juniors to compete at the U.S. National Championships in Rumford, Maine. These two athletes qualified to receive this support by showing outstanding performance last season at the Junior World Championships and Junior Olympics (JO).

Tentative qualification criteria to receive full junior development team support from CXC:

??J2: Top 3 finish at JO.

??J1: Top 3 finish at JO or top 10 finish at J1 Scando Trip.

??JO: Top 30 finish at Junior World Championships.

Up to three athletes per gender will be accepted into the CXC Junior Development Team. The program will continue to be open to juniors that do not qualify for the elite development team by utilizing the current criteria and program fee structure.