April 19, 2014 (Canmore, Alta.) – Cross Country Canada (CCC) is denying reports that head coach Justin Wadsworth has been replaced by Norway’s Tor Arne Hetland but changes are imminent. One significant move that is confirmed is the departure of women’s coach Eric De Nys to the Winsport junior cross-country ski team. With Chandra Crawford now retired as well the women’s team has even more ground to cover.

Le Journal de Quebec first leaked the alleged changes at the top on April 14 reporting that Hetland had been hired to head up the National Ski Team, but Wadsworth said no staffing decisions have been made and meetings will continue until the end of the month. Hetland is a former coach with the Swiss National team and did not renew his contract this past spring.

The Journal article quotes top Canadian xc skier Alex Harvey extensively on the pending changes also referencing changes to the team’s waxing department with the loss of wax tech Sasha Bergeron for personal family reasons. It’s no secret that the team has suffered from bad skis on several occasions affecting Harvey’s and other team members’ performances.

Apparently Italian Fabio Ghasifi is being considered to replace Bergeron while two skiers, Graham MacLean and Lee Churchill who are similar in stature to Harvey, may be coming on board to help test skis and improve final wax decisions and hopefully race outcomes. Harvey has since left for Hawaii on holidays and was unavailable for comment.

As for Wadsworth he did say he’d like to be in Canmore more often this year, and we’re likely too see Canmore-based world cup men’s athletes Ivan Babikov, Devon Kershaw and Len Valjas train alongside the Alberta World Cup Academy senior development team.

“Personally, I’d like to travel less. As for the structure, working with the development team athletes and coaches is a way we can improve our development hopes for the future. I hope I can still do that,” continued Wadsworth.

He also said senior development athletes could get more OPA Cup starts next season, but may have to pay their own way as budget cuts have hit CCC to the tune of 20 to 30 per cent.

Although he could not confirm any details, Wadsworth said change is coming.

“Change is always good. There will be some changes and we’re moving into an atmosphere of working together with the provincial teams and clubs. I put out the challenge to look beyond personal coaches and work as a whole,” added Wadsworth.

We also tried to contact Tom Holland, CCC High Performance Director, for more details on the situation but as yet he has not been reached for comment.