June 27, 2008 (Middleton, Wisc.) – In an effort to help define their sport for the future, the women’s U.S. Ski Jumping Team, in conjunction with Wisconsin’s Black Hawk Ski Club, recently spent five days coaching a group of 31 up-and-coming female ski jumping athletes.

“We did a jumping camp where Brenna Ellis, Alyssa Johnson, Abby Hughes [all Park City, UT] and I did all the coaching,” Lindsey Van (Park City, UT) said. “It was really cool because it was so many young girls interested in the sport and we could actually support the grassroots program. In jumping it’s good to have a camp with that many women.”

During the five days of instruction, the women worked on technique, tactic and spent time on the first jump in the U.S. to be outfitted with plastic, which serves as a substitute for snow and enables athletes to jump year-round.

“I didn’t know the history of the hills till I got there, but I thought it was cool to be jumping on the first hills that had plastic and to bring the camp there,” Van said. “Ski jumping in the summer gives you five extra months to train because of the plastic on the jumps.”

Hughes said that having a variety of girls from the national team there to help coach was a benefit for the women attending the camp. “I think for every athlete there are different things that will click when you hear them from different people,” Hughes.

According to Van, the group of women at the camp left with improved skills, which added to her love of coaching, in addition to competing in ski jumping. “I saw all of the older girls improve during the camp so I was happy to see them come along,” Van said. “I like coaching. I like the reward of helping people change and make that big breakthrough.”

The women’s ski jumping team now heads to Lake Placid, NY for a summer jumping camp.