May 5, 2006 – More than 50 of Canada’s top alpine ski coaches helped to make the inaugural Coaches Summit a huge success by participating in a variety of seminars dedicated to professional development and an increased access to information.

Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA) and the Canadian Ski Coaches Federation (CSCF) joined forces to host the four day “Coaches Summit” which was held in Calgary, AB from Apr. 29th to May 2nd.

“The event was a tremendous success,” said ACA Alpine Director Dusan Grasic. “It was an opportunity for coaches at different levels in Canada to expand the lines of communication and learn from each other. We’re very pleased with the number of coaches that attended and the type of discussion that was generated.”

Some highlights of the event included a discipline training and gaze control seminar by Dr. Joan Vickers, a speed and slalom development seminar by national women’s World Cup speed coach Rob Boyd and national men’s World Cup technical coach Marc Gagnon as well as a surprise seminar by nine-time World Cup medalist and two-time World Cup champion Thomas Grandi.

“By developing a closer working relationship between the national team and their provincial counterparts through events like this summit, we continue make tremendous strides in our ultimate goal of developing a ski racing system that is sustainable and successful,” said ACA Director of National Programs Julie Lemieux.

“ACA is determined to work with the Canadian Ski Coaches Federation, provincial sport organization leaders and the leaders of Canada’s ski clubs to put coaching education on the top of our priority list,” said Lemieux.

Peter Goodman, managing director of the Canadian Ski Coaches Federation, said he was also pleased that the objectives outlined for the summit had been met.

“We identified that improving the accessibility to professional development and communication between the various coaching levels was a major priority. We’re trying to develop a system where critical and new information flows as easily as possible to the important coaches at all levels,” said Goodman.

ACA and CSCF would also like to gratefully acknowledge Carlsberg and Canada Olympic Park for their generous support of the event.

Canadian ski coaches from the World Cup, Provincial, National Development and Dryland Training level as well as Technical Directors, Entry Level experts and Club Coaches were invited to attend the first annual Coaches Summit.