November 28, 2012 – The National Nordic Foundation raised $218,000 from 1,300 donors to support our developing Cross-Country and Nordic Combined athletes. Seeing what our American Nordic community can do when we work together is truly amazing, humbling, and inspiring. We are so fortunate to have you as a part of it. In the coming weeks we will be announcing our funding for the 2012/2013 season. Stay tuned…. But you prepaid for this!

“The current US Team World Cup success is a product of the team work and cooperation between US Ski Team, Clubs, and NNF. Together we are strongest as a team.” – Erik Flora

Thank you all.

Top 10 D25 States by Dollar
– Idaho $42,552
– Colorado $26,320
– Minnesota $15,690
– Utah $10,990
– Alaska $8,134
– Vermont $6,655
– Wisconsin $6,060
– Washington $5,520
– New York $4,440
– Pennsylvania $4,325

Top 10 D25 States by number of donors
– Colorado 244
– Utah 127
– Minnesota 125
– Vermont 113
– Alaska 105
– Wisconsin 77
– New York 57
– Washington 53
– Idaho 52
– Massachusetts 52

April 23, 2012 – NENSA is pleased to announce Justin Beckwith as our 2012 New England Coach of the Year! Justin has been quietly managing the Green Mountain Valley School Nordic Program for several years now. He has coached GMVS athletes through successful junior careers and instills a love of skiing and outdoor adventure into them as well. A world class athlete himself, he knows what it takes to be a student of the sport and his program ensures that there is enough of a challenge intermixed with plenty of fun!

Justin wrote via email: “I’ve been really lucky to work with an impressive group of skiers over the past six years here in Waitsfield. My goal as a coach is to make all around skiers and expose kids to adventures that create a passion for sport and competition. Pursuing your dreams as a ski racer is an ultimate adventure and it is inspiring to help kids follow that path. It has been awesome to watch our alums continue to ski and improve in college and beyond.

We’ve had five Junior National Champs and three athletes placed on the J1 Team since I’ve been at the Green Mountain Valley School. We are really excited about our summer training programs with athletes like Tim Reynolds, David Sinclair, Dylan Grald and Heidi Halvorsen leading guests from throughout New England.”

Justin has been coaching at GMVS for 6 years, was J1 Scando trip leader in 2009, World Junior Coach in 2012 and the New England Team Wax Tech 2009-2012. For four straight years in a row, Justin has also managed the production of 55- 65 pairs of skis per race at Junior Nationals- this is no easy feat to keep the New England train rolling! His calmness through the inevitable storms of wax testing and making the right calls, consistently put out the best skis on the best skiers day in and day out during a busy week.

Through all of this he stresses the team effort to make New England such a great ski community. In true spirit, Justin recaps his season on a recent blog post:

“Thanks for helping make this winter a success for New England– the enthusiasm of the Nordic Community in our region overshadowed any lack of snow. It was a huge year of successes for Eastern Skiers from the BKL level, at Junior Nationals and NCAA’s. I’m proud to be a part of this energy and I look forward to collaborating with many of you in the future.”

We congratulate Justin and wish him much success as he continues to educate and challenge his skiers to even more success in the future.

Coach of the year award history
– 2012 – Justin Beckwith
– 2011 – Sverre Caldwell
– 2010 – Pepa Milochoeva
– 2009 – Matt Boobar
– 2008 – Eileen Carey
– 2007 – Rob Bradlee

Donations Double-Matched – $10,000 Bonus
Another donor has stepped in to add to the challenge we announced on Friday. Instead of being matched $1 to $1, all donations to the Annual Fund are now matched with $2 for every $1 donated.

Your $10 donation becomes $30 to NENSA… your $50 donation becomes $150… And if we meet the $5,000 match (we’ve raised $2,005 toward it so far) then the new donor will also give a $10,000 bonus to the annual fund. Please be part of helping us reach this goal and earn this very important contribution to NENSA. I can’t think of a better way for our members to welcome our new Executive Director than with the energy and momentum that a successful annual fund can provide. And successfully meeting this match will mean that we’ll surpass our Annual Fund goal and have an opportunity, like last year, for our Board of Directors to designate even more funding to some of your favorite programs like the Athlete Fund and Skis for Kids.

So, please take advantage of the match today! Every dollar becomes three! How often do we have an opportunity like this?

Please donate today and help spread the word to your friends; we NEED your help to meet this challenge! And donating online will take just 5 minutes. Please help us reach the goal and continue to bring wonderful winter memories to New England families.

Click HERE to Donate.

December 28, 2011 (Minocqua, WI) – A couple from Minocqua, WI bought over 3,200 acres of land near their home and donated it to the Northwoods Land Trust with the goal of preserving the land for recreational use reports myFOXwausau.com. The couple has a long family history of recreating on the land from biking and hiking, to cross-country skiing – read the full article HERE.

November 15, 2011 – Today is a very big day for us as we assemble all American cross country ski enthusiasts to stand up together to support our developing skiers. Please join us by making a contribution to the National Nordic Foundation.

Why? Today is about building our base of XC fans in the U.S. and showing our collective support by funding opportunities so our developing athletes can learn to race in Europe against the best in the world. The U.S. has improved from a nation that seldom put a single skier in the top-15 on the World Cup to a nation with Continental Cup, U23, World Cup and World Championship podiums. Yet as a nation, our developing athletes still struggle to afford the racing opportunities required to compete among the best. That, and because you’ll be supporting cross country skiers. The world needs more of them.

Donate HERE. Check back often to see our progress. Once you have donated the program will automatically generate a tax-deductible receipt. While donating, please fill out the comment box and also hit the “like” button to show your support. If you are uncomfortable with online donations, please mail a check to:

National Nordic Foundation
32 West 200 South #149
Salt Lake City 84101

How Much? Whether you can donate $25 or $100, 100% of your money will support over 40 elite U.S. development athletes age 15-28 this winter on racing trips in Europe. Please do what you can. Today is more about developing the total number of XC supporters in the U.S.

We hope you will continue to follow our skiers and support our nation’s pursuit of Olympic cross country success. You may follow these trips this winter at www.nccsef.org. This site is updated weekly with photos and motivating thoughts from the road.

Thank you for your role in XC development. The Drive for 25 is now! Spread the word.

September 29, 2011 (Waterville, ME) – Major donations from Colby College and the Harold Alfond Foundation will help make Quarry Road Recreation Area one of the best of its kind in the northeast. More than $915,000 has been raised in private money for the project, with about a third of the contributions coming from Colby College. Highlights include: a 5K FIS D-homologated loop ready for this winter, $385K invested in snowmaking system ready for winter 2013, and more. Check out the full article from the Waterville Morning Sentinel HERE.

September 27, 2011 (Salt Lake City, Idaho) – Peter and Bonni Curran, of Ketchum/Sun Valley Idaho, have made a generous donation of $14,000 to the National Nordic Foundation’s 2011 Cross Country Pillar Projects to help tomorrow’s stars today.

Peter Curran states, “Both Bonni and I are ardent Nordic skiing enthusiasts as well as believers in the power of sport to affect lifestyles in a strongly positive manner at any age. We would love to see Nordic skiing grow in popularity in the US and hope that by supporting young US racers we can not only make an impact on their lives but also increase the visibility and popularity of the sport in our country.”

National Nordic Foundation Director David Knoop is extremely thankful for Peter and Bonni’s benevolence and vision. Knoop states “We are extremely grateful to Peter and Bonni for their generous donation of $14,000. The vision they have for Nordic skiing’s potential to positively impact young skier’s lives while simultaneously promoting healthy lifestyles nationwide inspires us all to do more. This type of funding has a direct impact on our athlete’s financial needs and the progression of the sport in the US.

The Curran’s “gold level” contribution comes alongside over 100 individual “social level” contributions made through the National Nordic Foundation social donation platform by Nordic enthusiasts nationwide in September alone. Together these efforts have thus far garnered over $30,000 in donations that will be invested in the NNF’s Cross Country or Nordic Combined Pillar Projects.

Support Tomorrow’s Stars Today
The National Nordic Foundation exists to help America’s young, dedicated, and driven Nordic talent realize their, and America’s, long term potential in sport and in life. The biggest hurdle facing American Nordic racers is gaining consistent access to international quality coaching, training, and racing experiences from ages 15 through 25. Providing future generations of U.S. Nordic athletes earned access to a progression of international quality competitive experiences, and there life enriching lessons, represents this nation’s greatest Nordic development opportunity and funding need. The National Nordic Foundation exists to fulfill this need. Please donate to the National Nordic Foundation and support tomorrow’s stars today as their quest for athletic accomplishment on the trails prepares them to achieve their potential in life while inspiring others to do the same.

Please donate $10 or $1000 and lend your name to the cause HERE now!