| Gogebic Community College: A
pipeline for the development of nordic
skiers on the pre-college front By Aubrey
Smith · October 28th, 2009 · 1 Comment
A racer in the Central Collegiate Ski
Association (CCSA), of which Gogebic College
Ski Team will be an associated member
A racer in the Central Collegiate Ski
Association (CCSA), of which Gogebic College
Ski Team will be an associated member
The Need:
There has been a positive gain in the
national growth of nordic skiing with the
advent of club teams for post-college
graduates. But what about the athletes on
the other side of the spectrum, those who
graduate high school and want to continue
their education but don’t feel ready yet to
ski at the NCAA level?
Some athletes may have focused more on
running, track, or soccer during high
school, and do not yet have the ski
experience to race at the college level.
Others may feel they need a couple years to
fully develop their potential in order to be
more successfully recruited - with the
possibility of a scholarship - from a
Division 1 school.
There is a broad spectrum of needs and
also huge opportunity for potential
development in this group of athletes. Eli
Brown, nordic coach at the University of
Utah, wonders if there may be more kids who
want to be on a college ski team than there
are spots available. Brown notes, “More
opportunities means a stronger pipeline.
Stronger pipeline means American Nordic
Skiing will only get better!”
There are a variety of good reasons for
implementing nordic programs at junior
colleges, but not a variety of options.
Gogebic College, the first junior college
with a fully funded nordic team, plans to
try to fulfill those needs. As Brown
suggests, “I think this should be a new
movement in the sport. In my athletic
department, almost every team recruits
athletes from junior college programs…why
shouldn’t skiing have that?”
The Man with the Vision: Will Andresen
A graduate and integral member of the
Northern Michigan University ski team, Will
Andresen moved to Ironwood sixteen years ago
with distinct memories of racing at the
Wolverine Ski Trails where the snow was
plentiful, the season long, and the terrain
diverse. Working with Community Development,
Andresen’s passion for the outdoors helped
motivate him to find ways to bring people -
especially younger people - to experience
what he calls the “nature-based outdoor
recreation niche” in the Ironwood, Michigan
region. “I’m excited about the possibilities
that this new team brings. I’m hoping that
there will be a lot of winners coming out of
this, including the skiers, the college, the
local community and the sport.”
Coach Will Andresen: “I’m excited about
the possibilities that this new team brings.
I’m hoping that there will be a lot of
winners coming out of this, including the
skiers, the college, the local community and
the sport.”
In the last couple years Andresen has
coached the community Gogebic Ski Club. He
has also been coaching high school soccer
for the past fifteen seasons and says that
he loves “working with self-motivated young
people and watching them get as close to
their potential as they can.”
So when Ironwood’s Gogebic Community
College indicated an interest in adding new
sports to their list of programs, Andresen
was excited to lobby for and become the
coach of a cross country ski team in order
to share his 37 years of skiing experience
and give back to the sport he feels has
given him so much.
Andresen’s primary motivation was, as he
says, “deeply-rooted in the desire to bring
a higher level of nordic skiing to the
Ironwood area” and to develop the sport and
the community simultaneously.
After getting the go-ahead from Gogebic
College, Andresen started talking to current
college coaches to get a feel for how the
junior college program could fit into the
ski community and was pleased to find a
great deal of support, as well as additional
reasons the program could fill a niche.
“The fact that it may become a feeder
program to four-year colleges is an
additional bonus to the skiing community.”
says Andresen, ”In talking with Sten
Fjeldheim, Northern Michigan University Ski
Team Coach, I knew that he was interested in
developing a feeder program. Many skiers
were having a hard time jumping up from high
school to a four-year college racing
experience. Sten believed that offering
skiers a year or two with lots of time on
snow and individualized coaching attention
would enable more skiers to make this leap.”
The Target:
”I’m hoping to attract skiers with a real
passion for the sport who want to reach a
new level ,” Andresen explains, adding that
because he hopes to attract out-of-state
students, he has created a ski team
scholarship to help with tuition expenses.
His primary focus right now is both getting
the word out to high schools and ski clubs
around the nation in order to attract these
skiers from outside the Ironwood region, and
also to develop local talented athletes who
have primarily been runners. Because of the
variety of athletes entering the program,
Andresen believes in a very individualized
approach when it comes to designing a
training plan, based on the background and
training experience of the athlete. His
emphasis is on building the athlete’s base
and refining technique, progressing toward
less volume and more intensity periods as
the race season nears. A high school Team
Gogebic racer
A high school Team Gogebic racer
The Program:
Gogebic will be an “associate” member of
the Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA),
allowed to compete in the region’s
collegiate races but without the chance to
qualify for NCAA’s. Andresen sees this as an
added bonus for those athletes who still
feel they need time to develop before trying
to qualify for the NCAA’s, explaining, “They
can compete in the college circuit if they
want to see how they match up. And without
the burden of trying to qualify for the
NCAA’s, they can race in regional citizen
races if they would prefer (such as the
nearby American Birkebeiner or Marquette’s
Noquemanon). Or they can do some of both.”
In December and early January the team
will compete in local races. The last two
weekends in January they will compete in
Super Tour races, and then in February they
will race in the CCSA Championships and the
NCAA Central Regional Championships.
The School: gogebic-collegepic
Gogebic Community College
Gogebic College is a two year academic
commitment, offering a wide variety of
programs and catering both toward students
who would like to enter straight into the
labor market and those who will use the
program as a stepping stone toward a
four-year university. To be eligible to
compete, athletes must be enrolled in at
least twelve credits, or three classes.
The Location:
Ironwood is situated in the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan (the U.P.). The area
hosts two excellent trail systems, the
Wolverine Ski Trails and the ABR Ski Trails,
which combine to offer a total of over 50
kilometers of trails winding through the
hills and valleys. Both provide excellent
opportunity for early-season skiing, and
often consistent and abundant snow fall. ABR
ski trails
ABR ski trails
The Bottom Line:
”My main objectives are to teach a
life-long love for the sport and to help
skiers reach their personal goals, whatever
they may be,” says Andresen, ”I’m excited
about the possibilities that this new team
brings. I’m hoping that there will be a lot
of winners coming out of this, including the
skiers, the college, the local community and
the sport.”
For more information you can check out
the Gogebic running and skiing team
brochure: Or visit the Gogebic College Ski
Team page:
http://www.gogebic.cc.mi.us/athletics/nordic.shtm
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