Section 8 Award Winners 2006-2007
Coach of the Year: Mark Walters (Bemidji)
Mark has only been coaching for four years. This is the second year in a row that he has been nominated. In the last four years he has built the team up from 26 to 46 skiers. The program is becoming more popular among the kids because they know that Mark’s philosophy is “team is number one on the priority list.” He professes an idea that this sport is a lifetime activity, and that what we give the athletes is a great foundation and hopefully, a reason to continue to ski after high school, into college, and he rest of their lives. His boys have been the Section 8 champions for the last two years, and his girls are enjoying a second place finish this year.
Personally, Mark has been a ski racer for 25 years, has taught many clinics on skiing, and has been involved on various levels promoting Nordic skiing. He is a board member of the Minnesota Finlandia, board member of the local ski club, teaches classes in community educations, and runs a youth ski league and summer clinics.
The other coaches of Section 8 feel that Mark has a kind and helpful demeanor, is very knowledgeable and has a great relationship with his athletes, both male and female. In a short amount of time he has developed a great program with strong athletes. He sets a great example for his colleagues and skiers.
Coach of the Year: Tess Drotts (Deer River)
Tess Drotts began skiing as a 9th grader, skied all the way throughout high school, and made it through one year in college. Once she began a family, she took a twenty - year break from Nordic skiing, did not go skiing once! When her oldest child entered 7th grade, she decided to bring Nordic skiing back into the family, and got him started. Soon thereafter, a coaching position opened up in the same town in which she skied now coaches. With the help of Robin Baker, Tess has gone through a three - year battle and journey to bring back a sport she loves. She wanted to bring back and rejuvenate the little dying team at Deer River. At the end of her first season, Tess only had six kids out for skiing, plus the school board was threatening to end the program because of a lack in numbers and funding. At the end of the second season, Tess had developed a parent support group that would not take “no” for an answer and was able to build the program to twelve skiers. Tess and the skiers did some hard recruiting before her third season, and is now skiing with twenty-five kids this year.
Tess, Robin, the skiers and the parents have spent this last season doing a lot of fund raising in order to purchase new warm-ups, capes, and much needed equipment. The kids feel proud in their new gear and they all stick together as a cohesive unit, always cheering for each other and other teams. This year the entire team skied at the Section 8 meet regardless of their ability. Tess wanted this young team to watch, learn, wish for, and work at becoming a strong team for the future, especially since her oldest skier is a 10th grader.
Tess will do whatever it takes to promote a love for Nordic skiing in order to keep her new and young program growing, prospering, and succeeding. Tess’ goal is to put little Deer River back on the map and become known as a Nordic skiing school.
Assistant Coach of the Year: Robin Baker (Deer River)
No matter where you go in the Nordic skiing world, it’s easy to run into someone who knows Robin Baker. With more than 20 years of coaching experience, he has guided many young skiers, and has done a great deal to instill love of the sport within the hearts of anyone he meets. For may years, he has donated a great deal of time practicing with his local team, finding equipment so that everyone can ski, fixes broken equipment daily, waxes skis for two straight days before a race, grooms the local trails, attends ski meetings, and simply does anything possible to keep skiing alive in his community. When a high school skier needs different skis, boots, or poles, he will simply hand over his own personal equipment so that the skier has better equipment on which to race. He does all of this out of the goodness of his heart, not wanting praise, a salary, nor recognition. He is a definite asset to the Nordic skiing community.
Other coaches in Section 8 love being around Robin because he is fun, caring, and very knowledgeable. Robin is very inviting, accommodating, and loves sharing Blueberry Hills, which he grooms and takes care of. He welcomes every team and individual who wants to train or race there. The other coaches also see that Robin is concerned and cares about all the kids at a race, not just the ones in his program.
Volunteer of the Year: Jay Richards (Maplelag)
Jay does a great deal to help out the Nordic ski community year in and year out. He puts in countless hours of work into the ski trails at Maplelag so that they are in amazing condition. Jay is working nonstop from the breaking of the new trails to maintaining existing ones during the summer and the fall, all the way up to the very first snowfall of the winter. Every coach and guest of Maplelag knows the Jay can make his trails skiable with a minimal amount of snow. In such years as this one when we had very little snow and adverse weather, Jay and his staff from Maplelag were able to open a skiable trail in early December, and maintain a skiable course throughout the high school Nordic season by shoveling snow from ponds, parking lots, and out of the woods onto the trails. When other areas of the state had very little snow for races, Jay and Maplelag were always willing to help out by co-hosting ski meets, grooming trails, opening up their facility, and providing extra trails for skiers on which to train.
Jay saved Section 8 by allowing us to hold our section meet at Maplelag at the last minute. He facilitated our needs by creating two separate courses that were perfectly groomed, arranged for lunches to be made for parents, and opened up the Maplelag conference room for the award ceremony. We could not have had a successful Section 8 meet without the help of Jay and his crew.
Jay has always been an important resource when it comes to skiing. Jay has helped the kids in the area by providing trail passes and ski rentals at free or reduced prices. This has helped boost the kid’s Nordic skiing interest by allowing them to try, experience, and enjoy the sport for little to nothing. Jay has helped the Detroit Lake ski team with equipment needs, his expertise and knowledge for several years. When it comes to high school Nordic skiing, Jay has always been there for every coach, helping them with their racing needs, training questions, equipment concerns and groomed trails.
Jay’s dedication to high school Nordic skiing and his incredible attention to detail with the grooming of Maplelag has made what seemed to be an impossible season, a success.