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Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup a winning tradition

More than 300 youths representing 20 nations at annual event Over the past 11 years, the Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup has given juvenile ski racers from dozens of countries an opportunity to test themselves against the top skiers from around the worl

More than 300 youths representing 20 nations at annual event

Over the past 11 years, the Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup has given juvenile ski racers from dozens of countries an opportunity to test themselves against the top skiers from around the world.

Athletes and coaches are now counting down to the 12 th annual event, as the Whistler Mountain Ski Club prepares to host approximately 240 skiers from across Canada and another 100 skiers from up to 20 other nations. The Canadian athletes will represent their provinces, although the top racers from provincial and national championships will form Team Canada.

For the WMSC, the experience is more valuable than the results, although the club and athletes are always excited when they finish well.

"It has a big impact on these kids when they see they can race with anybody," said Nigel Cooper, program director for the WMSC. "Not just the top kids, but also the kids in the middle who are just looking to surprise themselves.

"We don’t want to put a lot of pressure on them, especially kids aged 11 and 12 because they all have different peak goals going into a season. Some of them want to peak at the provincials or nationals, and others just want to do better than they have in other years.

"I do think they are looking forward to this event, because it’s ours and they want to do well at home with their families and friends and teammates around, and our skiers surprise us every year. But this is more than a race for us, it’s our event and we want the event to go well more than anything.

"In a way that’s not fair because the kids have so much going on that week they can’t concentrate on the racing as much as they would like to, but podium finishes aren’t a priority for us. Good results are just a nice bonus."

The Whistler Cup experience has paid off for many of the athletes. Olympic and World Cup stars like Ivica and Janica Kostelic of Croatia, Austrian’s Nicole Hosp and Benjamin Raich, Italy’s Karen Putzer, and more have all competed in the Whistler Cup.

Many of Canada’s own World Cup stars, including Britt Janyk, Michael Janyk, Genevieve Simard, Allison Forsyth, Emily Brydon, Erik Guay, Julien Cousineau, Jean-Philippe Roy and Christina Risler are Whistler Cup veterans.

Other Whistler Cup veterans have taken different paths, such as Ben Thornhill who helped to lead the Utah Utes first division ski team to a national championship, and Ashleigh McIvor who is one of the top skier cross racers in the world.

From the beginning the goal has been to provide Canadian juvenile racers aged 11 to 14 with an opportunity to race against other skiers of the same age from other nations, testing their abilities while inspiring them to aim high with their skiing and their lives.

"For the best kids and other kids that are not necessarily on the podium all the time, it’s a defining moment," said Cooper. "Some of the kids come out of this with the desire to travel more, or to ski race more, or to learn a new language, or to make a friend in another country – that’s an important piece of the program as well."

Some of the different countries competing in Whistler include the U.S., Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Croatia, Sweden, Norway, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

As in other years, the WMSC is looking for volunteers from the community to help with the staging of the races and social events. Translators that can help the club communicate with visiting teams are also needed.

"This is a massive undertaking for the WMSC. I was at (Trofeo) Topolino this year for the juvenile races in Italy that (the Whistler Cup) was modeled after, and I was amazed at the way the whole community gets behind those races. People would be interested to know that they speak very highly of the Whistler Cup over there, and take it very seriously.

"We have strong support in our community as well, and we get huge support from our sponsors at Sierra Wireless and Whistler-Blackcomb," said Cooper.

This is the first year that Sierra Wireless has been the headline sponsor of the Whistler Cup since coming on board two years ago. Air Canada, which sponsored the races from the beginning, was forced to drop its support after the 2003 races as the airline faced financial troubles.

One of Air Canada’s contributions to the race was to provide free flights to Canada for the top athletes from the Trofeo Topolino races at Pinzolo, Italy. Although that support is now gone, most of the top European athletes have confirmed that they will be coming anyway said Cooper, which he says is a testament to the strength of the event.

"It was too bad to lose that sponsorship, because it was a good way to support the young athletes, by helping them reduce their travel costs getting here," Cooper said. "That said, I think that another sponsorship could take its place. This event has a good reputation around the world, it’s bigger than we think, and this is a relatively inexpensive way for an airline to make a difference for these athletes."

The Whistler Cup and the Trofeo Topolino racers are currently the only international juvenile events in the world. There are super G, giant slalom and slalom races for K2 athletes and a giant slalom and slalom for the K1s. K1s are 11 and 12 years old and K2s are12 and13.

The top Canadian K2s are presented with awards at the end of the competition. The Nancy Greene Trophy goes to Canada’s top female and the Dave Murray Trophy goes to the top male.

If you wish to volunteer for this event, contact the Whistler Mountain Ski Club at 604-932-4464.