With a growing club and limited tram occupation, not every parent or volunteer can witness a weekend morning warm-up. We shadowed Makyla, one of our U10 coaches, to see what her warm-up includes. We hope this post will allow parents who cannot watch their kids’ group, have a better insight into what a warm-up entails. Here’s what we gathered from Makyla…

Upon arrival at the top of Grouse, the group will make its way to the cabin. At the cabin, bags will be left at a designated spot chosen by the group’s coach. Once the team bags are dropped off, we make our way to a flat ridge near the magic carpet. At our usual spot, the following routine followed:

1. Circle warm-up: During our circle warm-up, we’ll do a toe-to-head warm-up. This includes exercises like knee circles, hip rotations, arm circles, squats, tuck jumps and so forth. We do this to open up our bodies and start getting warm, both to prevent injury. Oftentimes the coach will ask each athlete a question, as we do the warm-up, or have athletes introduce themselves to one another. The circle position allows us to be attentive and speak with one another in a flowing way. This is also when I take a last look at attendance; make sure each teammate knows one another.
2. Game: To ignite some team spirit, we’ll play a game of duck-duck-goose or have a relay race. I’ll set up a quick course with our poles; then, we’ll split into two groups. I’ve noticed that having a team game in the morning helps break talking barriers while also cultivating friendships, daily team conversations and an overall team spirit that carries throughout the year.
3. Training outlook: Once we finish our game, I’ll get the athletes to pop their skis on and make a circle. At this point, I’ll take them through our daily schedule by stating what time breaks will be, what we’ll be doing in the course, and what my safety expectations and rules are. I’ll also run through our goals for the day and allow the athletes to pose any questions they may have.
4. Skiing: We’ll make our way to the Greenway chair and do various runs that include no-poles, one-ski skiing, and follow the leader. Greenway is my first choice as it allows the kids to get comfortable on their skis within a safe environment and easy terrain. After this, we’ll make our way to the Cut and slowly build upon concrete exercises within five or six runs. After we receive a green-light from Vlad for the course, we'll make our way over to Expo or Centennial to inspect.