The Eastern Cup finishes up with a skate sprint on Saturday, February 24th and a classic distance race on Sunday, February 25th.
The first day of the VPA State Championship is on Tuesday, February 27th, meaning a quick turnaround between race efforts. This is especially true for U18/U20 athletes who are racing a 15km distance on Sunday (U16 athletes race a 5km).
Regarding those competing for both MNC and their HS teams, there have naturally been some questions from athletes and coaches alike about what the best course of action may be.
I don’t believe there is one answer, or set of standards, that can easily be proclaimed.
While qualification for Junior Nationals looms over a lot of the Eastern Cup, these races do not solely exist to select that team. Eastern Cup races are a big undertaking, but they teach many valuable skills that skiers can carry forward throughout their careers and lives:
- Going to new venues, including managing travel days and lifestyles “on the road”
- Competing against a wider breadth of peers
- Experiencing new race types such as sprint qualifiers + heats, large mass start fields, and more
- Spending time with teammates from beyond your own HS team/school
- Racing potentially longer distances, which will become more routine as skiers grow older
So while yes, the Junior National team is primarily chosen based off EC performances, this broad and diverse series of races should not be viewed as a black-and-white qualification format, but rather a development opportunity for all.
These races are some of the only moments in the winter season where MNC is truly all together, in one place, with common goals right in front of us. Do I wish we could spend more time together outside of race days? Absolutely! But our schedules are varied, and it can be hard to find everyone in the same place during the week.
It’s really exciting that NENSA has begun calculating team scores for these races, as it provides another way to look at collective efforts and successes beyond simply team namings. While the scores were not (yet) calculated for Lake Placid, MNC as a club has won the first and third Eastern Cups! Being the strongest team in New England does not simple come from Junior National athletes, and I’m very proud of everyone for what they’ve been able to do on the race trail.
“But you haven’t answered the question yet…should I race at Holderness or not??”
This will always be an athlete’s decision, not a coaches. The Eastern Cup is a voluntary endeavor: we do not register athletes or cover entry fees…everyone has raced the previous Eastern Cups because they want to be there (or at least I hope so!) and this final weekend is no different.
My hope is that athletes will consider racing on both Saturday and Sunday if they feel excited to, if they feel it will help them grow as a skier, and if they feel motivated to contribute to what we can accomplish as a club. If an athlete chooses not to race, there are no hard feelings, and as a coach I respect and understand the decision to balance energy/focus/stress/commitments to other teams.
My other hope is that, if an athlete chooses not to race on Sunday, they will still be present to get in a nice easy ski on some beautiful courses and cheer on the MNC gang that is racing! We will have a team dinner on Saturday night (see below) and what looks like a beautiful forecast for plenty of snow…so I encourage you to still be AT both race days even if you may not be competing.
There’s a key thru-line to this whole thought process…
While we’re competing in an individual sport, it’s really not that individual of an endeavor. You don’t have to rely or show utter loyalty to one team or another, and your “team” may be more than just a suit you wear or school/organization you represent. Your family is a type of team, for example. Your closest friends may be a “team-within-a-team” and there can be many overlaps.
Team Dinner on Saturday after the Holderness Sprints
As alluded to earlier, we don’t always get to spend lots of time together as MNC off the snow during the season. For this final Eastern Cup weekend, we’ve put together a team dinner which we hope can help bring athletes and families a little closer. While we probably should’ve done this at the first Eastern Cup and not just the last one (or maybe every Eastern Cup??) the hope is to let loose a little bit, enjoy the company of our families and friends, and have a good time!
We have rented-out a whole event space at the Lucky Dog Tavern in Plymouth, NH just a few minutes from Holderness. You can find more information, and RSVP, at the link below.
PLEASE RSVP BY MONDAY, 2/19 SO THAT WE CAN GET AN ESTIMATED HEAD COUNT TO THE RESTAURANT FOR CATERING! PARENTS AND FRIENDS ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND.
We’ll have dinner, a chance to play some games, maybe watch a video or two and hear from coaches, and also share some MNC cheering supplies to be put into action the next day!
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