Introduction The Club has a long, distinguished and successful record in training young racers for success at all levels of ski racing on both the artificial (plastic) and snow. We have been the most successful club in the country with many of our trainees reaching the British teams. Maintaining this record and our reputation as the best junior racing club in Britain has become more difficult in recent years with the rapid expansion of artificial slopes and the consequent increase in numbers of clubs and racers. However, in 1999 Sandown started to organise its own snow camps which enabled our coach to oversee the training on both the artificial and snow. The first season of racing proved this to be the right decision with the highest number of children from the club selected to the British Children's Team and with four children selected to the top race 'Topolino' in Italy where we achieved amazing results. Since that time Sandown has always had significant reprersentation on the British Children's, Junior and Senior Teams. The fact that this has all been achieved is a result of the slope and facilities being made available to the club; the hard work and skill of our large training team headed by our coach Kevin Blanks and the time devoted to the club by the parents. Finally, of course, the children themselves for their enthusiasm and dedication to a sport which can involve a lot of travel and time off school with the consequent catching up of school work!

New Parent and Trialist Information The purpose of this note is to explain to parents of new members the objectives of the club and to give them a general outline of the various stages of development that they should be considering for their child. This can only be an outline as each trainee's progress will inevitably be different and it is important that you speak to the coaches about your child's progress. Any member of the club can help you if you would like details on the administration of skiing as a sport. The simple objective of the club is to produce ski racers, who will eventually be selected to the British teams. Also the future of the sport relies on trainers and coaches, and many of our trainees have decided to follow this route. Because we cannot ski on snow in the South of England much of the training and racing takes place on artificial slopes, but the primary purpose is to produce snow ski racers and this is what the club is all about. Our coaching is totally geared to achievement on snow, so members are expected to attend some of the snow training camps during the year and take part in the national races just after Christmas and at Easter. Once your child has been accepted for club membership he or she needs to be registered with the English Ski Council. Phone 0121 501 2314 for a registration form. This includes Minis as well as the older children. The ESC organises artificial races and snow races in the Alps at Easter. All ski racers, like horses, are considered to have their birthday on 1 January. So if a 12th birthday fell on, say, 1 December, as far as skiing is concerned the racer was 12 on 1st January that same year. The notional age on the 1 January of each year determines the race category for each year. The Categories are: Under 12 on 1 January Mini Year a trainee reaches 12 or 13 years Children 1 Year a trainee reaches 14 or 15 years Children 2 Year a trainee reaches 16 or 17 Junior 1 Year a trainee reaches 18 ,19 or 20 years Junior 2 Year a trainee reaches 21 years and above Seniors (please note that the ESC's artificial circuit raises the children's age when the circuit starts in April i.e. if your child is not officially a Children 1 on snow until the 1 January next year, he or she will race as Children 1 on the artificial circuit from the previous April. There are good reasons for this which can be explained at a later date.) Most new recruits to the club will be aged between 8 and 10, although in exceptional circumstances, older or younger trainees will be considered. Generally the club is full as we are limited to only 40 full time members and therefore trainees are expected to continue to work hard and progress in order to retain their membership. New members are reassessed after 6 months and annual renewal is not automatic. Though we have these rules it is very seldom that any trainee does not fulfil the clubs requirement but it does mean that when joining the club regular attendance at training and fitness sessions is essential to make progress. In addition it is essential all trainees train and race on snow at some stage during the season. On both snow and plastic it is training and fitness that is of prime importance in the early stages. It is important that Minis get experience in Mini races on snow before embarking on the more competitive Children 1 category. There is a system of seed points both for the snow and the artificial. It is not a complicated system and you will gradually understand how it all works when speaking to other parents in the club. Registration with the English Ski Council is essential to be part of the seeding system and the children can only take part in the above races if they are registered, (except for the British Schoolgirls and Schoolboys races). We hope that this note has given you some vision through what is a fairly complicated structure and gives you at least some indication of what questions to ask. We do emphasise again that Sandown is a children's ski racing club and its success depends on the involvement and support of the parents. The Club exists on a very tight budget and consequently help is always required on committees, fund raising and with general support on the slope. Please for your child's progress and for the success of the Club, do become involved, make yourself known and above all do ask questions. Other Points 1. Coaching is all about stability, consistency, hard work and having fun at the same time. The coach has to plan the training for each session so that training is consistent not just for one season but maybe ten seasons, so therefore a good working relationship with your coach is vitally important. No two coaches train in the same way and having more than one coach in charge will lead to confusion and erratic performance. Sandown's training is totally snow orientated and consequently dry slope training has to be carefully worked out to maximise these aims. After all, you can be World Champion on snow but not on plastic. 2. In order to assist your child, it is important that parents become involved with the running of the club and attending and helping at races (generally gate keeping). If enough parents become involved the tasks are not onerous and certainly nearly all of them happen during training or racing sessions. This not only improves the operation of the Club, but enables you to find out more about that is going on at the Club and at races which in turn will enable you to help your child. 3. Progress is monitored regularly. 4. Ski maintenance and preparation, especially edge sharpening and base waxing become increasingly important as the trainees start to race. The Club organises occasional lectures on ski maintenance, but should you need help please ask Kevin or one of the parents of the older trainees or the older trainees themselves. 5. Equipment is an important aspect of ski racing. When joining the club you are strongly advised to discuss equipment with the Head Coach. 6. Physical fitness is most important to successful ski racing and trainees are encouraged to participate in other sporting activities as well as general fitness training. There is a fitness session after training every Sunday which is part of the regular Sunday morning programme and all trainees are expected to stay for this session. The fitness session is normally over by 10.30am December 2000 Training Committee

Snow Racing Snow racing is the main objective of the club and snow training is a key element of a trainees' membership of the club. Currently we organise four snow camps each year with a possibility of a fifth at February half term. Race training always takes place in the summer (glacier skiing is not dangerous, any more than normal skiing and often gives surprisingly good snow conditions) and is ideal for new members and minis. It is also very important for the older children as this is a camp when technical problems can be ironed out before preparing for racing at the Autumn Camp. The mountains in the summer are totally different to the winter when as well as skiing the trainees can walk, do orienteering, tennis, swimming and all the other activities that the Alps offer during the summer months. Parents are very welcome to visit the camp and generally have a lot of fun. August 10 days to 2 weeks on a glacier in Europe - currently in Saas Fee October Half Term One week on a glacier in Europe. Pre-season race camp for all those planning to race over the winter including minis Christmas Training over Christmas and then the BARSC (British Alpine Racing Ski Clubs) races in the New Year. February Half Term Possible group training in Meiringen Easter Training and then British and English Championships. Our coaches attend all these camps and in addition there is always at least one house parent to look after the childrens' welfare. Furthermore if numbers permit we get extra trainers from Meirginen who are normally all ex Swiss World Cup Racers. There are not many races for British Children as they have so little time off school when there is snow in the Alps. The following are annual races. 1 BARSC Races held over the New Year period for Juniors, Children and Minis. 2 British Schoolgirls races at the end Jan/beginning Feb each year. 3 British Schoolboys races at the end Jan/beginning Feb each year. 4 Inter-School Challenge during Easter holidays. 5 British Championships during Easter holidays. 6 English Championships during Easter holidays. In addition there are races in Scotland but there is always the risk that they could be cancelled. Also, those children in the club who are selected to the British Childrens' Ski Team will have at least two additional races.

Plastic Racing On plastic we try to keep racing to the minimum with minis just competing in the Regional Races and occasionally in the Club National races when there is a section for Boys and Girls. On the artificial circuit (plastic) there are various categories of races: 1. Regional Races for everybody - competition between local clubs 2. Club National for young or new racers with no seed points. Boys and Girls races. 3. Grand Prix for experienced racers with good seed points 4. English Championship for the best racers in each category including minis. 5. British Championship for the best racers in each category. 6. The English Schools