Maddy Packard
WVA alpine student athlete-08		 NHS-WVA Student Athlete
Allison Lee
“08-member of US Freestyle Ski Team

 

For immediate release

NEWS/ April 6, 2008

Contacts: 

 

 

New Hampton School and Waterville Valley Academy

to Partner on Alpine Racing Program

 

New Hampton, NH, and Waterville Valley, NH:  New Hampton School (NHS) and Waterville Valley Academy (WVA) are teaming up to provide a new joint alpine ski program run by the WVA alpine coaching staff with NHS Head J1/J2 Alpine Coach Jason Guilbert serving as NHS Joint Alpine Program director.  In contrast with most other prep school offerings, the partnership will enable NHS alpine athletes to take advantage of an intensive “academy school approach” coupled with superior on-snow and dryland conditioning opportunities.  They will also benefit from fully staffed competition schedules up to seven days a week during the winter months.

 

NHS is a college-preparatory, day and boarding school with USSA and prep school racing programs, and WVA is a nationally recognized alpine FIS-level snowsports training academy.  NHS administrators met with Waterville Valley Black and Blue Trail Smashers (WVBBTS) Executive Director Peter Stokloza this winter to discuss ways to create a superior combined program.  “It became readily apparent,” said New Hampton Athletic Director Jamie Arsenault, “that WVA’s alpine program provides the depth to staff ratio and the customized competition schedules demanded of elite FIS level J1/J2 athletes.”

 

The joint program will also offer off-season opportunities for WVA’s summer and fall dryland and aquatic conditioning programs in Waterville Valley along with on snow programs in Hintertux, Austria; La Parva, Chile; and Copper Mountain, CO.

 

WVA’s staff includes Head J1/J2 Alpine Coach Jack Bailey (a former Stratton Mountain School J1/J2 coach), J1/J2 Alpine Coach Stokloza (a former USSA Eastern Development Coach), and long-term FIS level coach Anda Curuta (a former Plymouth State University alpine competitor), along with several other J1/J2 coaches.

 

WVA alpine athletes have produced strong athletic results including three WVA athletes competing at US Nationals, several podium finishes at J2 Nationals, and nine athletes competing in the J3 Olympics.  These resulted in ten podium finishes with three of its J3 Olympians earning the right to compete at the Canadian Nationals. WVA also offers its athletes a superior home training venue at nearby Waterville Valley Ski Area.  The USSA, the national governing body for US alpine racing, named the organization its 2006 Club of the Year.

 

Arsenault continued, “Partnering with WVA is a natural fit.  It not only strengthens our full-time alpine USSA/FIS level J1/J2 program and our ability to attract top level alpine racers, but it also provide us with a means to create a very strong J3 development program under the leadership of seasoned WVBBTS Head J3 Alpine Coach and Executive Director of Athletes Tom Barbeau, a former Canadian national team coach and USSA Eastern Alpine and NHARA Coach of the Year.”

 

Stokloza stated, “The synergy in establishing this program ran both ways.  Partnering with New Hampton School enables us to offer WVA students looking for the traditional nine-month college preparatory school setting to attend NHS full-time while continuing to reap the benefits of our full-time alpine training experience.  Alpine athletes will attend NHS classes in the morning and receive full-time, on-snow training and dryland conditioning in the afternoons mid-week, along with weekend training in Waterville Valley.”

 

He continued, “This partnership also provides WVA with a wonderful opportunity to expand our J1/J2 coaching staff as we look forward to working with current New Hampton Head J1/J2 Alpine Coach Jason Guilbert, who will serve as the New Hampton School/BBTS joint program director and as J1/J2 joint program coach.  We also look forward to having New Hampton J1/J2 Alpine Coach Jake Manseau join the WVA J1/J2 coaching staff full-time next season.  Both Guilbert and Manseau are WVA alumni.  It is a win/win for both organizations.”

 

The two schools have already partnered to serve elite snowsports athletes in the freestyle arena.  Former NHS and WVA freestyle aerialist Dillon Ferguson is now on the US Freestyle Team on the World Cup tour, and current NHS and WVA student-athlete Ali Lee has just earned her way onto the US Freestyle Team.

 

Founded in 1821, New Hampton School is an independent, co-educational, college preparatory secondary school of 330 students who come from over thirty states and twelve foreign countries.  NHS prepares students for life-long learning through self-discovery, authentic relationships, civic responsibility, and global citizenship.  Students benefit from an average class size of eleven and a student-faculty ratio of five to one.  For more information, please call (603) 677-3400 or visit www.newhampton.org.

 

Waterville Valley Black and Blue Trail Smashers Ski Educational Foundation operates Waterville Valley Academy, a full time five month academic and snowsports training academy for elite alpine, freestyle, and snowboard athletes, along with the BBTS Ski Club, a season-long weekend training program for alpine, freestyle, and snowboard athletes.  For more information please log on to www.wvbbts.org or call (603) 236-4612.

 

 

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