From our CEO-Peter Stokloza

• The vision of our organization is to become the best snowsports organization in the United States.

• We are in the process of looking towards next year.  The program directors, academy staff and I are in the planning and budgeting process.  As we move towards the spring I want to thank all our teachers and coaches for their hard work and dedication this year.  BBTS is a special place and everyday I see how our team of athletes, coaches, teachers and parents work together and care for each other. Wishing everyone a great end of the season!

• See you at the Bash on April 1.

Pete

From the Desk of Director of Development and Communications-Sharon Schmidt

• WVBBTS Annual Giving Campaign-Just a reminder to please consider making your Annual Giving Campaign donation by April 1 if at all possible.    Technically donations can be made through May 31, 2006 (WVBBTS fiscal year end) for this year’s campaign but we would love to celebrate our reaching our goal together at the Year End Bash on April 1.
• Click here for a donation card
  
  Click here for more details on how your donations are directly benefiting our athletes this season
• Donations can be made by check, securities donation or by charge card by simply calling me with your credit card information at 978-621-8738.
• Volunteers Needed for the Year End Barbeque on March 25 and the Year End Bash on April 1.  Please contact Sharon Schmidt if you can help out at 978-621-8738 or by e-mailing her at sschmidt@wvbbts.org.

From the Desk of the Headmaster-Gary Benedix

• These last couple of weeks of the Academy program will be quite busy for our student athletes as they finish up their academic work and prepare to re-enter their home schools.  The last day of the program is Friday, March 31, and there are scheduled classes on that day.  The dorm closes on Sunday, April 2, though there are no planned meals for the weekend.

• Dan Newton, our Waterville Valley Academy Writer in Residence, is hosting “A Reading of Poetry and Short Fiction” at the Coffee Emporium in Town Square on Monday, March 27 from 2:00 to 3:00 PM.   Those who have been participating in the reading and writing workshops (which include WVA faculty) will read the material that they have worked on this winter.  Admission is free and there will be discounted coffees and pastries at the Emporium.  Hope to see you there.

• The Headmaster’s Banquet is set for Thursday, March 30 at 6:30 PM.  Once again   this year, I am pleased to announce that the Banquet will be held at the William Tell Restaurant in Thornton, NH on Rt. 49.  Invitations have been sent and we need to get a response from those who plan to attend by Monday, March, 20^th so that we can get the appropriate count to the restaurant.  After sharing a great meal prepared by Franz and his staff we will be presenting the Academic Awards for the year.  Our student athletes have given an extraordinary effort in the classroom and on the hill.  This is a great tradition which will mark the end of another outstanding year at Waterville Valley Academy.

• I have received many emails from parents and students regarding their plans for next year.  I will be sending out the “Returning Student” forms in the near future which will address that issue but it is still very helpful, to me, hearing from you (parents and students) regarding your upcoming plans.  Thank You.

From our Snowboard Director-Bill Enos

Red Bull schooled

• Sunday WVA competed in the Red Bull Schooled.  Timmy Humphreys, Scottt Kuchinski, Ian Hart and Milli Chapman made up team WVA. Each team has a snowboarder, a snowboarder /skateboarder, a female that snowboards and a skater. Timmy did back to back 9’s and slayed the picnic tables to win the snowboard side of the competition. Scott finished third with 2 clean runs. Milli finished third for the girls with two nice runs even though she was throwing up hours earlier. For skating Scott K. took an impressive third and Ian had some high difficult tricks in his run to finish 6^th . Our team was awesome but we just came up a little short. SMS took the title back, with some unbelievable skating-they are way better at skating than snowboarding. Well being the champs for one year was nice.

Bill

Schedule:

• March 13th – 20th we are at the US Open

• 19th and 20th Training at WV for race and freestyle

From our Freestyle Director-Nick Preston

 Freestyle News 3/14/06

• Waterville EQS Team Warms up for Championships at Sunday River

• The Eastern Regional Finals for USSA-EQS held in Sunday River this past weekend saw top 3 overall results in Moguls, Big Air, and Combined from Tyler Thistle, Nic and Nessa Dzieman, Kyle DeGrace, Brendan Wall, Julia Braunstein, and Hunt Adams. Other outstanding performances and just plain great freestyle skiing occurred throughout the Waterville ranks in preparation for the EQS Championships this weekend in Lake Placid.

• March 11, Moguls Overall:
• Nessa Dzieman         Ist
• Nic Dziemian            2^nd     
• Hunt Adams             3rd
• Kyle DeGrace           4^th

• March 12, Big Air Overall
• Tyler Thistle            2d
• Brendan Wall            3rd
• Jesse Padgett          4th
• Nic Dziemian            6th    
• Kyle DeGrace           9^th

• Julia Braunstein        2nd
• Tiffany Davenport     8^th

• March 11-12 Overall Combined Results:

• Julia Braunstein        4^th
• Nic Dziemian            2^nd
• Tyler Thistle            3^rd
• Kyle DeGrace           4^th
• Brendan Wall            6^th
• Cody DeGrace          9^th
• Clayton Vila             10^th

• As we head to EQS Championships, all of the above have qualified as have the following:

• Kyle Keating             Combined
• Chase Brooke           Big Air
• Cody DeGrace          Combined
• Clayton Vila             Combined
• Cameron Linares       Moguls

• With congratulations I wish to emphasize the amount of competitive abilities on display by the rest of the team. They have worked hard and showed obvious improvements in moguls and aerials. These include:

• Olivia Keating-          Winner of every F5 event she entered.
• Ben Mende              Scored a 19.01 in moguls
• Ben Vuocolo-Smith    Outstanding progress, scoring a 18;8 in moguls and 50.2 in Big Air
• Willie Dresser-          Outstanding improvement in mogul skiing, scoring a 17.22
• David Mende            Outstanding improvement in moguls and aerial skills
• Zach Linares            Excellence in competition

• Nearly all of our athletes are traveling until our last WVA week, just before the banquet.

See you all there.

Nick Preston

Upcoming Events

• Saturday, March 25-WVBBTS Year End Barbeque
  • Lunchtime at World Cup
  • We supply the burgers, dogs, buns, condiments, chips, cookies and water
  • Please supply your favorite side dish.
  • MITEY MITE WORLD CUP AWARDS CEREMONY will take place during the WVBBTS Year End Barbeque

• Saturday, April 1-Year End Bash-5:30 pm-Waterville Valley Conference Center
  • TICEKTS MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE BY MARCH 25 IN THE LUNCHROOM ON SATURDAYS OR BY MAILING IN A CHECK FOR RECEIPT BY MARCH 25 WITH THE NUMBER OF ADULTS AND KIDS OVER 10 AND NUMBER OF KIDS 10 AND UNDER TO SHARON SCHMIDT, WVBBTS, PO BOX 442, WATERVILLE VALLEY, NH   03215
  • $15 FOR KIDS 10 AND UNDER; $22 FOR ADULTS AND KIDS OVER 10
  • Buffet dinner
  • Year End Alpine J1-J5 and Masters, Snowboard and Freestyle Awards Ceremony
  • Year end slide show and video
  • DJ and dancing for the kids

Student Corner written by P $

·         Jack Dings is a J-II Alpine Racer for the WVA Ski Team.  He is a sophomore from Scituate High School in Massachusetts.  This is the third year that Jack has lived in the dorm at WVA.  He misses his good buddy Kyle Ewanouski who was enrolled at WVA last year, but his “sister” racer Ali Ewanouski from Scituate attends WVA and races with the team this year.

·         Recently Jack and nine other racers competed in the Canadian Junior National Championship races.

·         “Jack, tell us about your trip to the Canadian Nationals.”

·         “Our coaches, Peter Stokloza and Gary Blake, drove the WVA van fourteen hours to Collingwood, Ontario.  We listened to ipods, watched movies on our computers, and generally drove Pete and Gary crazy.  We stayed at The Seasons Hotel.  Gary served great breakfasts and made our dinners.  (The hotel rooms had kitchens.)”

·         “What about the competitions?”

·         “There were Junior (J-II) racers from all over Canada.  The U.S. had several spots open.  We competed in four races in four days.”

·         “Did any of the U.S. competitors place or win?”

·         “Maddy Packard (a WVA sophomore from Newcastle, NH) medaled the Slalom.   Her best finish was ninth place.  She came in 14^th, 16^th, and 21^st in the other races.  Kia Mosenthal (WVA sophomore from Campton) came in second in one Slalom run and 11^th in the Slalom race.  Nate Bryant (a WVA junior from Durham) came in 12^th in a Slalom race.”

·         “So, Jack, how did you do?”

·         “I fell in both Slaloms.”

·         “So, were you emulating Bode Miller at the Olympics?”

·         “Kind of., but it was fun to race in Canada competing with racers from all the different provinces.”

·         “How about the trip home?”

·         “It was LONG!  We left at 3:30 PM on Sunday and got back to school at 6:30 AM on Monday.  As we were arriving, the snowboarders were leaving for Stratton for US Open.”

·         “Do you have any more competitions this season?”

·         “We have the Spring Races here t Waterville Valley on Friday, March 17^th, and two FIS races at Attitash the next week”

·         “Good Luck in those competitions to you and rest of the WVA team, Jack.”