Alpine Ontario Alpin (AOA) is the provincial governing body for the sport of alpine ski racing in Ontario. AOA was officially created in July of 2001 after the culmination of several years of hard work to join the four ski racing divisions of Ontario; Alpine Ontario South (AOSD), Northern Ontario (NOD), National Capital Division (NCD) and Lake Superior Division Alpine (LSDA).
As the recognized Provincial Sport Organization (PSO) and promoter of competitive alpine ski racing in Ontario, AOA represents four divisions, 44 member clubs and over 30,000 active athletes, coaches and officials (volunteers). AOA coordinates several successful programs across the province and continues to foster the development of "state of the art" ski-racing programs from the grass roots level to the elite level.
In addition to the successful development programs, AOA's main property is the Ontario Ski Team (OST). The OST travels throughout North America and Europe to train and compete in elite FIS level ski races. Each athlete is looking to take the next step towards the Canadian Alpine Ski Team and their Olympic or World Cup dreams.
MISSON STATEMENT
As the governing body for alpine ski racing in Ontario, Alpine Ontario's mission is to provide leadership and direction to the alpine ski racing community of Ontario through quality membership services, guided direction and the encouragement of individuals to participate in alpine skiing from the grass roots to the elite level. “SKI RACING FROM START TO FINISH”
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
CLUBS There are 44 registered clubs from the four divisions of Alpine Ontario Alpin
SPORTING UMBRELLA AOA is a member of Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA) the national governing body for ski racing, Alpine Canada’s website is www.canski.org
LOCATION/ STAFF Collingwood, AOA has a full time office staff of five to service our stakeholders. AOA is overseen by an elected independent Board of Directors. AOA also has a staff of six coaches (part and full time) on staff who work with the Ontario Ski Team (the OST is an 11 month program) and a Director of Athlete Development.
FUNDING AOA is funded by corporate sponsorship, the Ontario government (through the ministry of Health and Promotion) and membership fees and via various fundraising events held throughout the year. Community fundraising events include the annual golf tournament a fall and winter fundraiser.
COMMUNICATIONS In addition to this website Alpine Ontario issues a magazine, a weekly e-newsletter (RACELINE), Facebook and Twitter accounts.
EVENTS AOA and its four divisions hosted 408 races in Ontario during the 2009-2010 ski season.
ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT AOA organizes skills camps for Nancy Greene (ages 6 to 10), K1 (ages 11 and 12) and K2 (ages 13 and 14) athletes in addition for a variety of K1, K2 Development Camps for select athletes
ONTARIO SKI TEAM AOA manages the Ontario Ski Team (OST), which is comprised of 20+ skiers between the ages of 15 and 20 who meet the posted criteria based on National ranking by birth age. The OST is a feeder team to the National Ski Team.
COACHING, OFFICIALS AOA oversees the organization of the level 1 Canadian Ski Coaches Federation (CSCF) courses and an annual coaching conference; more than 250 new coaches were certified in Ontario last season. In addition AOA along with its volunteers the AOA Officials Program, there more than 20 Officials’ Courses held in Ontario in the 2009-2010 Season
FITNESS PROGRAMS Alpine Ontario uinder the direction of FITS TORONTO organizes and runs two bi-annual fitness testing sessions for Ontario skiers. Open to all ages.
SAFETY Ensuring ski racing is as safe as possible is a key objective for Alpine Ontario. Through the promotion of fitness, and by providing training for coaches and officials AOA strives to keep the race environment as safe as possible.