(Toronto, ON) April 29th, 2019 — This past weekend the new U19 High-Performance program (U19HPP) kicked off its 2019-20 off-season program at the CSIO in Toronto. Over two days 23 athletes from across the Province completed a variety of assessments, movement screening, anaerobic and aerobic testing, various field and strength tests plus some goal setting meetings and a one on one sit down with renowned sports psychologist Dana Sinclair. The program mixes new FIS athletes with veteran Ontario Ski Team members and is a fantastic example of teamwork and collaboration between Alpine Ontario, Southern Ontario Ski Team, NCO FIS Team, National Ski Academy and the Canadian Sport Institute of Ontario (CSIO).
The U19HPP athletes were selected based on performances at the Canada Winter Games, the U16 Eastern Finals, the U16 France Project and FIS results from the 2018/19 season. These athletes represent many of the best racers in the AOA system and include athletes from LSDA, NCD, SOD and the National Ski Academy.
Kip Harrington, AOA’s High-Performance Director commented, “This was one of the best weekends of testing I’ve seen in a long time. It was motivating to see the energy from all of the athletes – U19 HP and Ontario Ski Team, new and veterans. We worked hard to identify and recruit these 23 athletes. The U19HPP is designed to bring the best athletes together for training, and to provide world class conditioning programs, education and sports science support. It is also intended to work closely with their coaches to better align and support programs in our High-Performance Pathway.”
Included in the weekend testing were:
Members of the U19HPP: Front (L to R): Emma Gosselin/Osler, Nikki Finoro/NSA, Natalie Stewart/Craigleith, Kylie Thompson/Craigleith, Cadence Kiss/Alpine, Tessa Foote/NSA.
Back: Ellis Reid/Craigleith, Kyle Blandford/GPeaks, Aleksas Valadka/GPeaks, Duncan Waugh/Beaver Valley, Robert Doman/Osler, Ben Neylan/NSA
Member of OST Training Squad: L to R: Ashley Campbell/GPeaks, Katie Twible (coach), Kobe Villeneuve/NCO, Zach Temertzoglou/GPeaks, Emma Williamson/Alpine, Sam Duff/Calabogie, Jayden Metcalfe/NSA, Kip Harrington & Cam McKenzie (coaches). Not photographed Aaron Puskas/LSDA, Ben Smegal/Craigleith.
For more information:
Visit the U19HPP webpage here
Contact Kip Harrington, AOA High-Performance Director
kipharrington@alpineontario.local