Burke Mountain Academy

Coaching Philosophy

The overlying goal for the Burke Nordic Team is to build independence, training intelligence, and self-confidence, and to encourage perseverance and both physical and psychological endurance. Competition, training for competition, and managing a rigorous academic load are the vehicles we use to reach for that goal. The Burke experience falls early in the career of a serious Nordic skier. We strive for but may not see stellar results. We are building. Burke gives more and more of the whole load to the individual each year, each season, each race. The experience here carries students on to college and propels them with confidence down paths far more challenging than any ski trail.

In the field Burke Nordic establishes training progressions for athletes that become increasingly individualized as they move through the program. As coaches we hope to open kids’ minds to the big picture, to being able to identify a goal, but also to see the changes in daily life that need to be made in order to reach it. Student athletes learn to appreciate small gains, to know the signs one’s own body gives about training, to manage time. At each step of the way is an opportunity for them to take more ownership in their participation and to make that participation of the highest quality. Other Burke athletes have shown where that can lead. We want to keep that drive alive and well.

Burke is committed to a mix of athletics and academics. Each is an equal and fully franchised partner. Incoming students and their parents should be committed to the idea that much learning and growth stems from athletic endeavor. The third and equally valuable part of life here is community. It too is something in which we learn to participate, which we learn to support and carry forward. Skiing is an individual sport. In the starting gate, or out in the woods at the 15^th of 20 kilometers one is alone. But off the course the power, and support of the functioning Burke community are invaluable in enabling athletes to confidently go to the line. The lessons learned in helping that work are life lessons and go far beyond our Mountain home.

Individual competitive results are a tiny measure of success at BMA. We seek top athletes with strong commitments to being the best they can be. Coaches study, and watch and listen and learn to be able offer them the best help we can in striving for athletic goals. We are proud of their achievements. There are also and hopefully always will be athletes at Burke of varying talent, who may have more dreams than expectations, more hopes than chances. It is often from them that we all learn about commitment. To them Burke owes much of its energy, and of its magic. Their presence here is encouraged and they are a cornerstone of what we do. They too take away the lessons we try to impart; perseverance, patience, confidence and independence.

It is not a contradiction that while results are not the measure of an individual’s efforts here, shooting for the best one can do each time is a given. We pursue a rigorous racing schedule. We require membership in FIS, USSA, and NENSA, and travel long distances in order to tackle the challenges of competitions that are tough tests. Burke Nordic is well connected with programs across the US and with some of the top programs in Scandinavia as well. Racing trips to the “far reaches” are part of the package and they have provided the wonderful side benefits of connections, friendships, and opportunities all over the ski world. Burke Nordic is respected and well-known to colleges on the NCAA and NESCAC, and USCSA circuits, and we maintain regular and current contact with those coaches. Optimizing an athlete’s chances to ski in college is an important part of our efforts and of our program design.

Burke’s Nordic “Credo” includes the belief that young athletes need to be able to accept more independence sooner. This can happen through encouraging a mature and “equal partner” relationship with a coach which in the end (and that can be long after the Burke years) leaves the athlete in total ownership of participation in the sport. Given time, and a little faith along the way, this path can develop qualities that are essential to a top athletic career and more importantly that are beneficial to an independent and productive life.

Typical Autumn Training Week. The Program and total weekly hours is always adjusted to individual athlete levels.

Mon: AM Strength and Speed Work, PM distance roller ski or run

Tues: OFF

Weds: AM Strength, PM Short Intervals

Thurs: AM OYO stretching, PM Long Interval

Fri: AM Strength and Agility, PM OYO run

Sat: Orienteering run/bike (Nat Interval.)

Sun: Over distance or other endurance 2-4 hours.

Year Overview including common destinations for camps.

August Camp, New Zealand, Adirondacks

September/ Oct: Academic block on campus

October Camp: Adirondacks, Sweden, the Rocky Mtn.West, Rangeley in Maine,