Our family became active members in the Springhill Ski Racing Club, where our two boys learned to compete in ski racing under the guidance of dedicated ski coaches. Learning to ski on the side of a floodway ditch is not exactly “mountain skiing”, but what our teams lacked in altitude they made up for in attitude.
This dedication and passion for skiing was exemplified by Springhill’s long-standing senior skiing coach Greg Kwiatkowski.
Unfortunately, we learned last week that “Coach Greg” had suddenly passed away. His funeral service was faithfully attended by skiers and their families, who were involved with “Coach Greg” and his passion to promote skiing in Manitoba for more than 40 years.
As our two boys progressed through the Nancy Greene ski program and started to race competitively, they formed strong friendships. Even though it is almost 25 years, since our boys started skiing with the Springhill Ski Club, friendships that were formed at an early age continue on to this very day as strong and as supportive as ever. I doubt that you would see this same continued commitment to team mates and competitors in any other sport. This powerful camaraderie was fostered as skiers, their parents, and all involved on race day cheered, and rang cow bells, to encourage every skier to do his/her best. Even at weekend award banquets, all skiers supported and cheered on one another regardless of team. I like to think that “Coach Greg” was instrumental in setting this tone of support for all skiers in Manitoba.
You need to understand that “Coach Greg” was passionate about skiing and this was exemplified by the fact that he was always “out on the hill” working tirelessly to encourage his racers. On race days, when the mercury dropped to -25 degrees Celcius (with an added windchill factor), you would not find “Coach Greg” in the club house before the race drinking coffee to stay warm. Rather, he would be carefully setting a race course by screwing in the gate poles in strategic locations, or he would be side-stepping down the hill with his skiers analyzing the course and offering tips on how his racers could best navigate the course and shave tenths of seconds off their best times.
I know that our sons seemed to think of a ski race as a total commitment of energy and performance that often lasted between 30 – 35 seconds. True, they might feel somewhat chilled as they raced downhill clad in a helmet, goggles, gloves and a skin tight racing suit. However, once they crossed the finish line following their morning race, they could put on their winter iackets, go and get warmed up, eat lunch, and prepare for the afternoon’s race. However, the racers’ perspective is somewhat different from the one formed by their coaches and the parents and friends, who volunteered to gate-keep on the hill. Where was “Coach Greg” during a racer’s “30 seconds of fame”? Greg could often be found shivering at “Coaches’ Corner” (an advantageous spot on the side of a run where coaches tended to congregate). Here, he would be cheering on his racers while providing hints or strategies to the next racers in the “Start Shack” via his walkie talkie. Although most of the skiers would complete a course in less than 40 seconds, “Coach Greg” remained at his post for upwards of an hour or more while 40-50 teenaged skiers raced past his position, each with visions of a personal best at the back of their mind.
“Coach Greg” believed strongly in the following:
- Performing well was based in part on your equipment. As such racers needed to acquire the best equipment that their parents could afford. However, it was up to each skier to learn from “Coach Greg” the proper ways to file edges, wax the ski bases, and “tune” equipment to get the maximum performance possible.
- Preparation for ski racing was a year-round commitment. “Coach Greg” arranged numerous dry-land training sessions to focus on physical fitness during the summer so that his skiers were ready to race when the first flakes of snow began falling.
- Challenging individuals to race on different course with different ski conditions. Our ski racers competed throughout the province of Manitoba and in Bottineau, North Dakota on a regular schedule during the winter months. However, “Coach Greg” went out of his way to organize ski race training and races as far away as Thunder Bay, Giant’s Ridge in Minnesota and Mount Hood, Oregon. On these trips, “Coach Greg’s” racers learned more than ski racing techniques. They learned how to become a team-player, tolerance, support for one another, camaraderie, and independence. These attributes are a legacy that “Coach Greg” passed onto his racers and ones that will improver all individuals and last a life-time.
- Be passionate about things in which you believe. “Coach Greg” was passionate about skiing and ski coaching. He continually modeled this love of the sport to all he met and with whom he interacted. If all his racers believe in themselves and are passionate about important matters in life, they will be successful.
In closing, I trust that “Coach Greg” is looking down on all of us, from “Coaches’ Corner”, urging us to be the best we can be.
Create A Movie Poster For Your Web Site
If you are a member of the Digital Storytelling (DS106) learning community, and are still reading, you no doubt are thinking this post must be filed in error. It certainly sounds like a tribute to a rather dedicated ski coach as opposed to a “Movie Poster” assignment.
True, I admit that I began working on this post as a “Create A Movie Poster For Your Web Site“. Last night I was working my way through the intricacies of Photoshop Elements and inserting images from my blog header into my movie poster. I decided to “call it quits” just after midnight. However, at 4:30 a.m. I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. I had been thinking about “Coach Greg’s” positive influence on our two sons, and many other Manitoba ski racers, during their teenage years. Since DS106 fosters creative thought and ideas, I decided to get up and focus on a rather unique “movie poster”. Rather than continue work on my “Life-Long-Learners” movie poster, I thought that it was important to acknowledge “Coach Greg’s” contribution to ski racing in Manitoba but perhaps, more importantly, his positive influence on his “family” of racers during their teenage years.
Even though I switched content, I still continued to learn about different features in Photoshop Elements. After creating a gate “flag”, I simply duplicated it and filled one with the colour red and the other with blue. It was then a matter of duplicating each coloured flag onto a new layer. I wanted to trace the path of the “Coach Greg’s” skis through the gates in smooth curves. I soon learned that there is no “Bézier curve” tool in Photoshop Elements so I downloaded and installed Gimp. Although I played around with Gimp’s Bézier tool, which allowed me to create a smooth track through the gates, I was unable to successfully import this course image layer and blend it into Photoshop Elements. As a result, I had to use my mouse to trace a course through the gates as best I could. I finished off my poster by learning how to place an “aluminum” frame around my tribute to “Coach Greg”.
Although there are a number of improvements that can be made, I felt like many ski racers, that I “had a good run”, because I navigated the moguls and finished by run without falling.
Take care & keep smiling 
Fair Use Educational Image Credits:
ds106 internaut 
