Welcome to the MYSL at THEODORE WIRTH PARK in MINNEAPOLIS!

We hope you can join us for the 2012 ski season in the city! The Wirth Club of the MYSL is an all-volunteer club that teaches cross country skiing to children at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis. Children ages 4-15 and their parents are welcome, as are other volunteers who share in our goal of generating a love for Nordic skiing in youth and having fun in the snow.  Please check this Web page for updates prior to the start of the season and for updates due to weather during the season.

Schedule and location:

The Wirth Club is scheduled to meet on eight Sundays from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., beginning on January 8, 2012 and ending on February 26, 2012 at the Chalet on Theodore Wirth Parkway.   Please plan on arriving early to find parking and to get your skier dressed, equipped and with their group.  Your coach would like to start skiing at 2 p.m.!  (The parking lot in front of the Chalet can fill up on nice days; if it does, you can park across the Parkway in the overflow lot or just south on the Parkway at the Par-3 building.)

After skiing, the kids gather in the Chalet for snacks (brought by volunteers!).  We usually have rented the second floor of the Chalet for our use before and after skiing (unless the Park Board rents it to another entity).  We will have chalet attendants on duty (also volunteers) to help with snack and skiers returning early. Please plan on volunteering to either bring a snack or be an attendant once throughout the season.  Sign up for the day that works best for you!  Click here for the sign-up sheet.

We typically hold a potluck dinner and awards ceremony on the last Sunday session of skiing.  We will need volunteers for this too.  Look for the emails once the season begins.

Registration:

Register online on the MYSL Web site or contact our club's Skier Coordinator if you have any questions.  To ensure appropriate class size for our volunteer coaches, registration will be on a first come, first serve basis and will close when we reach our limit of 200 skiers.  Register early (for a discount) and volunteer to give our kids a great ski season!

Levels 1 through 4 teach the classic technique and Levels 5 and 6 introduce skating.  If you are new to MYSL, use the age ranges as a guide when you register; your coach will help place your child in the appropriate level after the first class.

We require that a parent accompany any child not yet in first grade or any beginner in Level 1; this will ensure a great ski experience, and, you will be able to demonstrate how to ski (or how to fall down, as the case may be . . .).

 Please note that the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board requires a ski pass for those 13 and older, which can be bought online from the MPRB or at the Chalet.

Volunteers:

We need you! The Wirth Club is an all-volunteer club. We depend on parents and other volunteers to coach, encourage and help organize our children, and we expect at least one adult volunteer from each family registered. With your participation, we can create a great winter experience for our kids. We need these volunteers:

• Coaches: – Coaching is one of the most important and enjoyable ways you can volunteer. While the Club is fortunate to have some of its coaches returning this year, we need more adult coaches to keep our coach-to-skier ratio high.  Anyone can coach – you don’t need to be an expert skier to volunteer.  MYSL has an excellent week-by-week curriculum, which includes many games on skis. Also, MYSL typically holds training opportunities for new coaches in December.  Please contact our Coach Coordinator if you can make this valuable contribution.
• Junior Coaches: - In addition, junior coaches have made a real contribution to the Club. If you are a high school skier and would be willing to serve as a junior coach, we need you!
• Snack Coordinator: – The Club needs volunteers to coordinate snacks and drinks for after skiing. Please contact the club leader
• Chalet Coordinator: – We also need volunteers to serve as attendants in the Chalet. Please contact the club leader.
• Potluck Coordinator: – Would you like to help plan the end of season potluck?  Please contact the club leader.
• Parent skiers: – The Club encourages parents to ski with their kids – they love to see you doing the same thing and being able to show you what they can do!  We encourage you to ski with your child's level and to help with games and excercises.  You may learn how to coach!
• Activity Leader - Help prepare a fun (crazy?) activity for the kids to enjoy during the class, such as a treasure hunt, face painting, a destination ski to find a special treat, ski acrobatics, or anything you can think of.  A fun activity is a great way to teach skiing without the kids knowing they are being taught.
• Photographer - We'd like to capture pictures of our skiers for sharing at our end-of-year potluck.  Are you tech-savvy and able to organize a slide show?

Weather:

The Club will cancel skiing if the temperature is forecast to be below -10 degrees F or if the wind chill is forecast to be less than -15 degrees F. The Club may also cancel or change locations if snow conditions are poor. A cancellation or location change announcement will be sent by e-mail (to the address provided when you registered) and posted to this Web page.  We're a hardy group, though, we can't recall a time in the last 10 years when we had to cancel a session!

Equipment:

All children should have their own ski equipment. Wirth Park does rent classic equipment at the Par-3 building, but the selection can be limited.  If you need equipment or have equipment to sell, check out MYSL's ski swap in November. Make sure your skiers are dressed in layers appropriate for the weather conditions and are fed and hydrated. A dry, warm skier is a happy skier!

Each child will be issued a stylish (i.e., white) MYSL bib on the first day and will be required to wear their bib each session.  Bibs immediately identify your child as being with our club and help the coaches learn names.  Please do your child a favor right now and think of a clever place to stash his or her bib between sessions so you don't forget it--consider leaving them in your car, in your ski bag, or with ski clothing.  Please return bibs on the last day.

Curriculum:

The MYSL curriculum teaches skiing with games using an orderly progression through six distinct levels, Levels 1 through 6.  Most all skiers (especially at the lower levels) WILL spend two years in each level, e.g., a beginning skier will spend two years in Level 1 at ages 5 and 6.  To progress to the next level a skier must reach specific goals at each level.  The curriculum is not designed so that a skier spends only one year in each level.  (I for one can count many years still being spent on perfecting my V1 skate technique!)  Please familiarize yourself with these levels and goals (soon to be posted on the MYSL site) so that you can be aware of what your skier is working on and so that you can offer encouragement.  Your coach can always explain the curriculum and goals to you and offer a recommendation for a suitable level.

Looking forward to another great season, and please contact us with questions or feedback, your Wirth Club leaders,

Sara Anderson, sara@crownmn.com, (Skier Coordinator)

Peter Leugers, rppeter1@gmail.com, (Coach Coordinator)

Jonathan Scott, JonathanOScott@gmail.com, (Club Leader), (612) 252-3330 days