Cross Country Academy: Top Three Takeaways

PSIA Cross Country Academy wrapped up in West Yellowstone, Montana last week, with record attendance, good snow, and a wealth of learning opportunities.

“It was a super event with amazing conditions,” said PSIA Cross Country Team Coach Emily Lovett. “Along with our regular programming of various skill development clinics, we added a few different things this year to add a new dimension to the event.”

Here, Emily shares her top three reasons the annual event was so successful:

• Much of our clinic content this year was related to our teaching fundamentals – cross country technical, teaching, and people skills – at some level. I feel like after the three Cross Country Academy days all the attendees could use the word, “fundamentals,” and we all understood the word in context. We’re all standing on the same platform regarding our fundamentals, and that feels good.
• We tried a few new things to offer specific training tracks within Cross Country Academy. These training track clinics were some of the most popular clinics. We offered a Level II / Level III training track to prepare participants for assessments later in the season. We also teamed up with Northern Rocky Mountain to offer a Cross Country Children’s Specialist Course and a Level I Assessment. In many regions, the cross country discipline struggles to get a healthy number of participants at assessment or training events. Multi-region events for cross country makes a lot of sense because it gives candidates a bigger group dynamic. It’s an exciting opportunity for our organization as we continue to align.
• Collaboration: It’s so uplifting to have multi-region representation, having fun, and learning together. These experiences cultivate within our organization as the ability to work with, trust, and cheer on each other.  Focusing on learning and common outcomes together feels like we’re all part of the team.