Good Afternoon MAST Athletes, Families and Coaches:
My apologies for the very short notice. 1. Practice Cancelled TODAY (Thursday). I have been living in wishful-thinking-land over here at MAST Headquarters--hoping against all odds that we could safely hold practice this afternoon. The coaches and I have been in touch and we have decided that it would be WISE and PRUDENT to CANCEL TODAY'S practice due to the extremely warm temperatures. We believe that it is important to learn how to ski in all snow conditions, but given how crowded Hyland has been in the afternoon and evening, we are worried that the risks outweigh the benefits tonight. If you had to suddenly stop or turn to avoid a collision, there is a risk of catching a tip or edge and suffering a serous injury. So NO PRACTICE TONIGHT. 2. Practice ADDED Friday Morning: 9:15AM-11:45AM Many of you requested a morning practice on your day off from school and your ever loving coaching staff has listened. Due to the limited number of coaches available for a Friday morning practice, we are gearing practice to the higher level skiers who can carve turns on the race hill (the runs immediately to left and right of the North Chair). Nonetheless, all athletes from all pods are invited to attend. The area opens at 9:30. Be at the lift at 9:25 for a quick warm up. We will be working the fundamentals. No courses obviously. Given that the slopes will be freshly groomed in the morning and uncrowded, we should be able to ski safely tomorrow morning even though the temperatures will remain warm and above freezing overnight. If conditions deteriorate quickly (or slowly) to the point of being unsafe, we will end practice at that point. 3. Afternoon Practice on Friday. At this point, practice is ON for Friday afternoon. However, the coaches who attend in the morning will make a definitive decision after our morning session. If it appears that conditions are too sloppy, we will cancel the afternoon practices. Check your email before heading to the hill Friday afternoon. 4. Saturday: Morning Training at Hyland and Supplemental Training at Wild Mt The temps cool down Saturday. Hopefully, snow conditions will allow us to start setting some stubbies, brushes and panel gates on Saturday morning and at Wild in the late afternoon and evening. Plan to bring your protective gear just in case. But no crying if we have to continue working the directed free skiing drills. Just like vegetables, the drills are sooooooo good for you. 5. Coffee/Salsa Fundraiser: Order Pick Up Saturday, Dec 9 from 2-3PM at Fuller Park. 6. Parents: Don't forget about the Parent Social on Sunday from 4-7PM. Enjoy the sun. Wear sunscreen. Mark Conway 612-275-8392 Good Day MAST Athletes, Coaches and Parents: A couple of announcements. 1. Team Snap AppWe have new Team Snap improvements: If you are new to Team Snap, you can go to TeamSnap.com and download the app. Use the e-mail address you assigned to yourself when you used to register with MAST. Parents can also download the Team Snap App and your athlete can add you to his or her team's notification settings if you aren’t already in there. For parents, the app makes it very easy to see the daily training and race schedule for your skier(s). Important: We are reorganizing Team Snap so that each skier will be on one of six teams (rather than 36 teams). Teams will be based on school and gender, so Southwest Boys Alpine Ski will be a team, Washburn Girls Alpine Ski another team, etc. You will be able to see everyone on your team in the Team Snap Roster, and all skiers on all teams will see the same schedule events. The schedule has been modified to show details for all daily training sessions. Coaches, if they choose, can more readily communicate with their team via Team Snap. We have migrated the teams today in Team Snap. You will want to look for your new team in the drop down menu at the top of the app. If not listed there, go to “See All Teams…” and it should be there. If you STILL can’t see your new team, delete the app completely and redownload. We found this should solve it. The previous teams based on Pod (Southwest Girls Pod 07, etc) will no longer be used, and we’ll try to delete these to clean up your app. For any questions or suggestions, you can contact Bill Bray at 507-301-7109 2. Athlete Weekly Goal Setting Worksheet At our retreat, we introduced you to a new MAST coach/athlete initiative: weekly goal setting. Attached is the MAST Week Four Training Goals Worksheet. You will see that we are focusing this week on developing the six fundamental skills of our wonderful sport. I have listed the technical skills that the coaches will be helping you develop in all six of the fundamental building blocks of technique. Refer back to this sheet before and after every practice. As we continue to work the drills--and as coaches continue to explain the purpose of the drills that they will be asking you to perform--the goals listed on the worksheet will become more clear. As you receive personal feedback from your coaches, you can then create goals specific to your needs under each of the six skill blocks. Add these goals to your worksheet where it says Athlete Goal(s) after every practice. I suggest that you print and carry this goal sheet with you. Make two copies. Keep one in your boot bag and one in your jacket pocket. Many copies: one in your boot bag, one in your jacket pocket, one by your bed, under the seat of your car, under the couch cushion in front of the tv, on your computer, on the refrigerator, over the kitchen sink, in the bathroom, on the ceiling over your bed... We will continue to use the many drills we have in our quiver to help you learn and/or perfect these movements and attain technical-skiing nirvana. See you soon. Mark
LAST CALL! GET YOUR 2023-2024 MAST BUFFS NOW! PRE-ORDER SALE ENDS 12/4 at 11:59PM! Coordinated delivery/pickup sometime the week of 12/17, if not sooner! MAST custom buffs are back in two new designs for the 2023-2024 season! Option 1: The MAST Mountain Scene Buff Option 2: The MAST '24 Buff. These are the same high-quality, adjustable, non-slip, heavyweight neck gaiters from last season. $15 each. Here is a link to order: https://go.teamsnap.com/forms/40729 MAST Mountain Scene Buff MAST '24 Buff
Good Afternoon MAST Parents and Coaches:
Just a friendly reminder that I will be giving yet another enlightening presentation tonight via Zoom. Please join me so that MAST can continue to offer our athletes the best run races in the State of Minnesota, the Midwest, America, North America, and perhaps even the Western Hemisphere and beyond. Here is a link to join the webinar: Dec 3 Race Worker Training See you all online at 7PM. Thanks, Mark Conway MAST Update Week Four
Friday, December 1, 2023 Good Morning MAST Families: You are receiving your weekly MAST Update a few days in advance. I have a busy weekend and want to get a lot of important information into your hands so you don’t miss anything. Hyland Training Schedule Last week I sent you the Hyland Training Schedule. Please find this schedule attached again. We will also communicate the schedule and any changes in our weekly updates, on the home page of our website, in google calendar which you can find at the bottom of our home page on our website, and in Team Snap messaging and calendaring. Giants Ridge Camp First, REGISTRATION for the Giants Ridge Camp closes tonight at midnight. If you need more time to decide whether you can attend, send me an email. Otherwise, please register today. Training spots are available for girls. Any boys who register today will be put on a wait list. Boys: you can register for camp but select the pay by check option when you check out—DO NOT send a check until you hear from me that a spot has opened up. Register for Camp HERE. December 2 Supplemental Training from 2:30-10:30PM Space remains for anyone who wants to attend supplemental training. Register for Dec 2 Supplemental Training HERE. Ski Area Waivers Have You Signed All Ski Area Waivers? 1. Afton: https://Afton-Competition-Waiver-23-24.eventbrite.com 2. Giants Ridge (Select and sign the Competitive Event Participation Agreement): https://waivers.edgeauditor.com/auto-setup/giant/wak4vo 3. Welch and Wild: skiandboardmn.com/23hsrace Parent Race Worker Training Sunday, December 3 at 7PM: Here is the LINK to log in: Dec 3 Race Worker Training This is a very important training for parents. Whether you are new to racing or an experienced race worker, please attend. We will be joined by parents from other Metro East Conference teams. We need more parents to become educated about our sport so that we can continue to give our athletes well run and fair competitions. Alpine skiing does not rely on paid officials to run races. Not even at the World Cup level. I have a good friend who volunteers every year at the Birds of Prey World Cup Races at Beaver Creek. He is there now running the timing at one of the interval stations. That race alone relies on 350 volunteers. We need around 20 for our races. Salsa/Coffee Individual Fundraiser: Product Pick UP Saturday, December 9, 2:00-3:00PM at Fuller Park For those who sold coffee and salsa, you can pick up your orders at Fuller Park (48th and Grand Ave S) between 2 and 3PM on Saturday, December 9th. We have training at Hyland in the morning and training at Wild Mt in the afternoon. Save The Date: Sunday, December 10, 2023, 4:00-7:00PM Parent Social at Dual Citizen Brewing Company 725 Raymond Avenue, Saint Paul 1/2 price drinks and merch give-aways. We’ll have either a food truck or a pop-up kitchen. Finally, scroll down to see the fullness of our calendar for both the weekend and week four. See you very soon, with skis on. Mark Conway 612-275-8392 MAST Calendar: Dec 1-Dec 10 Friday, Dec 1 On Snow Training @ Hyland 3:45-6:00PM: Pods 10,11,12. 5:00-7:15PM: Pods 7,8,9,10 Pod 10 can come to the practice that best fits your schedule. Meet your coaches outside the chalet in front of the center chairlift. Saturday, Dec 2 On Snow Training @ Hyland 8:45-11:15AM: All Pods Meet your coaches outside the chalet in front of the center chairlift. --AND-- Supplemental Training @ Wild Mt 2:30-10:30PM Meet the bus at Washburn HS on 49th Street at 2:30PM. Sunday, Dec 3 at 7:00PM Parent Race Worker Training Click HERE To Join The Training Monday, Dec 4 On Snow Training @ Hyland 3:45-6:00PM: Pods 11,12. Lanes 1,2. 5:00-7:15PM: Pods 9,10. Lanes 1 6:30-8:45PM: Pods 7,8. Lanes 1. Pods 7-10:Meet your coaches at the TOP of South Chair at the designated START TIME of your practice session. Tuesday, Dec 5 On Snow Training @ Hyland 3:45-6:00PM: Pods 11,12. Lanes 4,5,6. 5:00-7:15PM: Pods 9,10. Lanes 4. 6:30-8:45PM: Pods 7,8. Lanes 4. Pods 7-10: Meet your coaches at the TOP of South Chair at the designated START TIME of your practice session. Wednesday, Dec 6 On Snow Training @ Hyland 3:45-6:00PM: Pods 11,12. Lanes A,B,C. 5:00-7:15PM: Pods 9,10. Lanes C. 6:30-8:45PM: Pods 7,8. Lanes C. Pods 7-10: Meet your coaches at the TOP of South Chair at the designated START TIME of your practice session. Thursday. Dec 7 On Snow Training @ Hyland 3:45-6:00PM: Pods 11,12. Lanes 5,6,7. 5:00-7:15PM: Pods 9,10. Lanes 7. 6:30-8:45PM: Pods 7,8. Lanes 7. Pods 7-10: Meet your coaches at the TOP of South Chair at the designated START TIME of your practice session. Friday, Dec 8 On Snow Training @ Hyland 3:45-6:00PM: Pods 10,11,12. Lanes 2,3,4. 5:00-7:15PM: Pods 7,8,9. Lanes 3,4. Pods 7-9:Meet your coaches at the TOP of South Chair at the designated START TIME of your practice session. Saturday, Dec 9 On Snow Training @ Hyland 7:45-10:30AM: All Pods. Lanes 5,6. -AND- Salsa/Coffee Fundraiser Product Pick Up 2:00-3:00PM at Fuller Park (48th and Grand Ave S) -AND- Supplemental Training @ Wild Mt 2:30-10:30PM: All Pods Registration Opens Sunday, December 3. Click Here To Register For the Dec 9th Supplemental Training Sunday, Dec 10. 4:00-7:00PM Parent Social @ Dual Citizen Brewing Company 725 Raymond Avenue, Saint Paul |
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