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Dear Athletes, Parents, and Coaches:
The smell of GOAT is finally exiting my olfactory sensory neurons (okay, I had to look that up). What a great night of team building and fundraising. I want to give a heartfelt thank you to all the parents, athletes, coaches and even non-racer siblings who came out to the Fair and helped clean up after the lively goat population of Minnesota. The place once again looked great once you worked your magic. Now that school has started, things are heating up at MAST headquarters. Please read, absorb, and mark up your calendar accordingly. Equipment This is URGENT ISSUE #1. All MAST athletes need SLALOM RACE EQUIPMENT. This means slalom race skis (as opposed to GS skis or all mountain skis or park skis). All athletes also need race boots that fit properly and have the appropriate FLEX number for your strength and experience level. You will also require appropriate clothing for skiing in very cold conditions and protective gear like a race helmet, pole guards, shin guards and possibly a mouth guard. You can find a lot of information about the equipment you need online at our website. Here is a link: MAST Equipment. Be sure to download the MAST Guide to Buying Skis and Boots. If you are new to ski racing, you will likely want to first consider finding as much USED equipment as you can. It is steeply discounted in price over buying new. There are a number of ski swaps coming up in September and October where you can find used race equipment.
Wednesday, September 18, 5-9PM MAST Equipment Night at Pierce Skate and Ski If you are a returning skier and you are ready to buy new, I strongly encourage you to visit Pierce Skate and Ski in Bloomington. The Pierce Staff will NOT mislead you. During the months of September through mid-October, Pierce offers discounted pricing (25-40% off the suggested retail price) on skis, boots, bindings, poles and other race equipment. Warning: it is still very expensive, as it is anywhere. Pierce is once again setting aside the evening of Wednesday, September 18 for MAST athletes to get properly sized and matched with equipment by the Pierce sales staff. Extra staff will be on hand to serve our athletes. They will not be accepting appointments from anyone else that evening. I will be there as well to assist and possibly a few other MAST coaches will be there to help as well. If you think you will be attending the Pierce Equipment Night on September 18, please complete the Pierce Equipment Night RSVP Form. This will help the store with staffing and preparation for the night. Be sure to arrive no later than 8PM so that the staff has time to assist you fully before the store closes at 9PM. If you cannot attend the MAST Equipment Night at Pierce, you can either call ahead to make an appointment for another night with one of their sales staff (I recommend asking for Tyler, Dave Hinz, or Dave Anderson, but all are knowledgeable and well trained). Be sure to bring a video clip of yourself skiing. This helps the salesperson determine which make and model best fits your skill sets and aggressiveness. Sunday, September 22, 4:30-6PM MAST Ice Cream Social at Beards’ Plaisance We are changing things up a bit for our annual fall picnic. Instead of holding a bbq and potluck, we are serving ice cream in conjunction with a meet and greet between athletes, coaches, board members, new families and returning families. All MAST families are invited. Bring your whole family. Yup, we are going to spoil your appetite for dinner. Please mark the date and time in your family calendar. We will have a very informal and short meeting during the social to highlight a few notes of importance. Saturday, September 28, 9AM-Noon MAST Equipment Swap and Tuning Clinic at 4800 Harriet Ave. (Mark’s house). Once again, we are giving our families an opportunity to sell their used gear and to help athletes find equipment that might serve their needs for the season. We are also adding a tuning clinic for anyone who wants to learn how to tune skis properly. We will open up equipment check-in at 8:30AM. Please bring any used equipment or apparel that you would like to sell at this time. MAST coaches will be on hand to help athletes find the appropriate size, make, and model. This is also a great way to learn about what to look for in equipment so that if you go to a SWAP at a local ski area you will be better informed. The tuning clinic will start at 9:30AM. If there is enough interest, a second one will be held at 10:45AM. If you do not know how to tune your skis (sharpen the edges, wax the bases), or if you need a refresher, this is your opportunity to learn. So, even if you are all set with equipment, you might want to keep the morning of September 28th open to learn how to tune skis. MAST Team Fundraiser: Pierce Skate and Ski Oktoberfest-- October 4-6, 2019. Once again, MAST will be grilling and serving hot dogs at the Pierce Skate and Ski Oktoberfest from Friday, October 4 through Sunday, October 6, 2019. Shifts are a little over two hours in length and require a minimum of two people per shift. One adult is required per shift to supervise the work. Note that shifts are available during the school day on Friday. Parents, we will need your help to fill these spots since the athletes are in school. Look for information about signing up to work a shift in the next email. Tuesday, October 8, 7:00-8:30PM MAST Parent-Athlete Information Session at Fuller Park. If you are new to MAST, please plan on attending. If you are a returning MAST athlete or parent who did not attend one of these sessions in the past, you might want to attend as well. This evening is designed to educate parents and athletes about our sport and our team: fees and expenses, practices and camps, races, equipment, philosophy and policies, tuning, Sprongo, etc. Please set aside the evening of Oct 8th and spread the word to anyone who is interested. At least one parent from each family should plan to attend. If you have a conflict that evening, please CALL Mark Conway to get brought up to speed. Website Don’t forget to check our website regularly: www.mplsalpineski.org Athletes: if you are not in a Fall sport, the coaches STRONGLY encourage you to get outside a minimum of 4-7 days a week to exercise. Run, bike, skate, lift weights, sprint hills or stairs, exercise your core. If you need ideas for getting strong and fit for the upcoming season, please get ahold of me. Have a great weekend. Mark Conway Head Coach, MAST 612-275-8392 markrobertconway58@gmail.com Comments are closed.
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