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Good Afternoon MAST Families: MAST registration opens October 1 on Sport Sign Up. Attached are DETAILED instructions on how to register. I encourage you to read through the instructions BEFORE logging in to register with MAST. For registering with MAST, we are utilizing the registration platform Sports Sign UP again this year. If you are a returning athlete, you will sign in using the account login and password you created in previous years to register your athlete. If you are new to MAST, you will need to create an account. We will use this platform to register for other MAST events during the season so save the log in and password information. And if you participate in the MAST individual fundraisers this Fall, your earnings will be credited to your SSU account. Once this is completed, you will need to register your athlete for alpine skiing with the MPLS Public Schools. I encourage you to use the MPS Athletics Online Registration Platform, but you can also submit hard copies of all the MPS/MSHSL forms to your high school athletic director. Note: you will be asked to pay the MPS Activity Fee during Step One of the registration process (when registering with MAST). If you opt to pay the activity fee to MAST, do NOT pay it a second time when you register with MPS(Step Two of the registration process). Attached is an awesome new MAST Poster that MAST Alumni Parent Susan Peterson made. These posters are going up in every MPS middle school and high school today and tomorrow. Thank you to Susan and her assistant, husband Rick. I think they are magnificent. And yes, I asked that the poster feature Elsa Peterson because I have never seen a picture of a female racer --world cup or amateur- who can generate the angles that Elsa displays in that photo. And very few men can match those angles. You can see why Elsa won the section iv championship race by six seconds that day. Athletes, put Elsa's image in your head. That is what you want to strive to learn to do this year. Elsa is now attending St. Michael's College in Vermont and she will be the first MAST skier to ski for an NCAA ski team this winter. She is joined on the team by SIX Norwegian women. She will have a wonderful cohort to push her to continue her climb to the top. Also attached is a spreadsheet listing MAST families who have ski equipment for sale on our website. If you find something you want to check out on the website, use this roster to find the seller's contact information. Caution: We have not kept the equipment swap page up to date so some of the items you see posted might be sold already. Finally, please place your MAST lawn signs in your yard. New athletes, you will be able to pick up a MAST lawn sign at the MAST Equipment Swap. Happy registering. Call if you have questions or run into a snag. Thanks Mark 612-275-8392  
MAST UPDATE #2 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2021 Dear MAST Athletes, Parents and Coaches: This week’s warm weather makes for some beautiful fall days to get outside and exercise. If you are not already in a fall sport, I encourage you to get outside after school to run, hike, bike, or skate. In other words, get some exercise. Work the legs, get your heart rate elevated, sweat, stretch your lung capacity. At least 30 minutes, but more if you are already in good condition. When our season opens on Nov 15, we will most likely be engaged in dryland training for a few days or even weeks until Hyland opens. So, train now or suffer some very sore muscles the week of Nov 15. MAST Registration Opens Oct 1 Registration with MAST will open Thursday, October 1. I will send DETAILED instructions on how to register in an email late in the afternoon tomorrow. The instructions will include all the links you need to register with MAST (Step One) and to register with MPS (Step Two). Please read these instructions carefully before clicking on any links. MAST Webinar #1: Orientation to MAST and Alpine Ski Racing Who: for Students and Parents/Guardians NEW to MAST and Alpine Ski Racing. When: Sunday, October 3 at 4PM What: Learn everything you need to know about high school alpine ski racing and MAST: What is MAST? What is slalom racing? Where and when do we train? What equipment do we need? Costs? Fundraising? Coaching? Why is this a great sport for your athlete to learn? Why is this a great team for your athlete to join? What role do parents/guardians play? How: Your student will need to sign into the Orientation using his or her MPS email account. Your athlete should already have received an email in his/her MPS Inbox with an invitation to join the webinar and a link. If you have not filled out the NEW Athlete Inquiry Form, please do so today so that we have your student’s MPS email address and can send a link to the meeting. I will send a second email on Sunday morning to everyone with the link and phone number to join the meeting as well, so please check your inbox on Sunday. If you cannot make it to the Orientation at 4PM, we will be recording the session and posting it online. We will let you know how to access it in Update #3. To prepare for the Orientation, please be sure to review the MAST Fact Sheet HERE. MAST Equipment Night at Pierce Skate and Ski: Wednesday, Oct 6 If you need to buy any equipment new, I recommend Pierce Skate and Ski in Bloomington. MAST Equipment Night at Pierce scheduled for Wednesday, October 6. Two scheduling times are still available after school on the 6th, so call now if you want to grab either of these: Dave Hinz at 3:30 and Tyler Pierce at 7:45. Call the shop and ask for Bart if you would like to grab either of these appointment times. If you can’t get an appointment for the 6th, you can also make an appointment on another day. And there are appointments available during the school day with either Dave or Tyler as well. Here is the phone number to make an appointment at Pierce: 952-884-1990 Team Fundraiser On October 14: 2nd Annual MASTers Golf Tournament Don’t forget to sign up for the 2nd Annual MASTers Golf Tournament at Hiawatha Golf Course. 3PM Shotgun start. Details attached and registration link below. SIGN-UP HERE We are also excited to be holding a raffle at the event for a chance to win incredible prizes. But we need YOU to help provide them – just make sure they’re incredible! Please donate any goods or services like gift cards, wine, tickets, equipment, apparel or anything someone might want! Prizes can be dropped off at Matt McConville's house (5057 Newton Ave. S.) anytime before the event or text Matt at 612-802-9560 and he will pick them up. Click the link below if you would like to donate a raffle prize. RAFFLE DONATIONS HERE MAST Equipment Swap: Saturday, Oct 16 from 9am-Noon and MORE on Equipment We are bringing back the in-person MAST Equipment Swap. If you have equipment to sell or donate, please drop off your equipment between 8 and 9am. If you are looking for used equipment, please shop between 9am and Noon. We ask anyone who is selling equipment to please plan to return between Noon and 1PM to collect any unsold equipment and/or your payments. Please plan to pay with cash or check. Checks will be made out directly to the seller. Some of the coaches will be on hand to help you select boots and skis. We will have a small inventory of helmets and race suits available and hopefully some protective gear as well. Hopefully the captains will continue the wonderful tradition of supplying donuts. If you don’t want to wait until Oct 16th to buy used equipment, please check out the equipment listed for sale on our website HERE and HERE. Cyrus Vahhaji and I continue to work on editing these two pages. If you have items listed on either page that have sold, please let us know so we can remove them from the listing. To remove or add items, please contact Cyrus Vahhaji at [email protected] Remember, NOW is the time to get set up with the equipment you need. Please check out the Equipment Pages on our website for a lot of detailed information about the equipment you need. Attached is a revised MAST Buying Guide For Ski Equipment. This is also available on our website under the Equipment header. The MAST Guide will help you understand how to size and select quality used (and new) equipment. See our website for additional swap information: Fall Ski Swaps. Individual Fundraising Kick Off: Sunday, October 17 at 4PM. We will be kicking off the MAST Individual Fundraiser this year on Sunday, October 17th at 4PM with another festive Webinar. This year you can sell both coffee and salsa to friends, neighbors, family members and perfect strangers to raise money to support your very healthy pursuits with Mpls Alpine. The money you raise can help pay for supplemental training, the Giants Ridge Camp, MAST apparel, the MAST Banquet, team fees, or even your Hyland Season Pass. The coffee come from Urban Ventures and the salsa is produced locally by MinneSalsa. Join us on the 17th for more information about how to participate. I will send out a link to the Individual Fundraiser Webinar the week of October 10th. For now, set aside 4-5PM on Oct 17. Have You Purchased Your 2021-22 Hyland Hills Season Pass? To date, I have only received payment from one MAST athlete for a 2021-22 Hyland Season Pass. Everyone needs a season pass to Hyland Hills Ski Area. You can purchase your season pass through MAST or online through Three Rivers Park District/Hyland Hills. The season pass price is $455. If you purchase the pass through MAST, you will not need to pay Minnesota State Sales Tax. To purchase a season pass through MAST, please mail a check made payable to Mpls Alpine in the amount of $455 to: Mpls Alpine Ski Team 4800 Harriet Ave S Mpls MN 55419. The deadline for purchasing a season pass through MAST is October 27. Giants Ridge Camp Update Thank you to those of you who have shared your date preference for camp. So far, everyone prefers December 30-January 1. So, set those three dates aside. We are exploring the possibility of extending the camp through Jan 2. However, due to MN State High School League rules, we will not be able to coach or train on the 2nd. We are hoping we can stay over so that you can just go free ski together. We are checking with MPS to see if this arrangement would be allowed. Stay tuned. Another beautiful day. Enjoy it. Mark Conway [email protected] 612-275-8392  Dear MAST Families, We’re excited to announce the 2nd Annual MASTers Golf Tournament (see attached) to be held 3PM October 14th at Hiawatha Golf Course. Details attached and registration link below. SIGN-UP HERE We are also excited to be holding a raffle at the event for a chance to win incredible prizes. But we need YOU to help provide them – just make sure they’re incredible! Please donate any goods or services like gift cards, wine, tickets, equipment, apparel or anything someone might want! Prizes can be dropped off at Matt McConville's house (5057 Newton Ave. S.) anytime before the event or text Matt at 612-802-9560 and he will pick them up. Click the link below if you would like to donate a raffle prize. RAFFLE DONATIONS HERE Thanks – and see you on the course! MAST UPDATE #1 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2021 Dear MAST Athletes, Parents and Coaches: Thank you to all the parents, athletes, coaches, and alumni who helped clean the goat barn on Labor Day. What a wonderful team effort. Fastest goat barn clean-up in the storied history of goat barn clean-up efforts. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Our State Fair supervisor was very pleased and I understand he would like us to clean the feathered animals space next door under the same roof next year as well. Who doesn't love a promotion?!?! Registration MAST registration will open on October 1. As in previous years, registration is a two-step process. First, you will be asked to register with MAST directly. This will be done online. I will be sending everyone a link in a future MAST Update. Step Two is when you register with your high school athletic director. My understanding is that you can do this online this year. Details to come. If you are new to MAST, please fill out the NEW Athlete Inquiry Form. Many of you have done this already so thank you. Doing so will put your athlete on our radar and ensure that everyone in the family is receiving our MAST Updates. This form also collects the MPS email address of every athlete. Most likely any preseason meetings we have this year will be online and you will access these meetings using your athlete’s MPS email address. MAST Fact Sheet Attached is the 2021-22 MAST Fact Sheet. This is your first source of information about all things MAST. If you are new to MAST, this will give you a good overview of our program. I’m sure you will still have questions, so please feel free to call me. I find it is much easier to answer questions with a phone conversation that by email. 612-275-8392 Equipment Now is the time to get set up with the equipment you need. Please check out the Equipment Pages on our website for a lot of detailed information about the equipment you need. Attached is a revised MAST Buying Guide For Ski Equipment. This is also available on our website under the Equipment header. The MAST Guide will help you understand how to size and select quality used (and new) equipment. Please note: You need SLALOM race skis and RACE boots. You do NOT want to use RECREATIONAL skis or boots. Why? Because they will not perform well in a slalom race course. The skis will be slow to turn. The boots won’t flex and help you create the kind of angles you need to progress as a racer. If you are new to MAST, you most likely want to find used equipment. There are several sources of used equipment: local ski swaps, online sites, and our own MAST ski swap which will likely be online this year as well. Check our website for links to local ski swaps. The first swap will be held at Buck Hill on Friday, September 24-Sunday, September 26. Here is a link: Buck Hill Ski Swap. Other swaps are scheduled this fall as well. Team Gilboa is holding a swap Oct 29-31 at Hyland. See our website for additional swap information: Fall Ski Swaps. MAST Equipment Night at Pierce Skate and Ski If you need to buy any equipment new, I recommend Pierce Skate and Ski in Bloomington. Bart and Terri Pierce and their staff provide first class customer service. During the months of September and October, our racers can benefit from discounted pricing on new equipment. Attached is a letter from Bart and Terri explaining these discounts and announcing our MAST Equipment Night at Pierce scheduled for Wednesday, October 6. On Oct 6, Pierce will add staff and reserve all after school and evening appointments for MAST families. I will also be on site to help guide your purchase. Sometimes it helps for the old coach to be there. If the 6th doesn’t work for you, you can certainly make an appointment for boot fitting for another date. I recommend making an appointment if you are in the market for new skis as well, but my understanding is that this isn’t necessary. If you need tuning equipment, clothing, or protective gear you can just drop in anytime. We do have a lot of equipment listed on our website. Last year we were unable to hold our MAST in person ski swap. Hopefully we will be able to do so this year. Probably in mid to late October. For now, you can browse through the equipment listed for sale on our website HERE and HERE. I will be working to combine these two pages into one page. If you have items listed on either page that have sold, please let us know so we can remove them from the listing. To remove or add items, please contact Cyrus Vahhaji at [email protected] Season Pass Purchase Everyone needs a season pass to Hyland Hills Ski Area. You can purchase your season pass through MAST or online through Three Rivers Park District/Hyland Hills. The season pass price is $455. If you purchase the pass through MAST, you will not need to pay Minnesota State Sales Tax. To purchase a season pass through MAST, please mail a check made payable to Mpls Alpine in the amount of $455 to: Mpls Alpine Ski Team 4800 Harriet Ave S Mpls MN 55419. The deadline for purchasing a season pass through MAST is October 27. Attached is a list of athletes who purchased the 2021-22 season pass through MAST back in March. Fundraising MAST holds several fundraising events during the year. Some fundraisers are Team Fundraisers in that the funds are used to cover some of our operating expenses. These fundraisers allow us to keep our team fees lower. We also offer an Individual Fundraiser in the Fall. Individual Fundraising gives each athlete the opportunity to raise money that he or she can use to cover the cost of optional/additional programming we offer during the season such as supplemental training on Saturday evenings, the Giants Ridge Camp over Winter Break, or even team apparel purchases. Due to rising expenses, we may need to ask athletes to cover the cost of a lift ticket at Away Races this season, so any money an athlete raises could be used for this purpose as well. This year, our individual fundraiser consists of selling coffee from Urban Ventures and salsa from MinneSalsa. More information about the Individual Fundraiser will be published soon. The State Fair Goat Barn event was a team fundraiser, and we will be holding our second annual MASTers Golf Tournament this year at Hiawatha Golf Course on Thursday, Oct 14 starting at 3PM. This fundraiser is for adults only. More information about the Golf Tournament will be published later this week. For now, please try to clear your schedule for a 3PM tee time (shot gun start). A post golfing reception will be held at Carbone's. Covid, Supplemental Training, Camp, Busing I do remain concerned about the rate of Covid spread. My hope is that everyone will be vaccinated by the time our season opens. Masking on the hill will be mandatory for anyone who is not vaccinated and might be prudent for those of us who are vaccinated given how crowded Hyland can get and how much snot and moisture is expelled on the hill while breathing in the lift line. We are planning to resume Supplemental Training on Saturday afternoons/evenings and we are hoping to bring back our training camp at Giants Ridge over Winter Break. There are currently two dates set aside for camp: Dec 20-23 (four days, three nights) and Dec 30-Jan 1 (three days, two nights). We are keeping both options open for now. Let me know if you have a strong preference. Finally, as you may have read, our schools are suffering from a shortage of bus drivers. I don’t know how much this will impact our ability to charter buses. The biggest effect will be on transportation to away races during the school day. My guess is that it will be easier to get a bus on Saturdays for Supplemental Training. The bottom line is that parents may be asked to help drive athletes to Away Races this season. I’m at two and half pages. As you can see my emails are still brief and to the point. Please read, print, and save these MAST Updates. Store them in a secure location. I know that our athletes don’t always check email. Tough nuggets. They need to start doing so on a semi-weekly basis during the preseason and daily during the season. To be a successful ski racer, the athlete needs to learn how to stay organized and accept personal responsibility. Email is how I will be communicating. Each Update will contain important information and instruction. Our sport is too complex for other forms of communication (Instragram, Twitter, TeamSnap, etc.). We do our best to keep our website up to date, so check that frequently as well, but rely on the most recent MAST email communication for the most up to date information. With most Updates, the athlete or parents will be asked to take an action (sign up for something, volunteer, watch a particular video, bring something, etc.). Read and act. That will help out the coaches tremendously. I am excited for the season. Hope you are as well. Enjoy this beautiful day. Mark Conway [email protected] 612-275-8392
Friday, September 3, 2021
Good Afternoon: Two quick announcements. 1. The funeral for Scott Griggs will be held at 3PM on Thursday, September 9 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church on 41st and Lyndale Ave S. Here is a link to Scott's obituary. https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/22147280/scott-w-griggs 2. Matt McConville informs me that many of you who are volunteering for our State Fair fundraiser still need to pick up your tickets to the fair. Please don't forget. By the way, thank you for volunteering. If for some reason you cannot help on Monday, please reach out to one of the families on the substitute list. We have families willing to work the Fair but who didn't make the 100 ticket cut. Check out who is signed up here: State Fair Fundraiser Sign Up Where: McConville's House 5057 Newton Avenue South / 55419 (on side deck facing park -51st street side - in a green bin) Call or Text Matt McConville with questions 612-802-9560 When: Sunday, 8/29/21 to Sunday, 9/5/21 8am - 9pm Monday (Labor Day) 9/6/21 8am - Noon
COVID SAFE PROTOCOLS We are recommending the following for volunteers: 1. Only vaccinated volunteers participate in the Goat Barn fundraiser. 2. All volunteers wear masks the entire time. Thanks much, Mark Conway 612-275-8392 |
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