January Value of the Month: Teamwork!
Teamwork includes all the ways, both big and small, that we work together and communicate in order to accomplish things far greater than we could accomplish alone. At JHSC, we're always working together to achieve our Mission: To inspire and develop student-athletes through innovative and accessible ski and snowboard programs that provide opportunities to pursue personal excellence in snowsports and life.
This takes all of us—our Board of Directors, our leadership and coaching staffs, our athletes and families, our alumni, our many volunteers, and our community partners and supporters. Teamwork enables us to achieve our individual and collective goals, whether overcoming challenges together, working together to make each other stronger, or innovating and creating new opportunities for others. In all of our actions and daily practices—we train, travel, cheer each other on, and lift each other up—we support one another and work as a team. Here are just a few examples:
Congratulations to our Value of the month Award winners for January! These athletes have demonstrated Teamwork throughout this month: here are some things their coaches had to say about them:
Sorayah Ziem, Backcountry Program: "Sorayah is always very prepared. On the first practice, she even had extra spikes for hiking that someone else could use. On our recent hut trip, Sorayah really helped the team with her culinary skills. Thanks Sorayah!"
Noah Hilke, Snowboard Progression: "Noah's always cheering for teammates, and he picks up trash at Snow King: he said he 'didn't want Snow King to get a bad reputation.'"
Taz McBride, Freeski Progression Plus: "Taz is always a helpful teammate—he was pulling snowboarders around with his poles on a recent sticky day."
Seppi Sehnert, Nordic Lollipopper: "Seppi's happy to go in whatever group we assign him to, which helps with some of the other kids who only want to be with certain kids - it helps to have an example like Seppi!"
Charlie Von Maur-Newcomb, Nordic Junior: Charlie does it all: "he sets good examples, waxes skis, mentors, encourages, and cheers on his teammates."
Bridger Stiles, Nordic Comp: "Bridger's a team leader who's been in the Nordic Program since elementary school."
Natalie Montes Chavez, Alpine U12: "Natalie always cheers on teammates, and at the last race at Targhee, I noticed her taking her teammates' coats to the race start."
Avery MacMillan, Alpine FIS: "At Big Sky this month, the start ref at the race specifically mentioned that Avery slipped more than any other athlete, and that Avery said thank you every run. The start ref mentioned that hearing a thank you goes a long way when you are standing in the cold all day working a race."
Student Athlete Feature: Atticus Sanders
Atticus Sanders is a first-year FIS athlete in the JHSC Alpine Program. He recently learned that he had been awarded a grant from the World Cup Dreams Foundation that he had applied to earlier in the season. This grant helps pay for season expenses and competition fees and travel. I caught up with Atticus this month: below are some excerpts from his application essays and what he has to say about his experience in ski racing with JHSC:
Congratulations on your scholarship award, Atticus! It’s really awesome to see student athletes taking the initiative to seek out support for their ski careers; to me, this speaks highly of your commitment to racing. Do you have any thoughts to share on what commitment means to you as a JHSC athlete?
Having a dream requires commitment and dedication, in order to fulfill. Nothing worth doing is easy.
January’s Value of the Month is Teamwork - can you share a favorite team memory/story from your years at JHSC?
My first year as a U16, our entire team made it to Western Regionals. We had not been getting along super well that year, but in Schweitzer, the support and teamwork that was a result of our team bonding was amazing. It's so cool to see what kindness, support, and teamwork can do.
Looking ahead, what are your future plans for skiing, in high school and beyond?
I haven't really figured it out yet, but I know that I at least want to ski in college and hopefully on the US Ski Team.
As someone who has been in the Club for several years, what advice would you give to younger student athletes in our Club?
Work hard, and you'll succeed. Someone told me this when I was young and I didn't really take it to heart, but the older I get, the more I realize the truth behind it.
Here are a few excerpts from Atticus' World Cup Dreams essays:
"The sport of ski racing means many things to me. For me it is more than a sport, it is a way of life. I started skiing at age three and instantly fell in love with the idea of all the possibilities on skis. When my parents enrolled me into the local ski school at Teton Village, My coach (who is still a close friend and mentor to this day) and I immediately formed a bond. He understood the type of person I was and he was the first person to do that for me. A while later he heard of a race at the resort and encouraged me to do it. Reluctantly I agreed. I ended up winning that race but the important thing is, it sparked a passion for a new sport that I would come to love for over a decade and counting.
Since then many things have happened. The ups and downs that come with this sport were hard obstacles for me to overcome. A friend of mine once gave me a signed bib that read “work hard and you’ll succeed.” That quote has been one of the driving factors for me to climb these obstacles and keep pushing. I think about it almost every time I think of giving up. I know that if I put in the work and effort I can do anything . . . Ski racing has been the biggest part of my life and it has taught me many things. I have learned a lot and grown a lot since my first race, and I would love to continue the path that I am on."
"When I was 13 years old, I qualified to represent Team USA in the Whistler Cup, in BC Canada. There were 6 of us there for one week. During our time we saw people from many different nations around the world who came to compete. I felt very grateful every second we were there to have this amazing opportunity to represent my home nation at this great race.
We had three days of racing, Slalom, GS, as well as a paneled slalom dual race. In the Slalom I placed 14th, the GS 10th, and the team placed 2nd in the dual. After the slalom on the last day, all 175 athletes gathered at the base to hear the announcement of the placements. My teammates and I were filled with adrenaline to hear the speaker say the winner. Suddenly our nation’s anthem started to play on the concert speakers, blaring through the village. “The winner of the Whistler Cup, Team USA!!”. We sprinted to the stage and stood on the top of the podium as the world listened to our song. I will always remember this moment as the reason why I ski race. That emotion that I felt is another drive to continue my hard work in this sport and in general."
Alumni Spotlight: Eliot Neal
Age: 30
Discipline with JHSC: Nordic
How old were you when you joined JHSC? I joined in sixth grade, so I was 11 or 12.
How long were you a part of JHSC? I was a part of JHSC through senior year of high school, and came back to train in the summer for a couple years after that. So 8 or 9 years!
In three sentences or less, explain your entire experience with the club. I got to spend time with an incredible group of people, travel across the country, and really dedicate myself to my sport. JHSC is responsible for some of my best lifelong friends and formative experiences.
If you were to do it all over again, what would you do differently? I would probably spend more time appreciating the moment and my coaches and all the people who helped me succeed with JHSC and beyond. I definitely took it for granted at the time.
What was the most fun part of being with the club? It is very hard to pick the most fun part of being with JHSC, but I might say the Thanksgiving training trips to West Yellowstone.
What do you do now? I am a lawyer at a large firm doing business litigation out of Palo Alto, California.
How does your experience with JHSC affect you today, if at all? The biggest thing is probably the friendships I developed. Skiers from both Jackson and other towns throughout the intermountain region are some of my closest friends to this day, and that is thanks to JHSC.
What skills did you learn while competing that apply to life outside of the club? JHSC and Nordic racing in general taught me the value of hard work and preparation. Nordic racers are made in the summer, but it can be so hard to imagine standing on a start line in January when you’re sweating it out in June. So learning that sometimes you have to just put your head down and work, even when you won’t see the results of that work for a long time, has served me well throughout my life.
What is your all-time favorite memory of JHSC? It is impossible to pick just one. But I have so many great memories of spending time with my brother Willie training and racing with JHSC. I really cherish all the things I got to do with him through our time with the club.
If you knew a kid that was thinking about becoming a part of the club, why do you think should they join? It is a great way to be a part of an incredible community, you will make lifelong friends, and you will feel good about taking your sport seriously and really seeing how far you can go with it.
