The first video arrived today for the Holiday Camp Video Contest. Please take a look and rate the videos.

Holiday Camp Video Contest

Athletes, coaches, volunters and parents who attended the 2009 Performance Paddlesport Holiday Camp, show the world your favorite highlights from the camp by submitting a highlight video to the Holiday Camp Video Contest. To enter submit your video by uploaded to either Vimeo or YouTube, then send a link to Performance Paddlesport. Yes, not only are athletes invited to contribute submissions, parents (Gretchen), volunteers (Laura), and coaches (Nic) are encouraged to contribute as well. Further, if you are feeling particularly energetic, inspired and creative, multiple entries are also welcome (Liam).

We received word last week the Whitewater Slalom Foundation approved Performance Paddlesport's grant application for support of the 2009 Holiday Camp. Their support has enabled the camp to purchase two water sessions per day. This goes a long way toward increasing the quality of experience and training for the attending athletes. Whitewater Slalom Foundation, thank you for your support.

Cathy Hearn has joined the coaching staff for the 2009 Holiday Camp. Cathy brings a huge amount of experience, skills and talent to the camp. In over 25 years on the US team, she is one of the most internationally decorated slalom athletes in the history of whitewater slalom in the United States. Cathy's coaching melds the experience gained from individual competition and studying current technique with her knowledge of body movement drawn from The Feldenkrais Method of which she is a certified practitioner. More than anything else Cathy actively studies her sport and each athlete, learning how they move and leading them to discover the best way for them to discover excellence. She is a very welcome addition to the coaching staff for the 2009 Holiday Camp.

Performance Paddlesport will host a slalom development camp on Dec 27, 2009 – Jan 01, 2010. Nic Borst and Joel McCune will be coaching the camp. Motivated athletes who take ownership of their training and are interested in helping others with similar motivation are encouraged to attend. The registration deadline is Nov 30. Interested athletes should contact Performance Paddlesport using the contact form for more information and to register.

The holiday camp is designed to facilitate development of motivated slalom athletes through not only direct coaching, but cooperation with other athletes. This peer coaching philosophy facilitates accelerated athlete development both when coaching and while being coached. It also contributes to building of community within slalom. As a result peer coaching will be one of the primary themes of the camp.

Sessions will include dry land, flatwater and whitewater at the US National Whitewater Center. Topics covered may include, but are definitely not limited to stability drills, strength training, sport psychology, flatwater warm up drills, energy system workouts, whitewater technique and season planning.

Hosted by Performance Paddlesport, the camp staff will definitely include Borst and McCune. However, based on camp participation and interest by other coaches, the staff may also include other experienced coaches.

Performance Paddlesport will host a series of whitewater slalom development camps in the upcoming months. The first two will be hosted by Nic Borst in Durango, Colorado. The first will be Halloween weekend, Oct 30 – Nov 1 and the second Thanksgiving week, Nov 22 – Dec 01. Joel McCune and Nic Borst will jointly host the third camp in Charlotte, North Carolina between Christmas and New Years, Dec 27, 2009 – Jan 01, 2010. The coaching staff, in addition to Borst and McCune may also include other guest coaches based on athlete participation and guest coach interest.

The fall camp series will cover technical aspects of slalom, training theory, dry land training and theory of sport with particular emphasis placed on peer coaching. The purpose of the fall camp series is supporting development of whitewater slalom athletes interested in taking ownership of their own training and helping others with similar motivation.