Program to be held Saturday mornings
By Holly Neumann
The Iola Winter Sports Club is offering in-person skiing lessons to youth on Saturday mornings this winter.
Sign-up and equipment fitting will take place from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, at the club’s facility at E398 County Trunk MM, Iola.
The program is open to ages 10 and under along with their families.
“Families need to become members of the Iola Winter Sports Club,” coach Peter Gebhardt said. “The annual membership fee for a family is $125. This covers the cost of the program for one child and two adults. Each additional child is $5.”
Family memberships include all trail fees, equipment for children enrolled in the youth ski program and their parents anytime they ski with their children.
“They will need to have proper winter clothing on,” coach Katie Gebhardt said.
The focus of the Learn to Ski program is to create a positive, no pressure environment for families to explore the sport of cross-country skiing. The children start with skis and boots and without poles.
“Activities are kept short and simple, so youth have fun while learning basic skiing skills,” Peter said. “We want kids to have a positive experience. We’re hoping they learn some basics of skiing and want to come back to the IWSC to be part of the ski team or other skiing programs.”
“We want them to learn to balance on their skis, to be confident on skis and have fun outside in the winter,” Katie said. “We want families to spend quality time together. We want the children to see that you can enjoy nature and unplug from the distractions of electronics and the modern world.”
Classes will take place from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays from beginning Dec. 18 or as soon as there is enough snow to ski. Classes will be canceled if driving conditions are unsafe or the wind-chill is below zero.
Volunteer coaches are needed, according to the Gebhardts.
“Peter and I have been volunteering at IWSC for over 10 years,” Katie said. “We love it and the people. We love seeing the children having fun outside and seeing them grow year after year. We would love to have some parents help with the ski lessons.”
“With so many child participants, we need as many helping hands as we can get,” Peter said. “Please don’t be intimidated by the word ‘coach.’ You don’t need to be an expert skier, you just need to have patience and a positive attitude.”
Contact Katie at [email protected] or Peter at [email protected] if interested.
“It’s a great opportunity to get on the skis with your kids and become even more a part of the IWSC community,” Peter said.
IWSC is monitoring the COVID-19 situation and currently requires masks be worn inside the chalet.
“We feel that the risk of spreading covid is low when we are all outside and able to properly social distance,” Katie said. “We may bring all the equipment outside and have children get ready at the start line and we may limit the number of people that are in the chalet at any given time.”