Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club Show

A big hello and welcome back to our listeners today - We started the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club Show in 2022 with the goal of spreading our love for all things outdoors and a side effect of educating and inspiring people around the world. Thousands of listeners tuned in to hear from coaches, parents, experts and athletes - we got such great feedback that we are back with another season of fun and inspiration… and who better to kick things off with than the new kid on the block, our new Executive Director Brian Krill.

SPONSOR DEAL! Use code SSWSCpodcast at honeystinger.com for 20% off all products. Fuel up now! Fine print: 20% off entire order, online only, no minimum purchase, good on subscriptions & one-time purchases, one use per customer, active until 12/31/23

Brian's 5 Things (among many more):

1. There are many nuances to the word Champion. [Listen to hear them!]

More about Brian Krill here:

Brian Krill has three daughters, two grandchildren, and his wife is a professor with a Ph.D. in Theatre. He has been a professional educator and nonprofit professional for almost thirty years working in competitive mountain athletics and the nonprofit sector since he graduated from The Colorado College in 1994. He has a Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Management from Regis University, where he was recognized with the “Karen A. Patterson Award for Community and Organizational Change,” and was owner and lead consultant of Peak Nonprofit Consulting, LLC. Mr. Krill was an administrator, teacher, and coach in independent schools and ski clubs for a decade and has extensive sales experience serving as a sales manager in western CO for seven years. Mr. Krill was also a professor at Western State Colorado University from 2010-2013, where he taught advocacy, academic writing, public speaking, and philosophy courses. Mr. Krill acted as the Interim Director of the Crested Butte Snowsports Foundation in 2012 and 2013.

In 2013, he brought this broad background and resources related to education, competitive snowsports, business, nonprofit leadership and management, and fundraising to U.S. Ski and Snowboard as the Club Development Manager and to further launch the new Club Development Program. In 2015, he was promoted to Director of Sport Education, tasked with providing education, certification, and recognition to all U.S. ski and snowboard clubs and coaches nationwide. In August 2016, Brian transitioned to Jackson, WY, to assume the role of Executive Director for the Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club. Beginning in July 2020, Mr. Krill took the position of Executive Director & Head of School at Sugar Bowl Ski Team and Academy. In his tenure there, he successfully led the organization, an accredited boarding and day high school, and a full-scale ski team through the many challenges of COVID, as well as managing a successful re-accreditation process for the school.

Brian returned to Colorado in July 2023 to assume his new role as Executive Director of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.

As always, please share your questions, comments, feedback and requests. Go to sswsc.org! Now get out there and support, lead or be a champion on and off the mountain!

"If you're not having fun, it's not worth doing." 

This quote has always been my motto, but until now, I didn't have any research to back it up. After talking to today's guest, Jean Cote, it turns out I was right! Fun is the magic pill that keeps us going in athletics (and life) & forges the path to a life-long love of the sports we do. 

The Club was lucky to have Jean join us in person recently to share his findings on how to keep kids engaged in the sports they love. Before we listen to Jean, be sure to take advantage of this deal from our show sponsor!

SPONSOR DEAL! Use code SSWSCpodcast at honeystinger.com for 20% off all products. Fuel up now! Fine print: 20% off entire order, online only, no minimum purchase, good on subscriptions & one-time purchases, one use per customer, active until 12/31/23

Topics we discuss today include:

• Deliberate fun vs deliberate practice

For more on Jean Cote:

Jean Côté is one of the world’s foremost experts on positive youth development through sport and is an internationally recognized researcher and sought-after speaker on the subject. Dr. Côté conducted a transformational coaching workshop for SSWSC coaches virtually in 2022 and visited Steamboat for a few days this January to work with our coaches again, observe our model, and present to SSWSC parents. 

Dr. Côté has focused on the factors that contribute to personal growth through sport, lifelong participation, and performance development and his presentation to SSWSC parents addressed the Personal Assets Framework, and the central role of family and parents in supporting the best possible outcomes for young athletes. 

As always, please share your questions, comments, feedback and requests. Go to sswsc.org! Now get out there and support, lead or be a champion on and off the mountain!

Jaelin Kauf won a silver medal in freestyle moguls in the 2022 Olympics. One year later, she proved it wasn't a fluke by following up with not one, but two, second place podiums at World Champs last week. This woman is on a roll! Today you get to hear all about Jaelin as we chat about her career starting when she was a baby through to her recent double silvers at the 2023 World Championships. But before we do, be sure to check out this amazing deal from our podcast sponsor.

SPONSOR DEAL! Use code SSWSCpodcast at honeystinger.com for 20% off all products. Fuel up now! Fine print: 20% off entire order, online only, no minimum purchase, good on subscriptions & one-time purchases, one use per customer, active until 12/31/23

Today you'll hear the following and so much more!

• Jaelin's skiing origins

As always, please share your questions, comments, feedback and requests. Go to sswsc.org! Now get out there and support, lead or be a champion on and off the mountain!

Today we have a very timely episode for all the parents out there who have kids entering competition season. This is a time with the stress, nerves and pressure ramp up for our kids, and as parents, we are along for the ride! 

SPONSOR DEAL! Use code SSWSCpodcast at honeystinger.com for 20% off all products. Fuel up now! Fine print: 20% off entire order, online only, no minimum purchase, good on subscriptions & one-time purchases, one use per customer, active until 12/31/23

Our Chief Operating Officer, Jon Nolting, is a multiple guest on the show (you may recognize his voice in the Intro too!), and two-time parent of kids who have faced down the perceived high-stakes competition season and survived. Along the way, Jon has developed a passion for this topic, having researched various strategies and is a living example of how they play out. Case in point, minutes before we started recording, Jon received a phone call from his 17 year old son, Jeremy, who had just had a disappointing result in a competition in Quebec. It was fascinating to be a fly on the wall listening to how he handled the conversation - something we talk about in today's episode. 

Per the title, we have lots of tips and tricks available here!

Today we talk about the follow and more:

• The difference btwn performance and results: and how parents can help (hint: parents can only help with the things they can actually control!)

At the end of the day, we all want our kids to find happiness and we hope that their sport helps them do this. Jon has one simple ask for all parents out there:

Will you commit to learning more about your child’s sport to help you in supporting them in the best way you can? 

Listening to this episode is a good step toward doing this!

For more on Jon Nolting, go here, or listen for his voice at one of the many events hosted at Howelsen Hill this winter!

As always, please share your questions, comments, feedback and requests. Go to sswsc.org! Now get out there and support, lead or be a champion on and off the mountain!

It's not every day you get to sit with one of the greatest athletes in the last decade - just days before he leaves for the final professional event of his career - ponder his past and speculate on his future. In this case, it's Snowboarder Mick Dierdorff - 2-time Olympian & 2019 Snowboard Cross World Champion among many other accolades. The event he's heading to is the 2023 Snowboard Cross World Champs, an event he didn't even plan to do but is the perfect way to wrap his decade-plus career.

SPONSOR DEAL! Use code SSWSCpodcast at honeystinger.com for 20% off all products. Fuel up now! Fine print: 20% off entire order, online only, no minimum purchase, good on subscriptions & one-time purchases, one use per customer, active until 12/31/23

Today we have some fun - we go long & we don't even scratch the surface. We may need to do Part 2 when Mick is back from Worlds!

• We cover the following and more:
  

And of course our final question: What is the greatest lesson you've learned through sport? (you need to listen to hear it!)

For more on Mick, check out his website, watch this amazing video of his 2019 World Championship Crown & tune into this year's Snowboard Cross World Champs - let's cheer him on!

As always, please share your questions, comments, feedback and requests. Go to sswsc.org! Now get out there and support, lead or be a champion on and off the mountain!

Today we talk all about injuries with the Club's Medical Coordinator, Certified Athletic Trainer, Forrest Pecha. Here's the thing about this episode: if you don't need to hear it right now, that's great - you are beating the odds! But as you'll learn, if you are an athlete (or a parent of an athlete) for whom sports is a big part of your life, there is a good chance that at some point, you may experience an injury. One of the first things we do today is normalize this! 

SPONSOR DEAL! Use code SSWSCpodcast at honeystinger.com for 20% off all products. Fuel up now! Fine print: 20% off entire order, online only, no minimum purchase, good on subscriptions & one-time purchases, one use per customer, active until 12/31/23

In this episode, you will learn the following:

• How Forrest chose the path to become a CAT - we go a little deeper on this path

For more Forrest Pecha, go here!

To facilitate the new program and connect athletes to their return-to-sport team, Forrest Pecha has been hired by SOSI for the position of Medical Coordinator for the SSWSC. The Medical Coordinator will have three core areas of focus: injury management, medical care coordination, and education for coaches, athletes, and parents.  Pecha was previously a Program Director for the Athletic Training Residency at both St. Luke’s Sports Medicine in Boise, ID and at Emory Sports Medicine in Atlanta, GA. He also served as the head athletic trainer for the USSA Men’s Alpine team for the 2002 Winter Olympic games and has traveled with U.S. Soccer for over 13 years providing medical care. Pecha will be on location half time each at SSWSC and SOSI.

And because his twins are just too cute and we all do what we do for more than just ourselves, here's a gratuitous twin shot!

As always, please share your questions, comments, feedback and requests. Go to sswsc.org! Now get out there and support, lead or be a champion on and off the mountain!

Welcome back to another amazing episode focused on the mind-game we play with sports. Today we meet the Club's Mindset Performance Coach, Luke Brosterhous. Luke came to this field of expertise from the golfing world as a standout young golfer who eventually played on the pro circuit. When he moved to Steamboat, he started coaching for the Club and that's where his curiosity about how the mental aspect of sports really became a focus. He decided to go back to school and get his Masters Degree in Sports Psychology. Today he helps young athletes develop a strong mental game which is arguably as (or more) important than their physical game!

SPONSOR DEAL! Use code SSWSCpodcast at honeystinger.com for 20% off all products. Fuel up now!

Fine print: 20% off entire order, online only, no minimum purchase, good on subscriptions & one-time purchases, one use per customer, active until 12/31/22

In this interview we cover:

• Luke's background in golf and how he was drawn to the field of sports psychology

• Concentration & Deep focus

For more on Luke Brosterhous, visit his website here!

In addition to being a Class A PGA Member, Luke holds a Masters Degree in Exercise and Sport Science from the University of Utah, in the area of Sport Psychology. Luke served as an Alpine Coach to the Winter Sports Club from 2001-2004, and 2008-2011. Luke’s unique ability to bring together Coaching and the most effective researched principles in the world of Sport Psychology is what distinguishes his Coaching from others. 

Meet the inimitable Maddy Schaffrick! Previously our Snowboard Director, Maddy recently became the Assistant Coach of the the US Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup Team. A few days before she left Steamboat, we sat down with her and got real - about her career, her philosophy on sport & what's REALLY important in life. 

SPONSOR DEAL! Use code SSWSCpodcast at honeystinger.com for 20% off all products. Fuel up now!

Fine print: 20% off entire order, online only, no minimum purchase, good on subscriptions & one-time purchases, one use per customer, active until 12/31/22

Today we cover:

• What it was like to grow up in Steamboat

If you take nothing else from this interview...

RIDE THE ENTIRE MOUNTAIN! 

Read Maddy's infamous (and greatest) bio ever!

Hello! My name is Maddy Schaffrick. I was born and raised in beautiful Steamboat Springs, Colorado and grew up in the Winter Sports Club. My list of passions is substantial but snowboarding has always been at the top of it. I love all creatures but lions are my favorite. My favorite color is the Rainbow and my favorite thing to eat is ice cream. I’m allergic to all nuts, which is funny because my favorite people are nuts! Snowboarding is fun. Friends are family. Nature cures everything. Kindness makes a difference. Magic is Real. Love is All.

As always, please share your questions, comments, feedback and requests. Go to sswsc.org! Now get out there and support, lead or be a champion on and off the mountain!

More pics cuz there are just too many good ones!

Podcast episode photo credit: Jeff Urbahn

Today we are lucky to have one of the world's premier sports researchers on the show. Mark Williams is one of the world’s leading authorities on expertise and its acquisition in sport. He has published 18 books and written over 500 scientific articles on how people become skilled and achieve success in sport and across other professional domains. He has worked across the globe as a consultant with numerous Olympic and professional sports and has vast experience as a scientist, author and educator, and as an applied sports scientist.

Mark visited Steamboat earlier this year to share insights about the concept of creating elite athletes. While he was here, we sat down and dug deeper into some of the concepts he has studied for years.

SPONSOR DEAL! Use code SSWSCpodcast at honeystinger.com for 20% off all products. Fuel up now!

Fine print: 20% off entire order, online only, no minimum purchase, good on subscriptions & one-time purchases, one use per customer, active until 12/31/22

Today you will hear:

• The science behind nature vs nurture

For more on Mark Williams, hop over to Amazon and grab his book The Best: How Elite Athletes are Made. 

As always, please share your questions, comments, feedback and requests. Go to sswsc.org! Now get out there and support, lead or be a champion on and off the mountain!

You're in for a double rainbow treat today with the incredible, insightful, resilient Flanigan power couple - Millie and Gardner! Since many of our listeners are parents, often with kids in the Club, we are building on our parent-perspective series. The Flanigans are long-time supporters of the club; as they mention today, they were involved in the club even before they had kids! Millie is currently a Physician Assistant and worked for 22 years in family medicine and now work full time in mental health as a Psychiatric PA. Gardner is the Executive Director of STARS. They have two kids, Bode (20) and Merritt (15) who provide the foundation for this conversation (unbeknownst to them)! 

SPONSOR DEAL! Use code SSWSCpodcast at honeystinger.com for 20% off all products. Fuel up now!

Fine print: 20% off entire order, online only, no minimum purchase, good on subscriptions & one-time purchases, one use per customer, active until 12/31/22

Today's conversation is fun and engaging all the way through including the following & more:

• How Millie & Garnder met (a baby blue snowsuit may be involved)

As always, please share your questions, comments, feedback and requests. Go to sswsc.org! Now get out there and support, lead or be a champion on and off the mountain!