Dirigo Nordic Ski Team

We're three weeks into the competitive high school skiing season and so far the results have been good and the team is having a lot of fun.

When I arrived in Dixfield to teach at Dirigo High School in 2001, there was no ski program and one of my first initiatives was to ask the principal and superintendent for the permission to start one. Maine, and especially Western Maine, is fertile ground for skiing and most schools in the surrounding districts have both alpine and nordic race programs at the High School and Middle School levels. We've managed to maintain the high school nordic team for eight years and had a small contingent of alpine skiers for a few years as well, although they've mostly moved along.

Usually the athletes join the team with no nordic skiing experience (try that with your basketball or football program) but are flexible and motivated enough to accept the challenge of learning to ski and race at the same time. Without a middle school feeder program, the current trend will continue, although there are two Dirigo Middle Schoolers racing on their own this year, so we look forward to having them join the team over the next couple years.

The key thing about Dirigo Skiing is getting out in the winter to learn a lifelong sport and have some fun in the snow. Our current group certainly has fun. That's not to say we ignore the competitive side of the sport and we've had some individual success. Ethan Ray cracked the top 10 in the Class C State Meet in 2003 with a 9th place finish in the classical race. (Coach missed the wax for freestyle race which likely cost him a top 10 finish in that event, too.)

Last season, Sophomore Kirstin Blood finished 5th in classical and 6th in freestyle in our conference meet--the best ever for a Dirigo skier. We're hoping she'll move up a bit this year--you never know!

So the next few Saturdays I'll be out in the snow somewhere in Western Maine, cheering on the team as they glide to the finish of another Nordic ski race.