Norwegian Tor-Arne Hetland is out as one of Canada’s cross-country ski team coaches, while head coaches Justin Wadsworth and Louis Bouchard received a vote of confidence to lead Canada’s world cup teams next season.
Hetland, who has already been signed to coach in Norway, was brought in last year to help the Canadians reach their potential on the world cup scene, accompanying them on many stops. The former world champion and Olympic medallist brought new strategies to the team, but according to Cross Country Canada High Performance Director Thom Holland, there are Canadian coaches capable of taking on that role.
“I think highly of Tor-Arne. He’s an Olympic and world champion. He had some great tactics that helped us out. He was very organized and had great passion for the sport,” Holland said. “He did a great job, but he was on a one- or two-year contract. We have coaches coming up who are capable of filling in on the world cup.”
Holland said there were several considerations behind the move, including the size of the world cup team (which has dropped from seven to four athletes in the past two years), and funding. Statoil has left CCC as a sponsor and the organization won’t hear about Own the Podium funding until later this month. The sport’s governing body has to look at how to best spend its money, Holland said, and several hard choices have already been made.
“At the world cup level, we’re able to split the load. Wadsworth may be doing more than last year. We have a number of younger coaches that have had leadership roles, and had a hand in leading trips. Chris Jeffries led several B tours. People are evolving and we’re getting a feel for where they’re at,” Holland said.
Canada has had a tradition of bringing in Norwegian coaches for short periods of time, but ultimately, home grown talent needs to be developed, Holland said.
Club and development team coaches will be hired on contract to lead tours, Holland said, and money saved will help go into larger training camps. He confirmed the team will train at Sunshine Village in May, plus host a larger camp in Canmore and Quebec. The Park City, Utah camp will return.
“We lost some money last year and we have to make hard choices how to run the program. You never want to put money up as an excuse, but still, you look at where you’re going with the whole program,” Holland said.
Alex Harvey’s two medals at world championships should help the team’s finances, however, there are no guarantees as of yet. ‘B’ team athletes had to pay for their own European tours last year, and Holland said the experience they gained overseas was invaluable.
“With the B tours, we’re still making changes, but it’s the best place for the athletes we have. We’re coming up with a strategy for that 2022 group. We’re behind in the quality of races we do. It’s expensive to do this, but we have to get the up and coming people over there,” Holland said.
The national team selection announcement is expected at the end of the month.
