Finding Your Team by Dasha Atkins.

Dasha Atkins is a 2010 & 2014 Olympian, World Cup medalist, new mom, and Founder and Coach of the Space Dogs Ski Club (www.spacedogsski.club)

I was a dedicated athlete for 17 years, and now a coach for 7, and counting.

One day my childhood ski club closed its doors forever, and as a high-performance athlete at that time, I had to pick a new club to be affiliated with. At that point, the club affiliation for me was more about representing it with pride at the Canadian National Championships, and being a club ambassador of sorts, as most of my training by then was done not with the club, but with the National Ski Team.

I could have picked ANY CLUB I wanted!

Which one did I pick, and why?

My #1 criteria for the club was very simple. Since I did not attend every AB ski club training session, nor did I interview every club coach, I picked my ski club based on this: “Which club looked like they had the most fun at the races?”.

As a National Ski Team member and High-Performance athlete (ranked in top-30 on World Cup sprint FIS rankings), I picked my club based on FUN. I just remember being at one of the National Championships Races and watching Rocky Mountain Racers athletes, coaches and support staff laughing and having the best time of their lives testing skis, waxing, and racing. They seemed to have the most fun of all, so…. I called the coach and asked to join the club.

The club culture was incredible, and I was thrilled to be part of it. Here is what made it so special for me:

1.       Acceptance. It did not matter if someone was a mature skier with a full-time job or an internationally ranked super-skier, or a skier with disabilities. Everyone was welcome, everyone trained together, and everyone was treated so well. The only requirement was that people show up, act professional, and put in their absolute best effort. Because of that, my training group with Rocky Mountain Racers was incredibly diverse, and we learned so much from each other. I will never forget learning 1-arm pushups from Mark Arendz (Now a Paralympic multi-medalist) and learning to appreciate people’s personal goals and challenges (Andy, my teammate, would do strength at 7am, to make it to his 9am shift at Trail Sports. I would show up to do strength at 8am and Andy would be already ½ way through it, which would just blow my mind – how dedicated he was to make his lifestyle possible).

2.       Fun. Rocky Mountain Racers was just exploding with positivity and fun at every single workout. Trust me when I say this – I had more grumpy workout days than fun & easy days. However, as grumpy, and whiny I would be at the workouts, my teammates still smiled and encouraged me. The coaches – God Bless John and Dan – it was impossible to be grumpy for long around those two. John and Dan had the most fun of us all! It’s thanks to this infectious positivity that all the hard work and success happened.

3.       Professional. As a 3rd most important feature for me was the club’s professionalism. Coaches oozed it every single day – through communication, training plans, and coach-athlete meetings. There was a clear underlying mission of becoming the best we can be, as a club.

4.       Proven Success. Although this was not a deciding factor to me when I was picking my ski club, it was apparent that if the coach gets the other pieces right, the success will follow. And then, you see this cool thing start happening - where success breeds more success and more fun, and it just becomes an awesome environment to be in. However, proven success is a result, an outcome. It’s not something that skiers & coaches should focus on at the start of their journey.

So as a coach, I shamelessly use the same principles in coaching, and in building the culture at Space Dogs Ski club.

1. We focus on FUN. I like to say to our skiers – If it’s not fun, at least Type-2 fun, then we won’t do it. Type-2 fun is hard/painful while it’s happening, but fun in retrospect 😉

2. We accept everyone the way they are if they commit to showing up and putting in an earnest effort. I tell our skiers that when they show up to a workout – it’s already a huge win (all our skiers are mature adults, with jobs, families, other priorities, and health issues and injuries). We treat everyone with respect and compassion, no matter their background, level of fitness, or character.

3. Being professional. This goes hand in hand with the points above – showing utmost respect and support to everyone on the club. Putting in the time to plan, design, and execute a workout. Treating our master skiers like they’re absolute superstars that have this incredible potential to improve. That is what I truly believe in, and what I do.

To end, my experience showed me that every athlete learns differently, and every coach teaches differently, but the underlying principles of having fun, setting our ego and misconceptions aside, being accepting, and being professional do not change, regardless of your coaching style.

Hope this resonates with you!