Pat Holland says that being a member of Snowboard Northwest will offer coaching at Schweitzer in all aspects from freestyle to freeride and they will be supporting multiple competitions with coaches helping kids make line choices and compete to the best of their ability. Furthermore he said that it’s been a long time since there was a snowboard team, Stormriders was the first one which started in the 90s and disbanded in the mid 2000s and for a long time there hasn’t been a good snowboard program. With the exception of Funatics run by Schweitzer. A group of dads and himself wanted to get together to create a team to support competition snowboarding for the youth athletes in the area.
Snowboard Northwest has a staggering amount of female riders on the team. They have enough girls to fill the entire B team, and they seem to click together extremely well. Lily Barajas, a rider on the B team, says that with so many girls she really enjoys being on the team and that having a lot of females on the team makes it easier for her to learn.
A few of the other team riders were asked about how they feel about the team environment and coaching style. Piper Roark, a member of the B team, said she loves the team and feels very grateful for the opportunity to ride for them. She also said that the coaching style she has observed from Aiden Hazan is absolutely amazing. She added that he knows how to get to your head and get you better within a couple of hours.
Calvin Schmitt, a rider for the A team, said that it’s a new experience for him and he’s not used to it yet. So far he’s alright with it, but he wants to give it more time to feel out how he feels. Especially because he’s only worked with 1 of the 4 coaches so far.
As far as the coaches go, they have quality reputations. Pat Holland was a former member of the U.S. Snowboard team for boardercross, Aidan Hazan is a highly reputable local park rider, Marty Andrews is a long time advanced funatics coach, and Teague Mullen is a successful former freeride snowboarder.
The coaches were asked their motivation for coaching on the team and had phenomenal answers that really shows how much this team means to the community.
Andrews said he is looking forward to bringing his coaching skills, understanding of teaching and learning styles, and having fun with each team member to reach their full potential. He said “I have always enjoyed paying it forward in regard to coaching and teaching. I have had great teachers, coaches, and meets throughout my life. They are the ones who lit the path with their upbeat energy and love for the outdoors. I feel it’s my turn to share these experiences and knowledge with those who will fill these shoes in the future.”
Mullen replied that his mindset for coaching is to provide kids with the motivation to be able to accomplish anything with hard work and determination. The reason that he is coaching is to give back to the young people in the world the things that he has learned. Adding that it is awesome to watch somebody learn a new trick after trying over and over!
Lastly, one of the most touching answers I was provided, Hazan said that “When I grew up snowboarding I had no one to teach me the proper way to do things, it took me a while to get where I’m at right now with snowboarding and I would like to provide what I at Schweitzer never had, which is a freeride and freestyle coach! Furthermore there isn’t any direction for kids who want to progress outside of Funatics. My goal is to make my riders progress and give them the direction they need in order to achieve their goals!”
