La dolce vita »

Andrea Lee looks forward to being reunited with Coach Dave Battison and her ski club president Len Apedaile at the Universiade in Italy.

LA DOLCE VITA

From the Dec. 11, 2013  Strathcona Nordic Ski Club newsletter.

Thursday, December 12 is the first cross-country ski event at the Universiade in Trentino, Italy. Our ski club has the honour of having three members representing Canada at this prestigious international event, which runs from December 11 to 21!

  • Club member Andrea Lee has been named as one of six female racers on the team that will represent Canada at the games.
  • Head Coach Dave Battison has been named by Cross Country Canada as the Head Coach for national university team.
  • Our club president Len Apedaile has been appointed by the International Ski Federation (FIS) as Technical Delegate for the cross-country ski race events.

Andrea Lee says she is looking forward to racing in the games and to being reunited with her former coach Dave Battison. She says, "When I found out that Dave is coming on the trip, I was pretty excited to say the least. I've really missed working with him over the past few years that I've been out in Ontario. I've always had the utmost confidence in Dave's coaching and waxing ability, so it is reassuring to know that our team is going to be very well taken care of over in Italy! It's very cool that Len will be there too!"

Dave says, "I'm thrilled to be coaching Andrea again. We have such a good rapport, and she's competing at a level where she could be top 10 or be a medalist on the world stage. This is great opportunity for her to shine."

Len won't get to spend much time with Dave and Andrea at the games as he'll be busy as Technical Delegate. Len has become a seasoned race official over the years, working his way up to become a level 5 cross-country ski race official and a licensed FIS and IPC Technical Delegate. Len regularly officiates at National and International level FIS and IPC cross-country events. Len has been the chief of race for cross-country events at several IPC World Cups and the Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. In 2014, Len will oversee the cross-country events at the Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi.

Dave says, "It's pretty exciting that three people are going from our little club on the island! We are competitive with the super clubs (who have 1600 members). It's exceptional! This event is second only to Olympic Games in terms of size and numbers; it's bigger than Panama Games."

Best wishes from the whole club to Andrea, Dave, and Len. We are so proud of all of you!

You can follow the Universiade on the official website.

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