GMVS was recently presented with three awards for its outstanding performance in alpine and Nordic programming. For its junior (club) programming led by Lorant Gudasz and Sally Utter as well as its work with the Mad River Valley BKL program, GMVS received the 2023 Development Club of the Year Award, and Nordic program director Colin Rodgers received the 2023 U.S. Ski & Snowboard Coach of the Year and 2023 Cross Country International Coach of the Year Awards.
Introduced in 2019, the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Development Club of the Year Award is an award presented to a U.S. Ski & Snowboard member club which has distinguished itself in providing outstanding youth development programs. This year, the nomination committee stated, “Green Mountain Valley School provides exceptional programming for athletes ages 6-13, focused on skill development as well as age and developmentally appropriate gate training – all in the spirit of building strong skiers who have a lot of fun. To reduce barriers and encourage participation, they have a robust financial aid program and supplement equipment as needed. In addition to the outstanding alpine program, the GMVS Ski Club is deeply engaged with the local Bill Koch Youth Ski League, introducing young people to the lifelong sport of cross-country skiing with its recreational, social, fitness, and competitive opportunities.”
Nordic program director Colin Rodgers received the 2023 U.S. Ski & Snowboard Coach of the Year and 2023 Cross Country International Coach of the Year Awards. U.S. Ski & Snowboard Coach of the Year Awards are given in each sport to a U.S. Ski & Snowboard staff or U.S. Ski & Snowboard Competition Club coach based on outstanding contribution to either the domestic program or international program, resulting in high-level performance of his or her athletes in domestic or international competition during the past season. Each U.S. Ski & Snowboard Sport Committee makes selections.
This year, the cross-country sport committee submitted the following nomination: “Colin has now been the Nordic director and head coach at the Green Mountain Valley School for many years. Under Colin's leadership, the program has blossomed to one of the best cross-country development academies in the U.S. Colin's extensive knowledge of the sport, his passion for developing ski racers, and his enthusiasm has been magnetic in building the GMVS roster and program. This season, Colin led the U18 Scandinavian Championships trip for the U.S. to Finland. The U18 Scandinavian Championships is an elite-level competition featuring the best U18s from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and the U.S. As a nation, we've been participating in this championships for nearly 25 years. This season, one of the GMVS athletes under Colin's tutelage, Tabor Greenberg, won the individual distance race. This is the first time in history that a U.S. athlete has won the competition. The following day, the U.S. men's relay team also grabbed gold -- another historic first. These types of results are indicative of the extremely good work that Colin is doing each day at GMVS.”
Rodgfers and Gudasz attended the 2023 U.S. Ski & Snowboard Congress awards dinner, in Park City, Utah, on the evening of Wednesday, May 17, where they were presented with the awards.
