OAKFIELD: The COVID19 pandemic has had an impact of the athletes with the Cross-Country Ski N.S. team. But it has also created opportunities for the athletes.
Provincial ski team head coach Daniel Murray said that following the COVID19 regulations, the athletes have not had any exposure to high performance competition. During normal years, the N.S. team regularly travels to Ontario/Quebec and occasionally Western Canada to compete against some very deep competitive fields.
“These experiences are not only valuable for athletic development, but they are great opportunities for personal growth,” said Murray in a recent interview. “The trips are also plenty of fun. But during COVID times, the team has been limited to making their own magic here in NS, and consequentially have had to focus more on their number one competitor…. their own self.”
Several of the provincial team members—Jack MacMillan; Emma Archibald; and Grace McIntyre—are all from the Fall River area. They’ve been getting extra time in to hone their skills and stay in tip top shape at the trails at Oakfield Golf and Country Club.
Murray said for most of the athletes they must be their number one competitor at national level races, only that there are many extrinsic ingredients to the experience that facilitate this process.
“When one is out of the external environment, it means that they’ve had to cultivate a more robust internal environment,” he said. “In other words, as much as the COVID situation has created many challenges, it can also be an ocean of opportunities, if one adopts a constructive perspective.”
