Jack Sasseville – Head Coach
Jack is the Founding Head Coach of Team Hardwood in 1995 and coached the team until he took over the management of Hardwood Ski and Bike in 2008. Jack is an NCCP Level V coach who has been coaching for 48 years, including 13 years and 4 Olympics with the National Ski Team. He is a former Alberta and Ontario Coach of the Year. He has coached national and international champions of all ages. His skiers have won over 300 medals at Canadian Championships. In November 2023 he will be inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame.
Sarah and Jason Vurma
Sarah has over 15 years of experience in coaching Young Adults and Children in Nordic Skiing and is a long-time High School Nordic Ski Coach. Both Sarah and Jason have completed the NCCP Community Coaching for Cross Country Skiing and Learn to Train Course as well as holding coaching certificates in Mountain Biking. Both Sarah and Jason have raced in Triathlons, Cross Country Skiing, and Mountain Biking for 20 years.
Junior Team Assistant Coaches
Bronwen Lash
Bronwen Lash originally raced for the Nova Scotia provincial team in numerous provincial and national level events and later Laurentian University. Bronwen has coached school teams and at club level for over 20 years, achieving NCCP level 3 coaching certification.
Declan Barber
Declan is a Team Hardwood graduate with over 10 years of racing experience as a junior and senior skier. His role is to help Jack to coach the Performance and Development programs while providing a positive example on how to train and to ski with good technique.
Parent Volunteers
Team Hardwood depends on parent volunteers to keep the program running smoothly. In order for athletes to get the most out of the coaches’ expertise in coaching, we expect parents to share responsibility for fundraising, trip planning, waxing and other functions as needed.
- Trip Planning – Typically, a different parent (or group of parents) undertakes planning for each major race trip (O’ Cups, Canadian Eastern Champs, Nationals, Youth Ontario Championships). This usually involves securing accommodation, coordinating transportation and arranging one or more team meals. For families new to Team Hardwood, there are lots of experienced parent volunteers to provide guidance on expectations.
- Waxing – assistance with waxing, especially for races where TH has a large number of athletes. This is an opportunity for those who want to learn more about waxing to get guidance from more experienced parent volunteers
- Fundraising – TH participates in a number of fundraising events throughout the year. We always need parent volunteers to help make this successful.
- The Junior Devo Program led by Sarah and Jason Vurma, will require coaching and leadership support from parent volunteers. These volunteers will be expected to manage small groups of skiers or individual skiers who need one-on-one assistance, leaving Sarah and Jason to coach the larger group. These parent volunteers will benefit by receiving training from Jack, Sarah and Jason on proper training, technique, teaching and coaching skills in early season training sessions.