With the nice weather and permitted gatherings, help us achieve our fundraising goal by donating your recycled bottles and cans to our club at any Sarcan of the province.
"bottlesforbullets" is the keyword.
Damage to our Targets & Repairs
As some of you may have heard we noticed recently that there was some damage done to our targets with some larger calibre rounds going through the paddles that pop up. Now it is not unusual for a few shots to accidentally go into a paddle when playing games and such but this damage was beyond that.
Early discussions with RAPS (we share the range with them, the RWF and the GPSA (range beside ours) shared our anger with the damage and the willingness to work with us to cover the costs associated with the repairs.
With these commitments, work began to fix the paddles and larger dents in the front face of the targets. It was also taken up to review the targets and see what other repairs and fixes need to be done.
To date, 4 targets were completely grided down and repainted.
Close to 80% of the paddles were removed, welded, and repainted.
A few bearings were replaced, tack welds to fix other parts of the targets, and a few springs and wires are next in line to be replaced.
A big thanks to Merle for all the work and leading the charge and to Neil, Cameron and Steve for their efforts in the repairs.
Beautiful Weather in November!
Love this! Perfect day for biathlon, great conditions with no wind as a bonus!
Physical distancing can be done (mother and teen son is ok to be closer right?)
First Night Tracks under the Lights
Emma and Chrystal of the Regina biathlon club have the honour of “first tracks” on the biathlon loop trail at night with the lights. Many thanks to the volunteers of the Regina ski club, wildlife federation, and biathlon Saskatchewan who made possible the installation of these lights.
Biathlon Canada & Cross Country Update
Note From Merle:
I skimmed the notes and it looks like Biathlon insurance coverage for all training activities needs to be identified in advance. As our range remains open, and the RWF is generally an active place these nicer days, I expect we should report as such?? We have 2 targets on the range and shooting as an individual or family unit I expect would not violate the provincial social distancing orders?? From our membership conversations I expect very intermittent use and nothing is organized nor formally coached. Our partner handgun guys are doing the same as their one large target is now also set up on the range. I have talked to a few and they have offered to help with our renovation projects if we need.
Merle
Biathlon Canada
Division Update April 15, 2020 Hello Divisions,
I hope this finds you healthy and safe. This email has some important updates on a variety of topics as we approach the kick-off to the 2020-2021 training season. Response is requested on a few topics in a week’s time (April 22).
It was fantastic seeing you all two weeks ago at our first ever virtual Nationals event. We are considering whether we can incorporate an online component to future awards ceremonies so that we can include more biathletes and supporters from coast to coast to coast. If you have any feedback, we are happy to hear it.
A few updates:
1. Board Update: The Biathlon Canada Board of Directors is meeting every three to four weeks to monitor the COVID-19 situation and discuss and model the potential impact this will have on the 2020-2021 season and beyond. All Divisions received a reach out from a member of the Board asking for more information on how the pandemic is impacting your Division. Please continue to reach out as things shift and change. Effective immediately, we are working on our Revenue Generation strategy for 2020-2021 and are developing a plan to strengthen our biathlon community during these unprecedented times. This will include professional development sessions, athlete-specific learning opportunities etc. Many thanks for your feedback on this topic. Heather will provide an update in the next two weeks summarizing our board meetings this past quarter.
2. Insurance during COVID-19: ACTION REQUIRED by April 22, 2020. a. Online programming: Our insurer has approved of online instruction/programming contingent upon them knowing what your group will be doing in advance. Please take a look at the list of activities below and let me know if there is anything else your Division/Clubs are doing that is not included in this list of activities. This way I can get it approved through our insurer. **NOTE that the activities below have not yet been approved. - Online dry-land training (minor equipment, which could include exercise equipment or similar props): Online, led by a coach for a workout at home (through an online video platform). - Dry-land training on your own (minor equipment, which could include exercise equipment or similar props + running/biking/skiing/roller skiing): Program prescribed by your biathlon club/PTSO/Biathlon Canada but done on your own time. - Shooting training: Dry firing at home: online, led by a coach for a workout at home. - Shooting training: Dry firing at home: Program prescribed by your biathlon club/PTSO/Biathlon Canada but done on your own time. - Theory sessions (nutrition, mental performance, video analysis etc.) work: on your own time but program prescribed by the coach OR group sessions done online VERY IMPORTANT: - Next week we will share the final list of approved activities by our insurer as well as best practices for offering online training. - When offering virtual/online training the Rule of Two applies! Having two trained and screened coaches present is best practice, click HERE for more information. - All individuals (coaches and athletes) participating must be registered with Biathlon Canada for the 2020-2021 registration period. More information on the opening of the 2020-2021 registration season can be found below. b. Contagion Exclusion – IMPORTANT Our insurer has included a contagion exclusion to our policy. This applies to claims and/or losses related to COVID-19. For example, if someone decided to ignore COVID-19 health orders to stay inside or practice physical distancing and something happened where they were infected and got someone else infected, then the lawsuit against this individual would not be covered through our policy. Please find our updated policy online here if you are looking for more information.
3. Biathlon Activities during COVID-19: Any biathlon activities your Division or clubs are offering must align with what local, regional, and national authorities deem appropriate. If you would like to discuss this in more detail with someone from Biathlon Canada please reach out to Roddy Ward (rward@biathloncanada.ca) or Jacqueline Akerman (jakerman@biathloncanada.ca). We will also host a webinar next week on how COVID-19 is impacting the training season and creative ways to stay engaged in the sport. Find more information on all Professional Development opportunities here. Please share this link with coaches and athletes. Precision Shooting: We are looking at different options for the Precision Shooting competition for the 2020 season. More information to follow.
4. Certificates of Insurance: Our insurance policy has renewed for 2020-2021. If you require a Certificate of Insurance for your Divisions/Clubs, please fill in the attached form and send this to Sarah at smurphy@biathloncanada.ca. This is a new procedure for obtaining certificates of insurance from our insurance provider. The form is very easy to fill in and should only take 2-3 minutes.
5. Division Affiliation Fees: I will send the 2019-2020 Division Affiliation fees by next Tuesday, April 21. To note for the 2020-2021 affiliation fee: Please note that our insurance fee has increased slightly in 2020-2021 as our abuse coverage has improved to $5 million (this is a mandatory change by our insurer for all related policies). I will also send you the 2020-2021 Division fee this week if this helps for planning purposes. As per usual, this is not due right away.
6. 2020-2021 Registration: Due to some technical issues the opening of registration has been delayed. We are currently completing final testing. Registration will be open early next week. We will notify you when this becomes public. a. Gender Equity Research: Biathlon Canada will be conducting a gender audit this year with Brock University through a grant from Sport Canada. In this year’s registration form, there is an “opt in” option and individuals can elect to have their data included in this study. More information will be posted on our website about this project next week. Should you have any questions please contact Jacqueline Akerman at jakerman@biathloncanada.ca.
7. Safe Sport Policies: We have a new suite of Safe Sport related policies that we are in the midst of finalizing. In May/June we will convene a video conference with Division leaders to review these policies, provide background information, and answer any questions. More information to come. Please see the new Safe Sport section of our website here for up-to-date information on our Safe Sport initiatives (the new policies are not yet included here).
Thanks so much for your time. Please reach out if you have any questions or comments.
Best,
Heather Ambery General Manager Biathlon Canada hambery@biathloncanada.ca
Cross Country
Click the following link to see the Cross Country Update, https://mailchi.mp/df552e62d710/weekly-update-to-divisions-may-20-24-mise-jour-hebdomadaire-semaine-du-20-au-24-mai-4663901?e=b5abbd19b2
RBC Trail Lighting installation of first lights
After much hard work in planning, researching and buying the first trail lights at the Regina Biathlon Club have been installed.
Groomer Brian showing off his pole climbing skills!
With help from Brian, Merle said this week “let’s get it done.” So today we installed 4 lights to test.
Light!!!
These first light s are a test of the equipment and to see how much light is thrown at night. We may need to upgrade to more lumens or add an extra light per pole if we feel more light is needed.
Lots of light being thrown at the snow fences in the penalty loop.
So far the first night test shows that the new lights are bright and should do the trick to assist in evening practice at the range. This will allow us to maximize our season by allowing more availability in the long Winter season.
Groomers doing their work with the light at the top of the hill shining bright.
SWF Biathlon Cup 5 & 6 at the Regina Biathlon Club
On January 25 & 26 the RBC will be hosting the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation Biathlon Cup races 5 & 6.
The weather hasn’t cooperated well these past few weeks but with some snow moving and more snow fall our trails are ready!
Lots of sore arm muscles after today.
Saturday zero is at 12:00 and races begin at 1:00.
*There will a pizza and pasta buffet Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. at the Western Pizza on South Albert for only $15. You can RSVP for supper when you register Saturday morning.
On Sunday zeroing begins at 9:30 and the race begin at 10:30. There will be hot dogs and marshmallow available for all and a the infamous prize table run following the races.
To register for the races please follow this link to Zone4, https://zone4.ca/register.asp?id=23103&lan=1&cartlevel=1
If you have any questions please call or text Merle at 306-737-4585.
2019 Prize Table Run Sunday afternoon
Canada Ski Patrol Ski Swap and Sale
The Canadian Ski Patrol, Qu’Appelle Zone will hold their annual Ski Swap and Sale Nov 8-9 at Campbell Collegiate in Regina. This is your opportunity to buy reasonably-priced alpine or nordic equipment and sell your unwanted items while supporting the Ski Patrol System.
Volunteers are available to help you select equipment appropriate for you or your child. (There is a good guide to the selection and maintenance of Nordic skis at the Cross Country Canada website.)
Check out the Ski Swap 2019 Event on Facebook.
Location: Campbell Collegiate 102 Massey Road
Register your equipment for sale: Fri Nov 8 6:30-9:00 pm
Sale: Sat Nov 9 9:00 am-4:30 pm (Closed for Mark-Downs 12:30-1:30)
Open House - come try biathlon!
The Regina Biathlon Club will be hosting an Open House on October 13 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm at our Clubhouse at the Regina Wildlife Federation.
If you are interested in knowing more about biathlon and thinking of joining our Club come out and check it out!
Email reginabiathlonclub@gmail.com to register for the Open House or to ask any questions.
First Pre-Season Practice of the 2019-20 Season
The first practice of the 2019-20 season with be Saturday, September 14 at 9:00 a.m.
Make sure you have renewed your Biathlon Sask memberships, Regina Wildlife Federation memberships and start looking at the Regina Ski Club membership options, check the Registration tab for links.
This year new sport rules and internal club protocol dictate all adults have memberships and criminal records checks done. We will pay that $10 cost but you must endure that line up (I did mine yesterday). Relatively painless but took 30 minutes off my life. The letter of "need" is provided via our website under the registration tab.
Thanks to those who spent time this summer putting a bit of lipstick on our facilities!!! It is a great start!! more to come.
- Merle Boyle
Regina Ski Club volunteers grooming WBT on Jan. 20 2019
Regina Ski Club volunteers grooming about 5 cms of new snow January 20, 2019. Trails excellent in sheltered areas, wind blown in open areas, and some drifting in fenced areas. Access and trails to the RWF biathlon shooting range remain in good condition.
Great race practice for the SWF Cup races next weekend.
The weather was perfect and we had lots of athletes at the range for our weekly practice.
Today we had a practice race so new athletes and old alike could work through the process of what a biathlon race looks like.
It was good as we had a few take the wrong trails and get a bit off track and lots of learning on the penalty loops. ;)
looking forward to hosting the SWF Cup races next weekend!
And it was good to see some old friends from MJ come out to ski and shoot!
Here is some information for the races next weekend.
Regina Biathlon Club is pleased to host 2 days of races Jan 12 and 13, 2019. Thank you to the SWF and RWF for their continued support!
Saturday - late start - noon zero 1:00 race.
Sunday - early start - 9:30 zero 10:30 race.
Saturday evening Western Pizza south Albert?(Steve to book back room at $15 pp). 5:00.
Cost for racing remains at $15 pp per day or $25 for both days plus pizza.
Zone4.ca sign-up.
Late registrations welcome up to time of the Zero.
The first race of 2018 in a couple weeks has us thinking back to the first race of 2017
December 2017 Sitzmarks newsletter excerpt.
First race highlight parent and athlete quotes included:
- He was nervous as this was his first race, but is now prepared for what is expected, and for what is to come.
- Saturday - he made good friends in the penalty loop (all - from novice, to High Performance, to Olympian will eventually meet in the penalty loop, as shooting clean is rare under race conditions).
- I got chocolate for shooting clean - and it was the BIG bars.
- Shooting was much better on Sunday, the nerves were gone, his confidence was buoyed, and after missing only one shot he actually cracked a smile on his one penalty loop.
- Needs work on the skiing aspect
- "if I squinted my eyes, he looked like Bambi on ice". (To be expected after being on skis for only 3 practices!!!)
- "I was so proud of him for getting back out there on Sunday and giving it his best at the races, and I was happy that he said he was proud of himself. Even once the event was all over and folks were packing up he wanted to hit the trails one more time and ski the longer yellow loop because he heard from others it was fun. So I definitely feel that the weekend was a success for him."
- It was great to see new biathletes and the speedy teenagers racing on the same track and having a blast.
- The event was well organized and very welcoming.
- The coaches and audience were very encouraging.
- Amazing number of volunteers.
- The full weekend of races completely drained him.
- He is hooked on biathlon.
- The ski trails and renovated accommodations at Blue Mountain are awesome.
- Wow!!! Our first race... and I got 2 bronze medals
- and my younger sister got 2 golds!!! (Thank you to the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation for that sponsorship.)
- The evening kitchen ceilidh showed some impressive accordion, guitar, banjo, and spoon percussion talents, and camaraderie amongst parents and competitors.
- "Can't wait to do it again" Note: We practice every Saturday morning at the Regina Wildlife Federation. With a small membership fee, you can start at any practice or race event. An audience is always welcome. For more information, visit us under programs at www.reginaskiclub.com.
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To read the entire Sitzmarks newsletter from last December you can see the PDF below.
December 2017 Sitzmarks newsletter
To read other Sitzmarks newsletters follow the link below to the Regina Ski Clubs page.
SWF Cup #1 and #2 - Blue Mountain
The first races of the year are coming up near the end of the month on Saturday, November 24, 2018 12:00 PM - Sprint and Sunday, November 25, 2018 1:00 PM - mass start.
Blue Mountain is west of Saskatoon, then directly north of Denholm - don't miss the turn. It is some distance -- north on gravel, crossing another highway, then north on more gravel till you get on narrow pavement. Watch the left side - top of a hill - for a small sign indicating Blue Mountain Adventure Area. It is a hidden jewel in the Touchwood Hills. Plan for 4.5 hours from Regina -- Saturday start is noon -- Go early and meet the others and get ready -- Rifles on the racks and clips loaded and then practice ski the loops assigned.
To register to attend the races visit Zone 4 to sign up.
The race events in Saskatchewan are great experiences. We say that you can start our sport at any event - including a race - and you will have a great time... wanting to do it again. So many things to learn and so many things that can go wrong. This a sport about "managing yourself". Doug and the groups from Blue Mountain and other Clubs are VERY helpful building positive camaraderie for the zeroing, race and penalty loops, timing and scoring - and evening socializing.
White Butte Trail Clean up
Cyclists joined with the skiers for a great turn out at White Butte Trails Cleanup on October 28, 2018! Lots of brush was cleared, fences mended and snow fences erected by a great group of volunteers.
The trails are ready for some snow and the groomers.
2018 Ski Swap Sale is Coming!
LOCATION
Campbell Collegiate
102 Massey Road, Regina
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2018
Registration of equipment
6:30 - 9:00 p.m.
$1.00 consignment fee per registered item payable at the time of consignment.
We cannot accept used helmets, clothing or smaller items such as mitts and toques.
Ski Patrol will retain a commission of 18% on sold items
Donations – We gratefully accept your equipment donations. Please let the Ski Patrol volunteers know you wish to donate your items when you arrive.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2018
Sale
9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Come early for the best selection!
Payments - Only cash or cheques can be accepted for purchases.
Markdowns - We close at 12:30 p.m. for markdowns and reopen at 1:30 p.m.
Pick Up Items And/ Or Post Dated Cheque For Items Sold – We will be ready to process the pick-up of unsold items and / or issuing of POST DATED cheques for the items sold starting at 3:30 p.m.
ITEMS NOT PICKED UP BY 4:30 P.M. BECOME THE PROPERTY OF THE SKI PATROL.
If you can’t pick up your own items, please make arrangements for someone else to pick them up for you. Please provide them with your registration form as your authorization for pick up.
The funds generated from this event support our volunteer developed and delivered safety programs as well as purchase the supplies and equipment we use in providing first aid services at the ski areas and events we support. Thanks for your ongoing support of the Ski Patrol Ski Swap.
Check out our event page on Facebook by searching Canadian Ski Patrol - Qu'Appelle Zone SKI SWAP
Registration for the Regina Biathlon Club's 2018 season is open!
Now is the time to check out the Regina Biathlon Club and see if biathlon is a sport for you and your family. Head over to the Registration tab at the top of the page and sign up for a great winter sport that will keep you active and challenged.
The Regina Biathlon Club hosted a coaches clinic and athletes clinic June 16 – 17
The Regina Biathlon Club hosted a coaches clinic the weekend of June 16 – 17. 13 coaches from 3 Saskatchewan clubs participated in earning their Community Coaching certifications, and learned the basics and some of the finer points of both marksmanship and skiing.
Special thanks to Gregg Campbell for facilitating the group’s learning over the weekend and sharing his enthusiasm and knowledge of biathlon.
Simultaneously, the Regina Biathlon Club hosted a mini-camp for its athletes. 9 athletes enjoyed fresh air at the range and honed their shooting skills, took part in a goal-setting session, and played games that increased their agility, stamina, and teamwork skills.
Thank you to our provincial coach, Doug Sylvester, for leading the athletes in the morning, and to Chris Selinger and Curtis Nord for assisting in delivering the day’s activities.
To see more photos from the weekend you can head over to our photos page.
Spring 2018 Range Clean up Day
During the winter when the nice white snow covers everything the range and grounds of the Club look beautiful. Once the snow melts and dries it is a completely different story. And so on Saturday May 12 athletes and families from the RBC descended on the Regina Wildlife Federation for Range Clean Up Day!
Spring cleaning at the Regina Biathlon Club range at the Regina Wildlife Federation.
Many hands made the work a bit lighter on Saturday, with targets repaired and painted, garbage hauled out, firewood cut and stacked for next Winter and a general clean-out of the warm-up shack and shed.
We also made plans and prepared for future work this summer.
- The rebuild and addition of 2 large windows in the safe area.
- Maintenance on the tin roofs of the warm up shack and shed.
- Additional shelves built in the shed.
- Power run out to the targets to run lights for night practices.
Wall at the back of the safe area should have 2 large 9 by 6 wondows in it by this Fall.
In all we will have a busy summer of cardio and shooting for the athletes, and cardio and work for the parents. We aim to have small incremental improvements to our range and club year over year, with the express outcome of making everyone experience in our club a better one.
The athletes and kids were busy hauling wood, checking the trails for fallen brush, repairing wind flags, garbage collection and tiring out the dogs.