Camper to Coach Intern: Session 4 With Maja Henslin

Hey there! My name is Maja and I recently got the totally rad opportunity to be a Keely’s Camp Coach Intern at the Mt. Hood Ski Racing Camp for Girls. I applied for, and got, the internship after attending 2 years of the Copper Camp Slalom Camp. I’ll start by saying, I had the best time. Like literally the best time. I love ski racing and wanted to learn more about the other components besides competing- like coaching. This was the way to do it.

A little bit about me… I am from Minnesota and have been ski racing since 4th grade. I raced for my high school team and the local club team for 6 years and recently graduated from high school. I also competed in tennis and track to help keep myself busy and really love sports. I am a youth group leader for my church and cabin leader in the summer. I have a dog and according to Keely, a very Minnesotan accent which helps keep me chuckling on the hill.

As a junior in high school, I went to my first Keely’s camp in Copper, CO  with one of my friends Hannah. I had never been coached by more than 2 women, let alone skied in a place where there was more then 2 lanes on a hill. I immediately clicked with all of the staff and had one of the best training experiences ever. I returned the next year with Hannah and another one of our friends, Adie, and again had the best time. I just loved to be coached by a group of women that pushed me mentally, physically and emotionally in my racing. They truly cared about me and helped me become the best I could be on and off the hill. Through this experience, it got me thinking that I wanted to be that person for someone.

I applied for their internship program somewhere in the middle of the two seasons and anxiously awaited for an answer. I didn’t exactly know what I was getting into, but I did know I might want to coach. When I got the acceptance email this past spring, I was so excited and couldn’t wait to get back on the hill with these awesome coaches. I couldn’t wait to learn from them and get the opportunity to motivate the next generation of racers, like they did for me.

Keely gave me the basic run down and I booked my flight. I was filled with excitement as I boarded the plane with my stuff for the week and shortly arrived into PDX. I hopped off and skipped through the airport to grab my 4 bags and  hop in the truck with BB who was waiting for me. In the car we chatted, connected, and she gave me a more detailed look at what I was about to do and how I could grow. We arrived in Government Camp, OR where I unpacked and explored until our nightly meeting. There I met all of the coaches and learned about what I would be doing for the week.

The first morning, I went up to the mountain in the white truck to help set, salt, and generally prepare our lane for the athletes when they got up there. I learned how to set and measure distances between gates in Slalom and GS. One of my favorite parts was learning to use the range finder with Keely. She challenged me to guess where I thought the gate should go and then check the actual distance on the range finder, this made for a fun game. I definitely still need work on my GS distances and making sure the gates line up correctly.

My first few days on the hill, I also got to watch all of the other coaches do their thing and learn their specific coaching style. Some were loud and energetic and some were more encouraging and calm. I later discovered that this was very intentional and they were coaching based off their personality and tailoring it to each individual kid. This was huge for me to see and be able to apply to my own coaching out on the hill. I actually saw the change in the kids’s faces when they were hearing what they needed. The coaches also explained drills in ways that were genius. I learned that you can say something ten different ways to get one end goal and each athlete might only understand one way. This was so impactful to see, especially in the first few days on hill, and then be able to apply these techniques in a group of my own.

On the 3rd day I was able to take part of Siri’s group to lap and be their “group coach” for the rest of camp. It felt so empowering to be able to apply what I had learned to a specific group of kids, with strong leaders to help me. I continued to rely on their support and advice and felt like I had made a real impact on their skiing and camp experience. This was something that I had been craving my whole life and racing career.

I attended all the dryland practices, which were so fun and unique. My favorite dryland was white water rafting! I couldn’t help but laugh after being pushed off my boat by a few of the athletes and paddling over the treacherous rapids.

I experienced so many new and different perspectives over the week that allowed me to grow and take so much in. All of the staff pushed me to be a better coach and gave me good feedback to continue growing as a coach! I took away so many new drill explanations, encouragement tactics, personalized coaching styles, and ski racing techniques from the week. I loved the opportunity to observe and try the different coaching styles to see what fit best for me. I cannot wait to hopefully coach for my former high school and club teams this winter.

I am so thankful for Keelys camp, all of their coaches and help this past week. I am also thankful to my grandpa, Bruce, for signing me up for my first camp 2 years ago because I would not have gotten this opportunity without him. If you are reading this and are at all interested in ski coaching or what comes next in your career, I highly highly recommend you apply for this internship. It was by far one of the best things I have ever done and the most growth I have had in a coaching role. Thank you Keely’s Camp!