A partnership agreement has been reached between the Canadian Ski Instructors’ Alliance (CSIA) and the various associations representing Adaptive Alpine Snow Sports within Canada in the interest of exploring opportunities to share and collaborate on common initiatives related to instructor education, training and certification.
“The ski industry wants and needs more collaboration like this,” says Dan Ralph, Managing Director of the CSIA. ”We are excited to bring further education and training opportunities to our membership. This partnership will strengthen our brand and help grow the sport.”
As Executive Director of the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing (CADS), Maureen O’Hara-Leman agrees: “This partnership is a great step forward for the organizations and will lead to more professional development opportunities for ski instructors across Canada. This will increase the scope and the depth of the adaptive instructional programs which will ultimately translate to better access to adaptive programs for everyone, definitely a win-win for all.”
An agreed upon Memorandum of Understanding between these parties will pursue discussions that include:
- Increase accessibility to snow sports for people of all abilities;
- Improve the ski experience for people of all abilities;
- Integrate Adaptive Snow Sports Instruction into the CSIA’s credit-based education model;
- Creating opportunities for “ cross-education “ between the various associations;
- Share best practices in ski teaching;
- Consolidate educational content, resource material and assessment standards;
- Contribute to the health and growth of the snow sports industry;
- Increase the competency and value of instructors to ski resorts through cross-education and membership certification;
- Advance the image and brand reputation of instructors/volunteers within the ski industry;
* The various Adaptive Snow Sports Associations across Canada will be represented by the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing (CADS) and the Ontario Track 3 Ski Association for Children.
Says Steve Jones, Chair of Ontario Track 3 Ski Association: “Skiing and snowboarding provide a fantastic opportunity for people with disabilities to experience freedom, mobility, exercise, social interaction and excitement. Our goal is to increase the number of qualified adaptive volunteer and professional instructors in Canada so that more people of all abilities can participate and enjoy. ”
More details of this partnership will be forthcoming as the various parties explore opportunities to work more closely together and grow the sport of skiing within Canada.
Photo courtesy of CADS, www.DisabledSkiing.ca
SnowOnline Editor: Lori Knowles
