Training courses for ski officials

Press, 17 September 1976, Page 17

Training courses for ski officials

To improve the international rating of its officials, the New Zealand Ski Association intends to run national training courses. The officials will receive instruction in the requirements of the various positions and next year a qualifying scheme will be introduced to examine the candidates. The referee for the New Zealand championships being held at Mount Hutt this week, Mr Roger Estall, said there was a lack of experienced people in New Zealand to run races, as they should be under international rules. Mr Estall said the N.Z.S.A. wanted its referees and other officials to have qualifications the same as- those in other sports. If New Zealand could get a referee qualified on an international basis, it could then have a representative on the technical committee of the International Ski Federation. The Australian Ski Federation had a referee qualified internationally this year, and if New Zealand could get a referee qualified it would be a considerable saving to both countries. An international referee must officiate on any F.I.S. race, but the referee cannot run events in his own country. Previously when Australia has conducted international races it has had to import a referee from Europe or North America at its own expense. New Zealand hopes to hold F.I.S. races in the future and if it has one or more international referees it can exchange with Australia with a considerable saving to both associations who lack the seem-

ingly endless funds of their European and North American counterparts. Course approvals lost. —The likelihood of New Zealand having international races next year has disappeared and the New Zealand Ski Association is not happy about it. Two seasons ago, an Australian, Mr D. Watson, a member of the F.I.S. cours e-approval committee, came to New Zealand to inspect three ski areas — Mount Ruapehu Mount Hutt, and Coronet Peak — with a view to granting them international rating. All the necessary material, including reports of the fields and relief maps, was sent to Mr Watson for him to forward to the F.I.S. course-approval committee. However, the committee has not yet sighted the material. Mr Watson said that he sent it to the committee in Innsbruck five months ago. Efforts by the N.Z.S.A. to contact Mr Watson have mostly failed, and even a letter from the courseapproval committee chairman has not produced the desired results. It cost the N.Z.S.A. about $lOOO to bring Mr Watson to New Zealand to inspect the fields, and it is anxious to see some return for its money. It also wants the approval of its fields so that it can proceed with establishing a circuit of

international races in New Zealand.

Spring ski-ing. — Prospects for ski-ing into November are now good for many of the South Island ski-fields. In the last two weeks, most have had about 2ft of snow after only average falls earlier in the season. The latest falls have been on a solid base, and will ensure several more weeks of ski-ing in both the South and North Islands.

Reizentstein Cup. — There is a four-way battle for the women’s Reizenstein Cup, to be decided at the New Zealand championships this week. Julia Allison, a Canterbury schoolgirl, is leading the race for the Cup with 101 points. She is II points ahead of Fiona Johnson, her team-mate. Miss Johnson made ground at Mount Ruapehu last week when she won the Qantas Cup giant slalom. With 87 points, only three behind Mis's Johnson, is Jonelle Mills, of Queenstown, while last year’s New Zealand champion, Anna Archibald, is two points behind Miss Mills. Leading the men’s section is Jeremy Light, with 73 points. He is only two ahead of Julian Morris. Both are members of the Canterbury team. Stuart Blakely, in third place, has no chance of winning. He is injured, and will not compete in the championships.