Pacific Northwest Ski Association Clubs Contribute to Junior Skiing

By Brenna Knowles- PNSEF Board of Trustees

The Pacific Northwest Ski Association encourages clubs in the division to list local races on the PNSA website- www.pnsa.org. In turn, the clubs agree to pay a portion of each racer’s entry fee back to the division in the form of a head tax. PNSA then uses the funds to support junior Nordic racing at the divisional level.

Most clubs, focused on supporting their junior racing teams, list local and USSA sanctioned races on the calendar, but clubs like Anthony Lakes and Kongsbergers deserve special recognition for doing their part to support junior racing by listing and paying head taxes, even though they are not currently supporting a junior racing team.  PNSA Nordic Director, Steve Devin is excited about the divisional involvement of clubs like Kongsbergers and Anthony Lakes. “These clubs are wonderful contributors to the sport,” he says. Devin also points out that, “head taxes are a great way for masters and citizen racers to give back to the junior programs and invest in the future of cross country skiing.”

Richard Knowles, a former PNSA Alpine Director, Nordic Director and PNSEF President, now manages the Anthony Lakes Nordic Center. He explains that races like the Elkhokrn Classic and Anthony Lakes Junior Olympic Qualifying races have “always paid head taxes to PNSA and always will.” Knowles said he feels it’s important for small clubs to support the PNSA system, “because any system that works has to have a strong governing body that encourages communication and provides boundaries.” 

Peter Boveng, President of the Kongsberger Ski Club, confirmed that his club pays head taxes from the Gunnar Hagen Memorial Classic race and the Kongsberger Stampede.  Boveng explains that his club pays head taxes because they feel it is, “important to support the infrastructure for organized racing.”

According to Devin, “100 percent of the head tax money goes straight back to the Nordic kids.”  Funding is distributed by the Nordic Competition Committee (NCC) which is comprised of one representative from each of the PNSA clubs. The representatives meet twice annually to decide the direction of PNSA junior Nordic racing. The (NCC) is then able to organize funding for on snow and summer camps, entry fees, coaches travel and education, and wax for U.S. National and Junior National competitions. This year the NCC was able to secure a pair of PNSA test skis for divisional coaches to use for wax selection at national events.