Cheryl Tourville
Secretary, Eastern Division Ski Jumping & Nordic Combined
Volunteer, Andover Outing Club & Administrator, Ladies of Eastern Ski Jumping
cbtourville@gmail.com.
VOLUNTEER!
And empower your athletes and coaches.
It started in the 90s watching my then boyfriend, now husband, ski jump. Then we fast forwarded to 2016 when our two boys began jumping. Now fast forward to 2022 where I’m hip deep in the ski jumping community here in the Eastern Division. I’m a social person, with leadership experience and a fast learner, which I have been utilizing to help build a stronger system for our athletes and coaches, and the relationships I have made in the process are amazing!
However, in my real job as I often say to the surgeons that I work with, “go be a surgeon while I handle the administrative duties.” I say the same to my club coaches and others. “Go be a coach and focus on working with the athletes.” I have spent the last eight months as secretary for the Eastern Division working closely with the board and the club coaches to bring Eastern more clarity, and organization. I have worked with many parents here in the Eastern Division to improve communication needs as well. We have revamped our website, we have built network communication teams, and we have been meeting bi-weekly as a board to accomplish additional various tasks and projects. This past summer when I asked what the numbers looked like for the grasshopper camp and was told 8 or so, I took that as a challenge. I rented a small cabin and emailed the various groups offering to take an athlete who maybe couldn’t get there due to parent work schedules etc. That weekend we had 17 kids at camp and four busy coaches. I myself was “Eastern Mom” that weekend, running around making sure kiddos had fluids, shade, gloves, lunch etc. Carrying gear for the smaller athletes, giving pep talks and of course photographing the fun. By doing the work I was doing, it allowed our coaches to focus on the athletes and give them the attention they needed. I have had many meetings and late night calls with my local club coaches reminding them to be Coaches and have fun, and by supporting them and dividing responsibilities we are seeing the benefits here in Andover. We have spent the last four weeks completing dry land training with the lack of snow we have, but there is so much to do during these sessions and the athletes have had a ton of fun! It is awesome to not only hear and see the kids laughing but watching the coaches get out there and enjoy themselves with these athletes.
Ladies of Eastern Ski Jumping – what is that? This is a social group I created about four years ago for our Eastern female athletes. Recognizing and seeing females leave because they had no friends to travel with was bothersome, so we are trying to address this. When a female athlete has lost her confidence , we assign another female athlete and one of our coaches to work with them. We make sure the girls have access to various training opportunities at each club, and we empower young girls to work hard which leads to progress, success, and belonging. Today the girls look for each other and have created a bond that empowers them and our group.
