USASJ Story Project 28-DEC-2014 MIKE GLASDER

MIKE GLASDER
Age 25
Norge Ski Club
Cary, IL

I grew up in the small suburban town of Cary, IL located a short drive from the Windy City, Chicago. My Dad Steve and his whole family lived and grew up in this town their entire lives. My Uncle John had begun ski jumping at the Norge Ski Club in Fox River Grove and skied up until a few short years ago. My family has always been very involved in sports so seeing that we live right across the river from the Norge ski jump it was only fitting that I would try ski jumping for a winter activity at the young age of 5. Little did I know at the time that this amazing sport would take me places that I never would have thought possible.

Many of you that have been to the Norge Ski Club in the past have seen a lot of changes over the years and the progression of the training facility. When I started, the club had a bunch of small hills and a soon to be outdated K64 with a junior program that wasn’t in the best of shape. Within a few short years the junior. program had a lot of little kids interested in ski jumping. Parents were heavily involved in the club and were looking for a way for their kids to progress and improve their abilities in the sport. Around this same time Scott Smith started coaching at Norge. When I was first starting to compete as a little kid we would travel around the Midwest to tournaments every weekend January through March getting up early in the morning and traveling to the junior tournaments and watching the older athletes fly off the bigger hills in amazement. It wasn’t long before Scott would take us and start traveling without our parents all over for these competitions.

LONELY at the TOP.   SCOTT SMITH, has led a resurgence in numbers  and talent at the Norge Ski Club.

The club house at Norge was in desperate need of tearing down and rebuilding as it had been around for a very long time. One summer my dad (Steve) and countless other club members and volunteers dedicated their entire summer to the rebuilding of the clubhouse which is now an amazing facility that gets a lot of use by its members and athletes. Around this same time the K64 was also in need of tearing down a rebuilding. This is when the club had decided to take the tower in Ely, MN and truck it down to its new home in Fox River Grove to be reconstructed along with the addition of plastic so the junior kids could train throughout the year. This was a huge undertaking by the Norge Ski Club and everyone helped out with this tremendous project to support the juniors and keep the sport of ski jumping alive and well at Norge.

Since all of this has happened the club has since rebuilt all of the smaller hills and installed plastic as well which makes it a great place for younger kids with Olympic and World Cup dreams. Snow making is also a very intensive task that takes place every year and the club now has a winch cat to aid in this process which is a huge help from when I was a younger jumper having to spend a few nights packing the hill every few hours.

THE FUTURE is LOOKING BRIGHT for NORGE.

As you can see the Norge Ski Club has changed quite a bit since I began ski jumping and is producing a lot of promising young talent for our beloved sport. All of these changes were made with the help of dedicated parents and club members and with a great coach- Scott Smith, who mentors the youths in the area. It’s important for enthusiasts of ski jumping and ex-athletes to give back to the sport to continue the progression and heritage of ski jumping within the Unites States. I have made countless lifelong friends both young and old within my time involved in the sport. A huge thanks to my parents, Scott, the Norge Ski Club, and all of the friends and coaches that have gotten me to where I am today. Let’s continue the great progression that USA Ski Jumping has made over the past few years and give back to the sport so that young kids today and in the future may have the great opportunities in ski jumping that I have had!

Editor’s notes-
Mike has long been a national treasure and just missed making the 2014 Olympic Team.   He is competing this year in hopes of qualifying for the 2015 Nordic World Championships to be hosted by Falun, SWE. 
  
YOU NEED TO SEE THIS- To watch a really cool KFC ad that Mike did, click here

To see Mike’s USASJ bio, click here