By FoRS Volunteer: Jonathan Mandl Twenty ... - Radford College

By FoRS Volunteer: Jonathan MandlTwenty consecutive winters is an enviable historical record for any sportinggroup to endure, given the extremes of temperature, weather and conditionson the roof of Australia, training and competing at altitudes of 2000m abovesea level and over 200km from home in our 'local' events.Friends of Radford Snowsports (FoRS) today is a vibrant and dynamic supportgroup of dedicated parent volunteers and equally committed families fromdiverse backgrounds in our College community. All share a love for alpinesports and the unique high country environment that we respect and treadlightly upon.Many of our families participating families have multiple generations ofskiers in their lineage, from the earliest origins of resorts such as Thredboand Perisher.In 2013 we have a very similar profile and retain shared values with thefamilies and athletes of the original 1993 'Radford Ski Team' as they trainedand competed with great success in Alpine and Cross Country events at BlueCow Mountain and Perisher (separate resorts at that time) as well as Victoria.

In 1993 Mr John Leyshon was Master-In-Charge (MIC) of the ski team of 22athletes which delivered outstanding success in Alpine, Moguls and CrossCountry events at the Regional and National level with multiple podiumplacings. Even more remarkable was an organised trip to New Zealand in thesame season with Mr Leyshon accompanying team members on the ski fieldsand reports of that famous moustache iced up solid after a wet and freezingHuka Jet Boat experience with a ''psychotic and thrill seeking' local driver -much to the amusement of the team.Remarking last week on the long history of Snowsports at Radford College,Mr Heath was quick to point out the significance of twenty years activity setagainst the thirty years recently celebrated by the laying of the College'sfoundation stone. It is a source of special pride that the Collegedistinguished itself quickly from an early stage in its history as a force on theregional and national snowsports level.The program's early foundations have proven as solid as the College's bricksand mortar, with excellence in results and high levels of participation thanksto the outstanding stewardship of hard working teaching staff andenthusiastic FoRS volunteer Coaches like Grahame MacDonald, Ken Ineson,Jeremy Lucas and Vit Koci who saw team numbers peak at 60 in the lastdecade.This year the spirit and commitment to the program serving our talentedyouth is unchanged - the focus on learning the requisite skills,technique, discipline and self-belief to perform at your personal best on skisor snowboard with a diverse, fun-loving and supportive cohort of athletes.Our veteran athletes all know the special camaraderie forged when yourskills and resilience are fully tested when asked to perform at your best insub-zero temperatures in the middle of raging 70kmh blizzard. Often theremark is heard that their fellow Football and Rugby athletes back atschool would never believe the extreme conditions that Snowsportscompetitors sometimes endure. Are they hardiest of all Radfordsportswomen and men? The Coaches agree, but also know this is a specialbadge of honour that sets our athletes apart!Highlights of achievement through twenty years are many, however thehighest achievement of all was 1st place at the Australian Interschoolslevel won by our Division 1 in Cross Country team of Holly Middleton,Camille Manley and Leearnie Hamilton skiing at Thredbo in 2002.There have been many other podium placings by Radford teams at Nationallevel in Alpine skiing and Snowboarding, including both boys’ and girls'teams which has earned the College much respect throughout Victoria andNSW.

Radford Snowsports even has Winter Olympian heritage with Katherine(Katie) Calder (class of 1998) competing in the 2010 Vancouver WinterOlympics Cross Country events with the NZ team and a regular in the FISNordic World Ski Championships.One outstanding family connection of note from 1993 - 2002 was thePinkerton family, whose siblings almost constituted a team in their own rightthrough a decade of consistent high achievement culminating with WendyPinkerton leading the girls' team in her final year 2002. Wendy is now theExecutive Director of Snowsports ACT and State Manager of Interschools forNSW/ACT. Wendy is a fine example of a Radford collegian who has combinedher professional skills with a love for snowsports and is often sighted on skisand snowboard around the mountain when not co-ordinatingInterschools events and computing race results.The future is bright and very much assured for Radford Snowsports into thenext twenty years as the last five have brought unwavering support andinterest on-the-snow from Principal Mr Phillip Heath, our snow-shoeingnumber one fan at the ACT Schools Cup over many years.We are also very fortunate to currently have a team of very experiencedvolunteer/parent Coaches and a fabulous resource in Mrs Belinda Reitstatterwho is the ultimate combination of teaching staff member and formerInstructor.Welcoming Mrs Fiona Godfrey as Radford's new Principal in 2014 and keenskier, FoRS is looking forward to keeping a great snowsports tradition aliveand continuing to surprise, inspire and exceed expectations.