To the Editor:
It’s no coincidence that the Town of Webb Varsity Ski Team is so strong.
We have an amazing community which helps support the Polar Bear Ski Club. Most of the kids on the team have been ski racing since they were seven or eight years old.
The Polar Bear Ski Club provides an outlet for the children of our community to get outside and away from television and video games.
They learn from a young age to spend their after-school time and entire weekend outdoors in the mountains that we so proudly call home.The Polar Bear Ski Club still provides these kids with help even though it is a high school team.
They share in the cost of the racing program by providing safety equipment, course gates, race officials and volunteer gatekeepers, to name just a few.
The Polar Bears have given these children confidence and skills they will carry with them their entire lives.
These efforts have carried over to their high school careers as they learn independence and how to take care of themselves.
In ski racing, there are literally over a dozen pieces of equipment needed to race and be responsible for themselves.
Coach Tom Down is only one man with the entire team of 22 kids at these races so they have learned to keep track of their equipment (tuning and waxing) and also themselves by being where they need to be when the times come.
On race days, their days begin at 6 a.m. and usually end at 5 p.m.
And, with all this in mind, it is no coincidence that wherever this team goes, we parents hear positive feedback.
We are frequently told by employees at the restaurants they eat at how well behaved and polite they are.
The ski lodge attendants notice that they clean up after themselves.
Not only does this say a lot for them, but also for our school and our community who give them this opportunity!
Hats off to the Town of Webb UFSD and the Polar Bear Ski Club!
Beth Tickner, Old Forge
