At the spring meeting of NYSSRA Nordic this past weekend we were made aware of some changes that are in the works for the 2011-2012 winter season. In the past the Empire State Games lasted for three days. Usually, at least the last several years, Biathlon was on the first two days, Friday/Saturday; Cross Country was on the second and third days along with Ski-O and Snowshoe racing. On Sunday when we meet we were told to discuss what or how we would set up our races if the dates were either February 2, 3, 4, 5 or February 26, 27, 28, 29. We were also told that the organizing committee wanted to make the races a more regional set of races instead of something exclusively locked into the village of Lake Placid. Our first questions were why those particular weekends? The first weekend was established to coincide with the Saranac Winter Carnival. The second weekend was just before the High School Sectional races, which are scheduled for the 28th and 29th of February. The Lake Placid organizers want to tie the two events together.
Since each discipline was asked to give opinions as well as solutions we gave our opinion, which started with leaving the process as it has been and then discussed weekday races (2nd and 3rd are a Thursday/Friday and the 27th, 28th, 29th are a Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday) and the difficulty of getting volunteers as well as racers to participate. Solutions were not as plentiful as opinions. If Biathlon is going to be part of either weekend we will have to drop from two races to one for this year. In either case the race would be on Sunday. Time will tell what happens, but in either case there will be a new look to whatever the decision turns out to be.
P.O. Box 875, Old Forge, NY 13420
