A Smithers man has been named the head coach for the National Alpine Snowboarding team.
Jan Wengelin was previously the head coach of the Smithers Ski and Snowboard Club. He admits he was a little bit surprised when he was approached with the job, but was excited by an opportunity to completely redesign a program with such rich history.
He says alpine snowboarding in Canada has slipped a bit over the past three years, and that he will be rebuilding by starting with the foundation; youth.
“To make sure that we have a level of support and available training for the next generation athletes. That’s critical for the sport – to ensure that we have athletes that can go to World Championships, World Cups and the Olympic Winter Games.”
Originally from Sweden, Wengelin has already coached at four different Winter Olympics including three medallists: Canadian Ross Rebagliati (Gold, Nagano 1998) as well as American riders Chris Klug (Bronze, Salt Lake City 2002) and Rosey Fletcher (Bronze, Torino 2006).
Despite the national gig, Wengelin says he’s staying put in the Bulkley Valley.
“There is nobody that can get me out of here. The head office is in Vancouver for now, and there was never even a discussion about me moving out of here. I really like it in Smithers.” he said noting that the athletes are spread over the country anyways.
He says he will still be very involved in the daily hands on coaching of the athletes. He will be meeting them in mid September for an “athlete’s summit” out east.