MINNESOTA BIATHLON – SCHEDULE 2023/2024

MONTHACTIVITY/WHERE DATES 
AprilBegin training year Monday10 April, 2023
MayElk River [ER] daycampSat/Sun6/7 May
Officials clinicSaturday6 May evening
Mt Itasca daycampSat20-May
Officials clinicSaturday20 May evening
June4 day long camp Mt Itasca [MI] Wed-Sat14-17 Jun
daycamp ER Saturday24-Jun
RACE #1 – ER – rollerski [RS] Sunday25-Jun
Arien’s Regional Select CampMon-Fri26-30 June
JulyDaycamp -BosekSaturday8-Jul
Daycamp ERSaturday22-Jul
RACE#2- ER- RS PursuitSunday23-Jul
AugustVermont camp -JerichoMon-Sun31 Jul-6 Aug
RACE #3- ER – RSSun13-Aug
Daycamp DuluthSat 26-Aug
SeptemberDaycamp  ERSaturday23-Sep
RACE #4 ER RSSunday24-Sep
OctoberDaycamp ERSaturday14-Oct
RACE #5 ER RSSunday15-Oct
NovemberOfficials/Coaches clinicTBD
DecemberMNCup #1 – Mt ItascaSunday3-Dec
Regional #1/#2, MN 2&3Mt ItascaSat/Sun16/17 Dec
YJr/Youth Olympics team trials–Mt ITue-Sun26-31 Dec
January 2024Regional #3/#4 -MN 4&5Ripley or E RiverSat/Sun13/14 Jan
Regional #5/#6–WIBlackhawk ?Sat/Sun27/28 Jan
FebruaryMN Cup #6- Elk RiverSunday25-Feb
Novice clinicright after race
MarchMN Cup #7- DuluthSaturday2-Mar
Novice Clinicright after race
Regional #7/#8 -WIAriens/BrillionSat/Sun9/10 Mar
MN Cup #8 Mt ItascaSaturday16-Mar
Nationals TBD3rd week in March
Note: the above assumes the MN High School schedule and the CXC schedule is similar to this past year. 

Youth Olympic Games Information

Hi Coaches, 

I hope everyone is having a great summer!  

You are receiving this email because you have a coach/official membership with USBA.  I want to provide some important information on the 2024 Youth Olympic Games and hope you can share this with any athletes that you work with who are eligible for the games.  

The ICC and our Board of Directors have approved the selection procedure for YOG.  You can find that on our new website here, and I have also attached it to this email.

To be eligible for YOG, an athlete must be born between the 1st of January 2006 and the 31st of December 2007.  This is an IBU/IOC rule and does not come from USBA.

YOG qualification will happen in coordination with our YJWCH trials in Mt. Itasca, MN, from December 28th- 31st, 2023.  To qualify for YOG, athletes must race in these trials!

Any athlete hoping to qualify for YOG must be added to the USOPC’s long list.  Once on the long list, athletes will be asked to submit passport copies, headshots, etc.  To be added to the long list, athletes must submit their intention to race in trials by providing some basic information by August 1st on this G-Form. 

Please note that athletes competing at YOG will need passports that expire no earlier than August 3rd, 2024!  If you need a new passport, please get on that ASAP!

I look forward to seeing many of you in Jericho at Summer Nationals!

Best,
Tim Burke
Director of Athlete Development
U.S. Biathlon Association

Annual 4-day training camp

Coming up in just under two weeks is the annual 4 day camp at Mt Itasca in Coleraine!! I have again attached the Invitation and the tentative schedule. Please note that if you can’t make the full 4 days, you can attend for a day or more at a time!! Each day will provide some shooting and some rollerski work—so really good way to get the summer started in Biathlon!!!

The camp is designed to enhance the skills of all from first year to veterans!! We will be building on the skills covered at the daycamps last month!! 

Most participants will tent camp onsite or stay in the HQ building. The Chalet will be available for showers and dining. All meals will be provided either at the Chalet or at the homes of local participants. 

Please contact John Gould to sign up or if you want more information. Early signups really help us in planning for food and coaching needs!

Thanks and looking forward to seeing everyone!!
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

THIS COMING WEEK THE 29TH OF MAY, 2023

Good  Morning Everyone!

Hope by now, nearing the end of the 2nd month of the training year, everyone has been out on rollerskis to get used to the feel and to start working on technique!! Don’t drag your old bad habits into the new season!! It takes about 3 weeks of steady work doing something right, to get out of those bad moves/timing/body positions etc!! Later in the week I will send out a checklist of things for good skiing. You can gain a ton of time in racing by being efficient and putting your body weight to work! To say nothing about building the strength in the exact muscles you need on skis!!!

You should also be shooting regularly now, working on improving your accuracy, your moves getting into and out of position, and in taking less and less time to identify that perfect white circle of the sight picture [see attached] – and getting the shot off smoothly!!! Basic marksmanship!! We will be working on cutting down range time, shooting fatigued, and shooting with a high heartrate at the practices and camps!! But if you can’t hit the target shooting when calm, you will have multiple problems as we approach the physiological demands of actual race shooting. One of the most productive things you can do is dryfire!! Everyday is best! I knew a World Cup competitor who used to put on her race gear to dryfire!! And she was good!! [not her skis!!—but it wouldn’t hurt to stand on rollerskis in your basement!!] 

Coming right up is the 4 day camp at Mt Itasca starting on Wed, the 14th of June—the Invitation is attached!! We have plenty of room on that range, and it should be a really fun 4 days!! Please sign up asap so we can get a handle on numbers for food and coaching needs!!

And following shortly after the Mt Itasca camp, there will be a daycamp on Saturday the 24th followed on Sunday the 25th with the first rollerski biathlon race of the year at Elk River! Mark your calendars, and keep an eye out for the Invitations to those events!!

I am also including the WI Biathlon schedule for those who live near Brillion!

Put together by Gregg Pattison and Mark Torresani: Gregg and I have been working closely with Ariens to bring a fun-filled summer and fall roller ski and running biathlon series. Once a month from June through November, Ariens will be hosting this series. Although we haven’t ironed out all the details yet, there will be multiple race distances for all abilities. For those of you who aren’t roller skiers, there will be a running format as well.Save these dates

  • Sunday, June 4th
  • Sunday, July 16th
  • Sunday, August 6th
  • Sunday, September 17th
  • Sunday, October 15th
  • Sunday, November 12th

So the Journey is well underway!! Enjoy!!
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

THIS WEEK THE 22ND OF JUNE, 2023

Good Morning Everyone!!

First, our thanks to Carl Nordgren and John Gould for a good daycamp on Saturday at Mt Itasca, and for the whole crew of adults that suffered through the invasion of mosquitos in the HQ building while going over the Organizing Committee and Rules of Biathlon for the Officials class!! I think it was a really good camp!! More to come in Elk River in June!

We are putting the final touches onto the annual schedule for winter, but I am enclosing what I know at this point. We are double checking with CXC so as to avoid  as many of the JNQ races as possible—but there will be some overlap—simply not enough weekends in the winter!! We will also try to avoid the larger statewide high school events—but likely there will be some conflict with smaller local meets. Most of our winter races are scheduled for Sundays to help avoid conflicts. If you work hard all weekend, be sure you take a good but active recovery day on Mondays!!

Coming up quickly is the  annual 4 day June camp at Mt Itasca to build on the skills you have started to work on! The Invitation and sign up sheets are attached! This is a great chance to get back into the mode of Biathlon training, and to build on the skills you were exposed to at the recent daycamps!! As you will be finished with high school sports by then, this camp will also be more physical and intended to enhance your skills both on rollerskis and on the range!! Please sign up early, if you plan to attend, as we need to know numbers for food planning, coaching staff needs and etc!!

At the recent daycamps, I noted a  few rifles that looked to be less than well maintained!! I am enclosing our standard rifle cleaning instructions, and if you have a MN Biathlon rifle [or your own] you need to be cleaning the rifle basically each time you use it. Forget the stories you heard about people who clean once a month [or year] whether the rifle needs it or not!! There should be no rust anywhere on the rifle, the bore should be clean and shiny, and the bolt free of carbon. The areas in the receiver that accept the extractors on the bolt should be cleaned with a dental pick, and the chamber where the bullet goes to be fired, should be cleaned out!! When you handle the rifle, in the summer particularly, the acid in your sweat will cause the barrel and other parts to lose the protective bluing—wipe all exterior parts down after use with a light layer of good rifle oil containing a preservative—not motor oil!! 

The rifles we are leasing out, and the ones most of you buy used, are definitely not new! But they will all shoot a dime sized or smaller group at 50 meters, if well maintained. But I have seen some where the chamber was so gummed up the bullet would not slide in completely without jamming on the bolt. We are shooting a lot of rounds and if you don’t clean properly, that will happen!! 

For most of our rifles, CCI ammo—for whatever reason—does not chamber easily. It must be slightly larger in diameter than the old Federal 711b that was fine—and made by the same company. The Norma Tac 22 seems good for training ammo—or SK or Lapua.

Enjoy the Journey—we are underway!!
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

THIS COMING WEEK THE 15TH OF MAY, 2023 – informative documents

Good Morning Everyone!

This coming week is the 2nd week of our 2nd month of training! The volume is down slightly to give a mini recovery week before a really long hard week coming up. Mondays work well as recovery days as we will continue to recommend hard training on both Saturdays and Sundays! Remember, recovery is when you actually improve—rest up and then continue to supercompensate!! 

Considering where we are with training, here are a couple of camps coming up—first, next Saturday will be a daycamp at Mt Itasca. One day only. Please see the attached Invitation and get in touch with John Gould if you would like to come. If you did not make the daycamps at Elk River last weekend—this would be a great opportunity to get onto the biathlon training page!! And in the evening, from 6:00-8:00, MN Biathlon will hold another Officials Clinic leading to a USBA Level One Officials certification. 

The plans continue to move forward for the annual 4-day MN Biathlon Training Camp at Mt Itasca starting on June 14th and running through Saturday, June 17th. The Invitation for that event is also attached! MN Biathlon is still waiting for some to pay for their rifle lease!! Please, let’s get these taken care of!! And some have not paid their membership dues yet! The forms are, once again, attached for your convenience!!

Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon