Vermont camp and Lake Placid camps cancelled

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All Athletes, Coaches and Parents,

The Saga continues.

Yesterday we received notice from the USBA office that both the Vermont camp and races there plus the follow-up elite camp at Lake Placid have been cancelled due to the virus concerns and inability to host large numbers of people safely. For those who were looking at the scheduled races as part of the Trials for IBU or World Cup Team positions, USBA will be scheduling some additional events later in the summer/fall for a fair trials contest.

In MN our plans will be to continue to hold Daycamps around the state, and localized weekly training practices; along with 3 or 4 rollerski races at Elk River as scheduled pending any changes in the rules. Currently MN is one of the few states where the numbers of new cases are declining.

With all this in mind, it is even more important that you do your own training as planned, work at improving your own Personal Records and keep up with the tests and times we are asking you to do. And keep reporting those back to me. At the end of the upcoming Mt Itasca Day camp, I will circulate some of the up to date spreadsheets so you can compare yourself with others. Collectively we have made equal or better gains in the basics this year than we have in normal years!! We are stronger, skiing better, and shooting better than ever before!!

Stay safe and practice good personal habits, even if those around you are careless or don’t recognize their obligation to other people!

Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

Practices at Elk River bi-weekly

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MN Biathlon in cooperation with the Elk River Parks Dept has been trying to put together a series of practices twice a week at the ER facility. This would be in addition to the already scheduled Thurs the 25th of June which might already be full [10 athletes].

Currently we are looking at Mondays and Thursdays. We are working on the time of day:

Mid morning to avoid rush hour
Early afternoon to avoid late afternoon rush
Evenings while we have long daylight

We may end up with different times of day on Mondays vs Thursdays. And as we are looking at two of us to be the alternate facilitators on Mondays—could end up with alternating times on that day.

So please let me know a] if you are interested and b] if so rank the days/ times you would prefer.

I am considering starting this on Thursday the 18th of June. As I pointed out above, the 25th might already be full. Otherwise open to any athlete who has their own /or leased rifle.

We would need to have a sign up program for each practice to a] avoid overfilling the range – so 10 max per practice and b] to be sure the facilitator has someone coming. More on that later. Each practice will have a shooting/combo plan that is structured to match the MN Biathlon training plans. We still are planning a race on Thursday the 16th of July—and that will not have a 10 person limit.

Thank you for getting back to me as soon as possible.
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

MN Biathlon June and Early July 2020 Schedule

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Please find below the tentative schedule of training events and day camps around the state. All these events are subject to any new rules by the Governor, or other unforeseen changes. Note: the RR grade at Elk River is closed to roller skiing until 1 July. Access to the range is open. Please bring a facemask to all training. Masks are mandatory for rifle fitting for both coach and athlete! Hand sanitizer is also recommended. Limited ammo will be available for sale at $35 a brick [500 rds]. Also note: helmets are mandatory for all roller skiing. Knee pads, elbow guards, and gloves are optional but recommended for beginners. 

MN-Biathlon-June-2020-scheduleDownload

Rifle fitting focus- by invitation only: 

  • 5 June, Friday- Elk River- 2:00 pm in the parking lot at Woodland Trails. Bring roller skis etc. also. 
    Open shooting after- 4:00 until 6:00 pm. Max numbers 10. Please contact me for signup. Bill & Holly. 
  • 11 June, Thursday- Elk River- 2:00 pm- fitting by invitation only
    Open shooting 3:00 until 6:00 pm. Max numbers 10. Please contact me for signup. Bill & ??

Daycamps- day long training–9:00 am to 4:00 pm—bring your own lunch and water! Max group size 10. 

  • 13 June- Bosek range at Alexandria- coaches: Kaisa, Jeff, and Bill. Please contact me for signup. 
  • 20 June- Snowflake range at Duluth- coaches John, Sean and Bill. Please contact me for signup. 
  • 27 June- Mt Itasca at Coleraine- coaches Vlad, Bill and maybe Jeff. Please contact me for signup. 

Shooting practices- 

Races-

The Elk River event scheduled for the 25th of June is cancelled due to the RR grade construction. Local events running or biking can be scheduled by the local coach as long as the starts are well spread out and the event has no more than 10 total participants counting both coaches and athletes. 

16 July, 13 August, and 17/18 October- Elk River. These events are tentatively scheduled pending completion of the construction work. We will get an invitation out when closer to those dates.

For further information, please contact me or one of the coaches listed above. Stay safe, be careful, and encourage others to do the same!!

Bill Meyer,
MN Biathlon Coach

MN BIATHLON POLICY/GUIDELINES FOR JUNE 2020 DUE TO COVID 19 PANDEMIC

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Mn-Bia-june-2020-policyDownload

Good Morning Everyone,

Attached is a Policy/Guidelines for all Biathlon Training and Racing for June 2020 in MN under the auspices of MN Biathlon, but subject to the Governor’s rules and any guidelines scheduled to be coming out on June 1 from his office.

Based on the Policy and the underlying considerations, the two Camps scheduled for June [Mt Itasca and Elk River] are both cancelled. MN Biathlon will be putting together a new schedule for June to include Beginner rifle fitting/ indoctrination, Day Camps, and hopefully a race. Elk River is closed to roller skiing until July 1st to allow for a pipeline construction down the RR grade near the range. The range and other trails are open yet.

This Policy/Guideline is predicated on the assumption, and subject to our obligation to each other, that we practice safe habits to avoid spreading the Covid 19 virus. II is critical that we live up to this obligation.

Sincerely,
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

MN BIATHLON
POLICY/GUIDELINES FOR JUNE 2020
DUE TO COVID 19 PANDEMIC

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MN Biathlon Annual Membership

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Good Morning!

Attached please find the annual MN Biathlon Membership form for this training year. This is due each spring—US Biathlon membership is due in Oct each year.

1920-MNBia-Membership-Registration-FormDownload

While many athletes from the Twin Cities area are using the range at Elk River periodically, at this point we have been unable to organize weekly coached practices. I do anticipate I will be down once every couple of weeks, and we will hopefully have a camp there in June along with 4 summer races scheduled there. We will send notices and invitations out as those get closer to fruition.

As to everyone across the state, if you plan to lease a rifle from MN Biathlon this year—and I have talked to most of those folks recently, you do need to be a MN Biathlon member even if you belong to one of the subsidiary clubs.

Thanks for your interest in Biathlon!
Bill Meyer, Coach

May shooting camp at Mt Itasca – Cancelled

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For anyone with an interest in the May shooting camp at Mt Itasca, I wanted to be sure you got the information regarding cancelling until we find out more about the virus spread and get further guidelines from the Governor. At that camp we spend a lot of time in close contact with the athletes while fitting rifles and adjusting shooting positions, so ‘social distancing’ would not work.

My hope is to be able to somehow combine that with our June shooting camps—but time only will tell.

Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon