The long road for the United States Adaptive Bobsled Team passed another crucial crossing last weekend.
The first ever adaptive introduction and push camp took place in Park City Friday through Sunday as 18 athletes from all over the United States came to Summit County to get a feel for what it takes to be an adaptive bobsled competitor.
“We saw a couple smiling faces,” said Dave Nicholls, the program’s director and sled pilot. “There was a lot of camaraderie throughout a lot of, ‘Let’s get up and do it again.'”
On Friday morning, the athletes met with team officials, coaches and senior athletes prior to a visit to the Park City Ice Arena where many participants got their first taste of ice. Nicholls said most of the athletes were unfamiliar with the sport of adaptive bobsled and were introduced to the art of practice pushing on the ice.
Nicholls said whether they were seated or standup athletes, everyone was able to get a feel of what it would take.
“That was really fun and interesting to see those guys in the bobsled,” he said.
The coaching staff and senior athletes introduced specific command signals, when and where to get in and out of the sleds, and whose job entails what.
Participants weren’t given much time to look around Park City. In fact, when they weren’t going through arduous weight-lifting sessions, they were sitting in film sessions, studying the specific turns, angles and corners of an icy bobsled track.
Saturday morning featured drills and conditioning around the Park City High School track where athletes competed in sprints and endurance exercises. The coaching staff also had the athletes simulate the explosiveness needed to for a successful push start.
More film review sessions followed.
“We broke down film of other athletes, where they did their runs, why they bonked and how their skills can be improved,” Nicholls said. “We also went over some more diagrams of certain tracks and curves.”
The final day of the camp featured a trip to the Utah Olympic Park for athletes to apply everything they had learned in the previous two-day span on the UOP push track.
“The athletes again practiced their push, load and entering the sled,” Nicholls said. “We saw a couple smiling faces again.”
The camp came to fruition thanks to marketing efforts across the country, according to Nicholls. He said much of the interest was gauged through Facebook and other avenues.
There were also some prerequisites for participants.
“They had to be physically fit, had to be in good health,” Nicholls said.
“We’re looking to work with everyone in some way, shape or form; it’s just what they want to put into the sport,” he added. “We’re not turning anyone away, but this evaluation will help which athletes will eventually be traveling as an A team.”
The sport of adaptive bobsled is also gaining steam in Europe. The team is scheduled to travel to Austria and Germany in the coming months to spread the word.
Nicholls said adaptive bobsled is also in limbo regarding Paralympic inclusion.
“As far as we know at this point in time, unless things change drastically and a lot more is accomplished in the sport, an invitation has been extended to participate as an exhibition sport in Sochi, Russia,” he said.
He said in order to be included in regular competition at Sochi 2014, the sport must hold two World Cup races and have at least eight countries participate.
“Anything is possible,” he said. “We may be able to pull of these two World Cups. We’re getting a lot of interest.”
The U.S. Adaptive Bobsled Team is a 501C-3 nonprofit organization in Utah and is in need of any kind of assistance. For more information on the team, visit www.usaabt.com or contact Dave Nicholls at [email protected] .