U16 ATHLETIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

ADP Program Review – 2025

The 2025 Athlete Development Program (ADP) for U16 athletes has officially concluded its final camp. This year’s program featured three projects: an early-summer fundamentals camp in Sunshine Village, Alberta; a high-volume technical block in El Colorado, Chile in August; and a fall-season preparation camp in Hintertux, Austria in October.

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A Clearer, More Defined Development Approach

This year, we took a more structured approach to athlete development, emphasizing technical fundamentals, progression, and thoughtful planning.

• Camp 1 (Sunshine): A free-ski–focused block designed to establish strong fundamentals and deepen athletes’ understanding of technical concepts in a low-pressure learning environment.

• Camp 2 (El Colorado): Introduction of drill courses and technical-skill development in a controlled setting, progressing into more traditional training environments.

• Camp 3 (Hintertux): Despite weather-related challenges, the focus shifted toward full training-course execution and race-season preparation, with adjustments made as needed based on terrain and conditions.

Overall, we feel the program was highly successful in providing an effective training environment and meaningful development opportunities.

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Coaching Leadership and Staff Excellence

A key objective this year was to have one lead coach oversee the entire program. Thomas Trusler led the ADP with professionalism and dedication and did an outstanding job. Due to academic commitments, he was unable to attend the final project.

We are extremely pleased with the overall staffing across the three camps. Our coaching team was professional, enthusiastic, experienced, and—most importantly—fully committed to athlete development. We also aimed to provide athletes with exposure to a range of coaching styles and expertise.

A sincere thank-you to:
Kevin Gosselin, Ashley Campbell, Tori Johnston, Stefan Overgaard, Jacques Reid, Tim Buchanan, Alistair Scott, Cam Stephens, Bill Real, and Thomas Trusler.
Ten exceptional coaches whose passion for skiing is truly infectious.

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Program Impact and Club Integration

Our goal remains to deliver a program that equips athletes with the skills and habits needed for a successful season with their home clubs. To support alignment, we developed a camp evaluation report that will be shared with all participating athletes’ club coaches. This helps ensure continuity between AOA programming and club-level development, enabling clubs to build on the progress made at camp.

We continue to refine our daily planning process, aimed at helping athletes understand the connection between training objectives, skill acquisition, and performance.

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Participation and Provincial Reach

Of the 33 athletes identified for this year’s ADP, 28 participated.

• 16 athletes attended two projects

• 12 athletes attended at least one

We were pleased to welcome athletes from LSSD, NCD, and SOD, underscoring the ADP’s role as a truly province-wide initiative.

As always, each project came with challenges—such as an Air Canada strike during the Chile camp and difficult October weather in Hintertux—but our staff managed these situations with exceptional professionalism and adaptability.

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Looking Ahead to the Race Season

With training camps complete, our focus now shifts fully to the competitive season. We are working to confirm additional opportunities that complement club programming, including:

• Speed Camp dates

• Collaborative opportunities with ODST

• Additional touchpoints for developing athletes throughout the winter

Our goal is to continue supporting young athletes with meaningful, high-quality development experiences.

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Thank You

A heartfelt thank-you to all coaches, parents, athletes, and clubs for contributing to a successful ADP year. We welcome feedback and are committed to continuous improvement. Please reach out to me or any coach with questions or suggestions—your input directly informs our review process and helps us strengthen the program each year.

Great work, athletes, and best of luck this season.
We’ll be watching, and I look forward to seeing everyone on snow.

Joseph Lavigne
High Performance Director
Alpine Ontario

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

This U16 Athletic Development Program (ADP) is an initiative that started in 2016 with consultations with Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA), The Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport (MTCS), and the AOA member clubs. The program is collaborative in design, working alongside club and regional programs, and in no way replaces the existing club programs, their club/region camps, and/or training days. Athletes in the U16 ADP remain with their existing teams and clubs.

We will undertake an annual review of this program both in content and design to ensure it reaches our goals and is beneficial to the developing athletes of Ontario.

PROGRAM GOALS:

To put the most committed and talented 2010 & 2011 athletes together
To increase an athlete’s time on snow
To raise their fitness level and commitment to overall athletic awareness.
To increase encouragement and motivation
To support AOA clubs with athlete development
To engage those looking for high-performance initiatives
To provide information and education to athletes and parents about the elite athlete development pathways as well as all aspects and opportunities within the development pathway.

Why would an athlete consider this program?

To work hard while having fun and meeting new friends
Train alongside the other top athletes in the province – including the ODST program, coaches, and athletes.
Technical skill development on-snow. Including technical, tactical, physical, and mental aspects.
To learn from some of the most experienced coaches, trainers, and therapists in Canada
Access to summer school credit to take the pressure of school in the winter season

2025 PROGRAM DETAILS

The 2025 U16 ADP will consist of:

Two on-snow camps, with an optional 3rd camp – August in El Colorado, Chile, and October in TBD European camp. The optional 3rd camp will run in Sunshine mid May.  Camps will be run with approximately 15 athletes per gender at each camp; camps will be operated with approximately 6 to 1 athlete-to-coach ratio and 10 to 12 days on snow. Athletes can apply to attend one or both camps.

One physical fitness camp –May or June – is located at TBD. The purpose is to evaluate, educate, and promote a culture change with regard to commitment to fitness. (This would be approx. 2-3 days).

For selected athletes, there will be in-season opportunities for enhanced training with ODST program

A webinar series includes talks from athletes, coaches, sports psychologists, and nutritionists from the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario.

Grade 10 History (CHC-2D) Online Summer School Course.

On-snow camps will be scheduled to integrate training opportunities with ODST coaches and athletes.

COST

Cost of the U16 ADP will be:

3 Camps (Sunshine, El Colorado, Hintertux) $14,000 + HST *

Individual Camps:

• 2700.00 + HST* Sunshine
• 6250.00 + HST* for El Colorado Chile
• 6000.00 + HST* for Hintertux, Austria
• Flights and SAIP will be a cost on top of this. *All costs are subject to change.

Costs at this time are estimated and will be finalized prior to the start of the program in April

SELECTION

For selection purposes, the first 10 spots for first-year U16 (5f 5m) and the first 10 spots for second-year U16 (5f 5m) based on CanAm/U16Easterns AOA selection rankings will be identified by AOA High-Performance Director, and an invitation to join will be extended. Following this, camps will be filled in a review of all applications. (10 athletes – 5f and 5m). Remaining spots via applications from interested athletes. Applications will be considered* based on the previous season’s Fitness, Attitude, Work Ethic/Motivation, and OCUP results.

*Coaches discretion will also be applied; all supporting documents must be submitted.

2025 TIMELINES

MARCH 18: Automatic invites communicated to selected athletes

APRIL 11: U16 ADP registration opens

April 21: Applications close for U16 ADP

April 26: Selection for U16 ADP communicated to athletes and families

MAY 3: Confirmation of participation and deposit due to Alpine Ontario

JUNE (tbd): U16 Athletic Development Fitness camp*

AUGUST 4-18: U16 Athletic Development Camp – El Colorado, Chile*

OCTOBER 11-25: U16 Athletic Development Camp – Hintertux Aut.*

*All in person camps are subject to change and travel dates may vary.

 

RECOMMENDED FITNESS STANDARDS:

To take full advantage of the program, it is recommended that athletes be able to hit the minimums below. AOA uses ACA Combine fitness standards.

Women 2nd year: Beep Test-9.1, Box Jump-60 40cm box, Toes to Bar-3, Hex Rail 22.00 sec.

Men 2nd year: Beep Test-10.7, Box Jump-66 40 cm box, Toes to Bar-3, Hex Rail 22.00 sec

ADDITIONAL/OPTIONAL PROGRAMMING:

If you are looking for additional programming options to take your ski racing to the next level, we encourage you to take advantage of multiple offerings from our fitness partners.

Active Life Conditioning – Collingwood

SXS Fitness – Toronto