HILARY MCNAMEE – Ford Sayre Nordic Head Coach
Hilary hails from the most Northern reaches of Maine, where winter lasts nearly all year. Hilary began coaching with Ford Sayre in 2011, during her undergrad years at Dartmouth and later worked for four seasons as the Dartmouth Ski Team Assistant. She has a background in biathlon and attended five World Junior Championships representing USA. In her role as Ford Sayre Nordic Head Coach, she oversees all Nordic programming in addition to being the head coach for the Junior Nordic Team (JNT), Ford Sayre’s high school racing program. Her other passion in life is growing and arranging flowers. Hilary can be reached at: hilary@fordsayre.org
What do you find most fulfilling about working at Ford Sayre?
Creating community and lasting relationships with the skiers and coaches.
Are there any stories that epitomize your Ford Sayre experience as a Head Coach so far?
There are a few, but I think the simplest and most impactful one was receiving a text message the morning of this year’s American Birkie with a selfie of a bunch of JNT alumni skiers about to start what looked like the most “not-fun” version of the Birkie. It was a 10k lap of completely trucked-in snow, in an open, brown field. But there they were there, smiling like fools, having a good time together on skis!
It was all the things I cherish about this job: love of sport, community, long-lasting friendships.
Can you give us a sense of what happens during a typical in-season day in your role?
In the winter, I wake up and drink a ton of coffee. Then, depending on whether its a practice day or a race day, it goes like this:
Practice days – I try to sneak in a recreational romp in the woods before the day really gets started. Then I spend the morning doing computer stuff: emails, training logs, checking the weather. I head into practice about an hour early to figure out the wax of the day.
Typically the first 10 minutes of kids arriving to practice, I’m catching up with each of them, asking what they learned in school or some other conversation starter, then I ask more pointed questions after they respond with one-word answers. Then I spend about 10 minutes sassing someone for being late, others for forgetting their watch, and typically all of them for not cleaning the kickwax off from the last practice…Then we get down to business 🙂
Practice sometimes means chasing (or being chased during intervals), sometimes means standing in a snowbank taking video, sometimes means just skiing along at easy distance pace chatting it up with the athletes.
Race days – We’re up wicked early to get to the venue and start warming up the wax trailer. The whole team stays in a big house (or houses) together. We might see the early risers before we go to the race, but often we’re gone by then. If we’re really on it and the conditions are predictable, we’ve made some of the glide wax calls the night before and set-up any test skis for the morning. Usually, I eat about a pound of M&Ms before a socially acceptable hour. We finish any set-up, then get some skis on the snow once the course opens. We usually test about 10-15 different waxes, depending on the day. Testing goes on most of the day, just to make sure we have the wax dialed. I usually get a few laps on the course before I am confined to the wax trailer basically until the last race skis are out the door at the end of the day. If we’re lucky, parents stop with snacks and coffee at some point. I try to check in with each athlete at some point before and after their race, to see how they’re feeling, what their race plan is and then how the race went. Then we do the big flip for the next day – switch out all the athletes race skis, prep as much as we can the night before. Once the trailer is packed up for the night, we head back to the Air BnB and chaperone dinner prep. Team meeting and shenanigans after dinner. In bed by 9:30p!
How do you define success for your athletes?
Oh boy. Well, I actually try not to define success for them. I try to lead them to define it for themselves, because then it means more to them.
I would define success for me in my role as a coach, as when I can inspire kids to be invested in their personal growth and to be aware of and care about their surroundings, both environment and people. When they consistently show up, get the work done, have fun doing it and are humble and gracious in the process, I feel like I’ve succeeded as a coach. I of course also want our athletes to come out of our programs with enough knowledge of the sport to make it to the “next level” (whatever that is for them), to keep skiing for a lifetime, and to hopefully share it with others.
Oh, and I also want medals 🙂
Is there a role model (coach or athlete) you particularly admire?
I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have had so many great coaches, each offering a different, but similar perspective. And I honestly don’t think I can’t narrow it to one. So I’ll give you four:
Dallas McCrea, my high school ski coach. A chain-smoking potato farmer from Northern Maine, who was my childhood best friend’s grandfather. He drove a Ford Thunderbird and talked like he had a mouth full of marbles. He was about a million years old when he coached us and his stock technique phrases were, “Rock n’ Roll” and “Break her heart”. He usually had an unlit cigarette in his mouth at most practices. Probably the most unlikely cross country enthusiast in the history of the sport. But he lived for skiing and it was his persistence that got me into the sport in 6th grade. Every day the wax was “Extra Blue”, and if you didn’t ski on Rossignol skis, you were wrong.
Dallas’ younger side-kick, Paul Lamoreau, aka “Dr. Fun”. He was my middle school English teacher and high school ski coach. He wore knickers to most practices. Made homemade GORP for all of our ski races. Helped my parents by giving me a ride from school to club practice on his way home after school. I remember a Turkey Trot once, right around when he was losing fitness and I was getting fitter, so we were similar speeds and really duking it out in this 5k race. He was wearing a homemade turkey costume that was punctuated with a pair of yellow work gloves glued to his sneakers. And I’ll always remember watching those floppy feet out-sprint me to the finish line.
And last but not least, Will Sweetser and his wife Sarah Dominick who were my club coaches and mentors all through high school and beyond. Aside from guiding my athletic development and shaping my coaching philosophy, Will and Sarah opened my eyes to how much there was to explore and appreciate in the natural world around me – like right in my backyard.
Best Piece Of Advice You’ve Ever Been Given?
“If you had to ask, you didn’t know.” -Derek Rowe
What’s The Most Adventurous Thing You’ve Ever Done?
Solo hiked and camped in the Grand Canyon!
What’s Your Favorite Non-skiing hobby?
Growing flowers! My husband probably would object to me classifying that as a hobby though, because it became my second job.
Tell us one item on your bucket list?
I would like to go to all the Marden’s Surplus and Salvage stores in the whole state of Maine. Maybe even all in one week. We’ll see.I would like to go to all the Marden’s Surplus and Salvage stores in the whole state of Maine. Maybe even all in one week. We’ll see.
What’s your hidden talent?
Remaining calm.
Finding 4-Leaf Clovers.
Some images courtesy of Cloca Mora Floral and Britton Mann Photography