YOUTH BIATHLON
Cross-country Skiing & Rifle Marksmanship for 9-18 year olds
A Unique Winter Sport for Youth
Methow Valley Biathlon (MVB) is open to children on the Methow Valley Nordic Team (MVNT) who turn 9 years-old by December 31 of the current winter. Biathletes complete their ski training through MVNT, and practice marksmanship during 6 to 8 Saturday morning practices throughout the November to February season. MVB also provides support for regional and national races during the season.
Juniors on MVB should be comfortable on skis before joining the biathlon team (we suggest biathletes have ski experience equivalent to a season on the Nordic Team prior to joining MVB). When beginning, biathletes must be accompanied by a responsible adult until approved by a coach or range safety officer.
MVB owns rifles which are available to team members to use during the season. Each team member is responsible for purchasing their own ammunition, which is available through MVB.
Registration
Registration for the 2023-24 season is here!
All MVB members must also be members of US Biathlon for insurance purposes. Join here.
Philosophy
Methow Valley Biathlon’s philosophy is built around long-term personal and athletic development of biathletes. MVB believes that a strong program takes a skier’s stage of development into consideration and guides skiers along an appropriate level of involvement for their long-term development and health in the sport.
MVB believes that athletic programming should be available to the broader community and should unite our small community through sport. This means keeping access affordable and the time commitment reasonable for a range of athletes, striving to balance both access to and excellent programming. MVB Skiers are part of the Methow Valley Nordic Team for their primary physical and ski training. Practices are conducted according to rules in consideration of the greater Methow Valley community such as wildfire risk, and trail and range partners.
The MVB philosophy demonstrates success in both keeping biathletes engaged in an active lifestyle, as well as developing competitively successful athletes on a regional, national and world stage.
Practices are open to all eligible kids. Eligibility includes being in the prescribed age range/ability level for a given training session as determined by coaches, and be currently training for skiing (i.e. to go to summer shooting training, skiers must be active in summer ski training).
Coaches
Raleigh Goessling- Head Coach/Program Director
Raleigh comes to the Methow after 15 years of competitive cross country and biathlon experience which included youth, junior and senior level international biathlon and Division I and national level cross country skiing. Raleigh began his coaching career in Craftsbury, Vermont.
Betsy Devin-Smith-Coach
The Methow Valley Biathlon team is proudly led by Betsy Devin-Smith. Betsy has way more passion than she can possibly pack into her little body. A full-time rancher and retired veterinarian, Betsy devotes her every spare moment to the Biathlon Team. Her accomplishments as a Biathlon Coach, Advisor, Ski Team Board Member and participant earned her the award of “Volunteer Ski Coach of the Year” by the US Olympic Committee in 2010. Betsy assisted as a Biathlon Official at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and again at the 2018 World Cup in Soldier Hollow, UT. She is a past US Master Biathlon Champion and a North American Biathlon Champion. She is a Level 1 certified Biathlon Coach and a 4H shooting sports leader.
Scott Waichler-Coach
Scott started doing biathlon with his children in 2007. He is a USBA coaching member, PSIA Level 3 cross-country skiing instructor and US Skiing Level 100 coach, as well as a national masters biathlon champion. Scott also coaches skiing in MVNT.
