Canada Snowboard is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Ballard as National Team coach to the Alpine snowboard Team. Ballard will join long-serving coach Mark Fawcett at the helm.
Ballard and Fawcett will work together to implement and deliver the Alpine Snowboard Program at the High Performance level. The dual coaches will be responsible for getting the most out of a talented group of riders that include, Carolyn Calve, Matt Morison and defending Olympic gold medalist Jasey-Jay Anderson, as they prepare for Sochi in 2014.
Ballard resides in Calgary, Alberta and has been coaching snowboarding for almost twenty years. He is an experienced, trained snowboard-coaching specialist with extensive knowledge of competitive snowboarding and related technologies. Ballard has served as a coach and consultant for many of the leading snowboard and sport organizations in Canada. Prior to the appointment to the National Team, Ballard headed-up the Alpine Snowboard Institute Program through the Canadian Sport Centre in Calgary and was with the Calgary Snowboard Club for a decade.
“I’m proud to be part of this talented group of riders and staff. It’s a tremendous opportunity and I look forward to being an integral part of Canada~Snowboard’s world leading High Performance Program,” commented Ballard. “We have a big task in front of us to ensure we build on the success we had at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. However, I’m confident we can make it happen. I look forward to the journey over the next 20 months leading up to the Sochi Winter Olympic Games.”
“We are very happy to bring Mark Ballard to the National Team,” said Bob Joncas, High Performance Director for Canada~Snowboard. “like many of our athletes, Mark has come-up through the system by following our development pathway. Mark has had success along the way at the club level and with the development team. We are confident he will continue this trend with the National Team Program.”