OES Snowboard Club and Team The OES Snowboard Club and OES Snowboard Team are made up of a group of high school students and adults who work together to provide a fun and safe snowboarding experience. Everyone is a member of the club, and the club helps support the team competitors. Any Oregon Episcopal School (OES) student who snowboards can join the club and team. Club members are primarily recreational snowboarders who share the bus that takes the team members to Mt. Hood Meadows on Saturday mornings. Lessons and rental equipment are available at the mountain, as well as lift tickets. All levels of snowboarders are welcome. Skiers may join the club if there is room left on the bus. Team members travel to Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort on Saturdays and three Wednesdays in January and February. They receive coaching to prepare for team competitions. The events include banked slalom, boarder cross, slope style, and half pipe competitions. The team is always looking for talented snowboarders, but beginners are also welcome to join the team. To decrease the possibility of head injuries, the mandatory helmet rule will be strictly enforced. The team members will not be able to practice, compete or free ride with the team without their helmets. Volunteers Keep Our Team Going As with all team sports, parent volunteers are vital necessities. Since our team is still in its early stages of development, new volunteers are needed in all aspects of running the team. Parents are expected to participate. Bus Transportation to Mt. Hood Meadows A school bus takes club and team members, coaches and volunteers to Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort on Saturday mornings – beginning in early January (see team calendar). We leave at 6:30 am from the upper parking lot and return at 5:00 pm. Riders will need to bring all their equipment and boards, which will be stored under the bus during transport. Bring a sack lunch or snack to eat on the bus since we do not stop for food. Mt. Hood Meadows offers a full range of food options. Sack lunches are allowed; microwaves are available. Oregon Interscholastic Snowboarding Association Information about the Oregon Interscholastic Snowboard Association (OISA) may be found at http://www.oisa.org. The OISA establishes rules for our competitions. Of special note, please see the following rules: An eligible student is one who is enrolled in school, attends regularly, and is passing in subjects equivalent to at least 5 credits, and who during the immediate preceding semester was enrolled in school, attended regularly and passed subjects equivalent to at least 5 credits. An eligible student must be less than 19 years of age, as of August 15. Use of any illegal substance at any time will result in termination of OISA involvement. Zero tolerance rule for profanity or inappropriate language on the slopes. Students are required to wear a helmet at all times while on the mountain during practice or competition with his/her school. Absolutely no exceptions! Scoring for Competitions There are usually one or two competitions per event each season (half pipe, slope style, banked slalom, and boarder cross) for a total of 6 to 8 competitions. Competitors receive a score from judges hired by the Gorge League (OES’s league). After all competitions have been held by the various leagues, the OISA establishes qualifying criteria for leagues to use to select their students for the OISA State competitions. For instance, the OISA may allow the Gorge League to send 6 individual women and 15 individual men to compete at State. Therefore, the top 6 women scorers and the top 15 men scorers from the five schools in the Gorge League (OES, West Salem, Centennial, Summit, and Sam Barlow) qualify to go to State in each of the events (half pipe, slope style, banked slalom, and boarder cross). If OES has students in the top 6 women or top 15 men, they will go to the State Championship. For instance, if OES’s men’s boarder cross team comes in second overall in the Gorge League, and two teams are allowed to go to State, then OES’s team will go. The teams will typically be made up of the top scorers in each event, regardless of whether these students competed together in the qualifying competitions. Coaches and team captains will determine who the teams will be prior to the State Competitions. High scorers may qualify to go to State in an individual event and/or as part of a six member team. It is important to know that most of the different scoring systems used to determine State qualifiers favor students who have competed in more than one of each of the events. For instance, if there are two boarder cross competitions in a season, and a student competes in both, his or her chances of qualifying are better than someone who competes in only one of the two, even though that individual might have a better score in the one event. That’s because most scoring systems take the average of the two scores as the qualifying score, so someone who has competed only once will have a “zero” to average in for the second event. Insurance Coverage Our insurance coverage is provided through OES's athletic insurance policy during approved and supervised activities relating directly to the club or team. It covers basic benefits for medical expenses, dental expenses, treatment and ambulance services up to the policy maximums. Accidental death, dismemberment, and paralysis is part of the policy, up to maximums under the current coverage. It is the recommendation of the club and the team that you have your own medical insurance in the event of serious injury during your snowboarding and skiing activities. Our group insurance coverage is only applicable during approved and supervised club and team activities and events. In the event that a registered participant does not have basic insurance coverage, the club or team policy will be in effect. This coverage is not available for non-club, non-team activities, or during unapproved or unsupervised activities. Costs The team fees and payment terms were communicated to parents during the October 24th meeting. If you were not present at that meeting, you can send an email to Tom Handel to find out. The team fees cover the league fees, OISA fees, Mt. Hood Meadows fees, transportation costs, coaching salaries, and miscellaneous expenses (i.e.: sweatshirts, food, lockers, etc.) This does not cover your lift tickets or season pass. Riders will need to assemble into groups of three to receive the discounted $300 season pass that is offered by the Mt. Hood Meadows until November 4th from this web site. You will also need to have your own snowboard, boots, helmet and adequate clothing to ride in snowy conditions. We will offer scholarships on a needs basis, please inquire for more information. Also, we can help with finding affordable snowboard equipment and clothing if you need assistance.