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John Langstone wins the Dave Rees Award
By:  Karl Saidla   (2004/06/16)

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John Langstone has been selected as the recepient of the Cross Country Canada's highest volunteer award, the Dave Rees Award. This award is presented to any man or woman who has made a long-term, outstanding commitment to the sport of cross country skiing in Canada. Nominees should have an extended history of involvement with cross country skiing at all levels (local, regional and national) and in any of the many ways in which volunteers or professionals give of themselves to our sport. This award was created in 1989 in recognition of the outstanding contribution by Dave Rees to cross country skiing in Canada.

John has been incredibly involved in cross-country skiing as a coach since 1984, but was a skier himself well before that. He was most deserving of this award because he has contributed an incredible amount of his time and skills to the sport of cross-country skiing in Canada. He has done this strictly on a volunteer basis, and his fantastic efforts in this regard have been not only outstanding in terms of the sum total of his contributions, but also in terms of the consistency with which he has devoted himself. John has been incredibly active in cross-country skiing in Canada for more than twenty years, and he has been this way in each and every one of those twenty years.

He has helped countless athletes, coaches, instructors and other volunteers of various types to achieve their goals. Many will attest to John's dedication, attention to detail, integrity, and willingness to help.

It is notable that he has been involved in the sport in all types of capacities. He has acted as coach, mentor, instructor, web site manager, waxer, and administrator to name a few.

His contributions have also taken place at all levels. He has coached local clubs, provincial teams, as well as National Teams.

The quality of his work in all areas has been first class. This explains to a degree, the number of positions he has been asked to fill, as well as the number of athletes who have benefited from his coaching and advice.

Finally, John shows no signs of slowing down. He remains a pillar of the Ottawa skiing community, and continues to contribute at regional, provincial, and national levels.

Some of John's significant accomplishments and duties include:

  • Volunteer coach of both the Kanata Racers and the Ottawa Racers from 1984,where he helped 10 athletes reach National Team Development Centre level.
  • Coaching and waxing with Ontario Teams at the National Junior and Senior Championships for more than 10 years.
  • Ontario Coach at the previous two Canada Winter Games.
  • Performed international coaching duties with Canadian Teams on trips such as the European National Team B tour in 2001, as well as an October, 2002 training camp in Utah.
  • Maintains the Cross-Country Ontario web page.
  • Developed the Ontario Athletes Handbook
  • Maintains the National Capital Division web page.
  • Developed countless points lists and criteria for Ontario.

In recent years John has voluntered for a tremendous number of jobs:

  • Volunteer assistant coach of Carleton University Nordic Ski teams from 1999-2004.
  • Volunteer assistant coach of XCOttawa.ca from 2001-2003.
  • Volunteer assistant coach of NADC Ottawa-Gatineau from 2002-2004.
  • Presented waxing clinics and coached at the NADC Fundraising Masters Ski Camp.
  • Is an active coaching instructor.

Congratulations John and many thanks for all your hard work!

If you wish to pass on your congratulations to John, you can do so at: jlangs@sympatico.ca.




 
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