“Having athletes at the top level always helps motivate the team!”

Former Nordic Combined athlete and brother of ski jumping sensation Sarah Hendrickson, Nick Hendrickson, stepped into a coaching role for USA Nordic. The season 2019/20 marks his first with the responsibility of head coach, following in the footsteps of Martin Bayer. For TUESDAY TALK, Hendrickson looked back at his path of becoming a coach and forward to what his team can do this winter.

**You are just starting your first season as World Cup head coach. What are you looking forward to most in your new role?

Nick Hendrickson:** I’m really excited about the upcoming winter and of course getting back to competition. However, the best part is learning more and more about the athletes; how they train, compete, travel, what they do in their free time, it's really interesting to me to see the great characters we have on the team.

**What have you been up to since you ended you active career in Nordic Combined in 2014?

Hendrickson:** I switched quickly from Nordic Combined to Cross-Country Skiing and actually raced for the University of Utah from 2014-2016. I was studying at the University of Utah as well at the time but ultimately finished my degree at MCI in Innsbruck.

Around this time I became really interested in re-joining many of my former teammates and coaches at USA Nordic to join in the momentum that guys like Billy Demong have fostered throughout his term as USA Nordic Executive Director. Since then, I have been really enjoying being on the other side of the sport, supporting our athletes and building a long term program.

The U.S. team celebrated big successes in the past but it has been a little more quiet around it in the past few years. Which goals are you working towards with your team short-term and longer-term?

Hendrickson: As a team we are very process-oriented right now. We all know the level of Nordic Combined at this time, and with the exception of Tara, we are not in a regular fight at the top level. Therefore, we have put a lot of emphasis on quality of training this past training season, as well as on recovery and giving everyone the time they need to absorb the training load. Our long-term plans aim at bringing both the men and women up in the results as a team!

Our short term goals are more training-oriented, with quality training and every team member pushing each other.

**The introduction of Women’s Nordic Combined has brought many new impulses to the sport. With Tara Geraghty-Moats, you have one of the best female Nordic Combined athletes on your team. In how far does this also influence the men?

Hendrickson:** Tara certainly has proven herself in the Nordic Combined field as a strong and fierce competitor. She has also shown interest in taking the younger female nordic combined skiers under her wing during training camps and during competitions.

I'm excited to see the women's Nordic Combined events line up together on both COC and WC this year to get both our men's and women's teams competing together. As an entire team, we are all motivated and excited to push each other in training and competition. Having athletes at the top level always helps motivate the rest of the team!

**Which athletes from Team USA do we have to watch for this winter?

Hendrickson:** We of course have Tara, she will continue to be a strong force on the women's side as she continues to push in her training and competition level. Then we have our veteran, Taylor Fletcher, who still has a lot of potential when things are going in the right direction on the jumping hill. I'm excited to have Taylor pushing himself and the younger athletes in training and competition this year.

Looking at the younger athletes, I have a strong contingent of early 20-years old that are hungry to compete and bring a lot of energy and drive to each training session, I think any one of these athletes can have a breakthrough year!

It's also worth mentioning that some of our YOG competitors on both the men's and women's sides have shown a lot of improvement over the summer season and I'm excited to see what they can do this winter!

**How will your team’s time until the season start look like?

Hendrickson:** Great question, it's always a key time of year as well as the most unpredictable. A group will go to Falun (SWE) and Beitostølen (NOR) for early snow training while other groups will be in Park City and Steamboat, training on or off snow until our competitions start in early December. As always, we're hoping for good conditions, and for everyone to stay healthy going into the winter.