Volunteers
The operations and programs of the Bulkley Valley Cross Country Ski Club depend almost entirely on the efforts of our volunteers. Thanks to everyone who helps out: your talent, energy, time and enthusiasm help to make our club a success.
We are always looking for additional volunteers to help. Volunteering lets you meet new people and learn new skills. There is a wide variety of volunteer opportunities that will let you contribute to an enjoyable ski season for all. Some require just a few hours of your time, whereas others offer the chance for you to get more involved in the activities of the club.
How can you volunteer with our club? General categories of volunteer jobs involve:
- Races (officials and race day volunteers)
- Special Events
- Coaching
- Program support
- Operations (trail and infrastructure maintenance)
- Communications
- Executive
- Fundraising
If you are interested in helping out in one of these areas or have a special skill and would like to volunteer your expertise, please email us at anne@bvnordic.ca. We will also be happy to answer any questions that you have about volunteering.
Races: All of the volunteers who help out on race days are all volunteers as are the officials who plan and run the races. Races require more volunteers than do other types of events held by our club.
Race day volunteers are involved with timing, recording finish times, running the results into the office and other types of jobs that require no previous experience. You may wish to help with setting up or taking down the course, assist at the start line tasks that may require you to learn alongside a more experienced volunteer.
Race officials include chiefs of race, course, stadium, timing, controllers and race office. Each has specific tasks and a group of volunteers to help them out. If you are interested in working on races at this level, we suggest that you volunteer as a race day volunteer in the area that you are interested in and then we’ll connect you with a veteran official who will mentor you.
Please contact race@bvnordic.ca for more information or with offers to help.
Special Events: Volunteers are needed to help with one-off events such as Santa’s Workshop, the Tour de Soup, Buchfink Lodge Day and Welcome Day. You can contact the event organiser to offer your help. The club is also open to ideas for new events. If you have an idea for a new event that you would like to organise, please contact events@bvnordic.ca.
Coaches and Coach Supports: Most of our Nordic Skills Development Programs for youth and adults are led by volunteer coaches and assistants. There are numerous opportunities to provide program support to the volunteer coaches; those programs with a paid coach also benefit from volunteer support.
If you are new to coaching, you can take one of the coaching courses offered at the beginning of each season.
Please contact nsdp@bvnordic.ca if you are interested in becoming involved as a coach, assistant coach or in another support role.
Operations: Operations benefit from volunteer help both during the ski season and during the off-season. In the autumn, there are work parties to clear the trails, maintain the lodge and other buildings, build and erect signs and do miscellaneous other work around the ski area. During the ski season, there will be specific jobs posted on the Help Wanted board and this webpage (below). You can use the contact information given on posting or contact chair@bvnordic.ca if you would like to help in operations during the ski season.
Communications: We depend on our website, Facebook page, newsletter and other communications methods to keep members, potential members and the community at large informed about what we offer. If you would like to help out, please contact webmaster@bvnordic.ca.
Executive: The executive board directs the club, sets its strategic direction and develops the annual budget. Because our club is volunteer-based, the board members are not expected to do most of the day-to-day work that keeps the skiers happy. If you are considering joining the board, please contact chair@bvnordic.ca for more details.
Fundraising: Our club is partially funded by grants, sponsorships and donations. So, we rely on grant writers and sponsorship liaisons. Please contact treasurer@bvnordic.ca if you would like to help in this area.
Current Volunteer Opportunities:
This list of volunteer opportunities will be updated regularly so please check back for work that meets your interests. See also the Help Wanted board, newly erected in the lodge.
