Ben Wordsworth
Ben Wordsworth
Introduction
Ben Wordsworth is a passionate snowboarder, elite level coach and sports enthusiast. He is employed by the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) as the Head Snowboard Coach and is currently preparing the Australian national snowboard team for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games which will be held in Vancouver Canada. Ben’s role will be to oversee the duties assigned to additional snowboard team coaching staff and to conduct all athlete training and competition preparation. Ben has been focused on the development of elite level half-pipe and boarder-cross riding both nationally and internationally over the past ten years. Ben began coaching elite level athletes in the lead up to the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games playing a major role in the athletic preparation of Zeke Steggal (an Australian snowboard athlete who competed in the parallel giant slalom (PGS) discipline. After four years as Head coach at the US resort of Mammoth Mountain, Ben was asked to develop a national snowboard program within the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia. The program directed its focus toward achieving top ten results at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games held in Tornio Italy and aims to produce medal outcomes in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The program’s subsequent top ten 2006 Winter Olympic Games results achieved by two of the Australian national snowboard team athletes; Torah Bright (snowboard half-pipe) and Damon Hayler (snowboard boarder-cross) allowed the national snowboard program to firmly establish itself within the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia and focus on future directions. After the 2006 Winter Olympic Games Ben coached Holly Crawford (Australian Winter Olympic half-pipe athlete) to number 2 on the women’s 2006 / 2007 World Cup tour and Andrew Burton (Australian Winter Olympic half-pipe athlete) to a top 10 finish on the men’s 2006 / 2007 World Cup tour. Ben recently coached Australian snowboard team athlete Nate Johnstone to a podium finish at the Stoneham World Cup half-pipe competition and Australian snowboard team athlete Alex ‘Chumpy” Pullin to a podium finish in his first ever World Cup snowboard boarder-cross competition. Ben has also coached Damon Hayler (Australian Winter Olympic snowboard boarder-cross athlete) to multiple finals and top 5 finishes over the past few years. Ben has developed a solid relationship with Australian snowboard athletes and has enhanced the sport specific training and competition preparation protocols used within the national team program. Ben is highly motivated to providing Australian athletes every opportunity to achieve podium finishes on the professional and World Cup snowboard tours and at Winter Olympic Games competitions. He is additionally committed to the future development of Australian snowboarders and the opportunities they are provided with in Australia. Ben is currently undertaking a Master’s degree in Business and Sports Management at Deakin University in Melbourne and is dedicated to the continual development of his knowledge and practical experience in elite-level sport and coaching techniques.
Current Roles (within AIS, OWIA)
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Head Snowboard Coach for the OWIA
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Head Snowboard Coach for Olympic Winter Games Team, Vancouver 2010
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Co-ordination of NSWIS Coach and program
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Creating/Developing/Improving training methods that are sport specific with clear outcomes for athletic development
Current Professional Focus
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To motivate and lead Australian Athletes into Winter Olympic Games with the clear goal of medal performances
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Providing training and periodization for Australian athletes to achieve world class outcomes at major events
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Improving athletic development of HP,SBX athletes to create longer and more specific on snow training & competition demands
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Providing world class training facilities in Australian ski resorts (ie: SBX courses in Hotham & Perisher)
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Working with Sports Science to learn and develop an automated judging system to assist elite-level training and competition
Contact Details
Mobile: 0411 5549 554
Email: ben.wordsworth@owia.org
Linked In Profile: Ben Wordsworth
