After celebrating their Olympic victories and reassessing after their Olympic defeats, the Canadian National Team has been annouced for the 2010/2011 season. The team remains mostly intact from 09/10, with the exception of Jasey-Jay Anderson's retirement from racing, and Alexa Loo and Kimiko Zakreski also hanging up their hardboots. Despite hearing rumours to the contrary, Jeff Batchelor will be back in competition as part of the halfpipe team for another season as well.

Photo: © FIS - Oliver Kraus

From Canada~Snowboard:

2011 CANADIAN SNOWBOARD TEAM TO PURSUE MORE INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS
31 snowboarders named to the National Team, including 11 rookies

(Vancouver, BC - August 6, 2010) Canada~Snowboard announced the 31 snowboarders who will represent Canada on the International scene this upcoming season, and the team remains focused on delivering continued international success after an exceptional season in 2010.

The team has the core of its veterans from the 2010 season returning, as well as 11 new faces as the preparations begin for the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. The team has amongst its ranks six World Championships medalists, three Olympic medalists, 15 2010 Olympians, 8 World Cup winners, and 11 newcomers.

The upcoming season will be highlighted by the 2011 FIS World Snowboard Championships in La Molina, SPA, from January 15-23, 2011.

"Our main objective remains to be performance-driven, and be very successful on the international scene yet again this year. Our team comprised of the best coaches and support staff will be professional at all levels and will work together with the common goal of winning," commented Robert Joncas, Canada~Snowboard's new Director of High Performance. "We are putting all our resources in place to achieve that success, whether it is technical, financial or human resources."

"With the cancellation of a World Cup race this fall and the departure of Jasey-Jay Anderson, expectations for number of podiums on the FIS World Cup tour will be less this year in comparison with last year," added Joncas. "But our goal remains for our teams to be very competitive and relentlessly ride for the podium at every occasion."

The team will be headlined by Olympic gold medallist Maëlle Ricker (West Vancouver, BC) in the snowboardcross program. Dominique Maltais (Petite-Rivière Saint-Francois, QC) will be looking for redemption after sustaining an injury during training for the 2010 Games. The powerful duo of Ricker/Maltais combined for 11 World Cup podiums last season alone, sharing the podium in five of the six World Cup race.

Olympic silver medallist Mike Robertson (Canmore, AB) is back on the board this season. Robertson will be riding alongside team veterans Rob Fagan (Squamish, BC) who was fifth at the 2010 Olympic Games, Drew Neilson (North Vancouver, BC), François Boivin (Jonquière, QC) and Simon Bonenfant (Mont-Tremblant, QC).

Canadian snowboardcross champion Kevin Hill (Vernon, BC), who fought hard but fell short of Olympic qualification makes his debut on the National Team with Dan Csokonay (Calgary, AB), Jake Holden (Caledon, ON), and Chris Robanske (Calgary, AB).

The dynamic duo of Matthew Morison (Burketon, ON) and Michael Lambert (Toronto, ON) will look to continue their impressive performances of 2010 in the alpine snowboarding discipline. Both Lambert and Morison won World Cup races last season.They will be joined by Patrick Farrell (Oakville, ON) and rookies Steve Barlow (Courtice, ON), Matthew Carter (Maryhill, ON) and Darren Gardner (Burlington,ON).

Olympic Gold Medallist Jasey-Jay Anderson (Mont-Tremblant, QC) retired at the end of the 2010 season.

The Women's alpine snowboarding program has seen the most changes, as veteran Alexa Loo (Richmond, BC) announced her retirement in July, while Kimiko Zakreski (Calgary, AB) will focus her energy on her real estate career for the upcoming year.

This year the Team will be led by returning veterans Caroline Calvé (Montreal/Aylmer, QC) and Ariane Lavigne (Mont-Tremblant, QC). Rookies Megan Farrell (Ontario), Marianne Leeson (Burlington, ON) and Ekaterina Zavialova (Calgary, AB) will be looking to acquire valuable international experience for the future Olympic Games.

Canadian Champions in halfpipe Palmer Taylor (Collingwood, ON) and Brad Martin (Ancaster, ON) are back in the halfpipe this season. Mercedes Nicoll (Whistler, BC), who posted Canada's top HP result at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Justin Lamoureux (Squamish, BC), who came seventh at the Olympic contest and veteran Sarah Conrad (Halifax, NS) will look to strengthen Canadian success in pipes around the world.

Alex Duckworth (Kinsbrug, NS), Derek Livingston (Aurora, ON) and Jeff Batchelor (Oakville, ON) will also be back this season.

The Canadian Snowboard team is coming off a banner 2010 World Cup season, winning a total of 28 FIS World Cup podiums, the most by any nation on the FIS World Cup tour last season. At the 2010 Olympic Games, Canadian snowboarders achieved five historical best results in six events, winning two gold medals and one silver medal.

2011 CANADIAN SNOWBOARD TEAM
SNOWBOARDCROSS (SBX) - 12
Maëlle Ricker (Whistler, BC) & ~ ^ %
Dominique Maltais (Petite-Rivière-St-Francois, QC) & ~ %

François Boivin (Jonquière, QC) ^ ~
Simon Bonenfant (Mont-Tremblant, QC)
Dan Csokonay (Calgary, AB) #
Robert Fagan (Cranbrook, BC) ~
Kevin Hill (Vernon, BC) #
Jake Holden (Caledon, ON) #
Drew Neilson (North Vancouver, BC) ~ %
Chris Robanske (Calgary, AB) #
Mike Robertson (Calgary, AB) & ~
Tom Velisek (Vernon, BC) %

ALPINE (PGS/PSL) - 11
Caroline Calvé (Gatineau, QC) ~
Megan Farrell (Ontario) #
Ariane Lavigne (Mont-Tremblant, QC)
Marianne Leeson (Burlington, ON) #
Ekaterina Zavialova (Calgary, AB) #

Steve Barlow (Courtice, ON) #
Matthew Carter (Maryhill, ON) #
Darren Gardner (Burlington,ON) #
Patrick Farrell (Oakville, ON)
Michael Lambert (Toronto, ON) ~ %
Matthew Morison (Burketon, ON) ^ ~ %

FREESTYLE (HP/SBS/BA) - 8
Sarah Conrad (Dartmouth, NS) ~
Alex Duckworth (Kingbrug, NS)
Mercedes Nicoll (Whistler, BC) ~
Palmer Taylor (Collingwood, ON) # ~

Jeff Batchelor (Oakville, ON) ^ ~ %
Justin Lamoureux (Whistler, BC) ^ ~
Derek Livingston (Aurora,ON)
Brad Martin (Ancaster, ON) ^ ~ %

LEGEND
& Olympic Medallist
^ World Championship medalist
% World Cup Winner
~ 2010 Olympian
# Rookie

Become a fan of Push.ca on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date.