ISHPEMING - There's ski jumping history in Ishpeming, and newly-hired Ishpeming Ski Club coach Oleg Glypka was well aware of that before he took the job.
But, the Ukranian-born Glypka doesn't want ski jumping to become history in the area, so he's taken on the responsibility of bringing excitement back to the sport, and back to the Upper Peninsula town that once was a thriving ski jumping community.
"When I just come in to Ishpeming, I meet a lot of parents, a lot of people who like jumping very much, who jump before, and they want to see the same thing for their kids, for their grandkids," Glypka said. "I've seen some competitions here for local kids. Some grandparents come, and their grandkids compete, and they (the grandparents) get excited.
"When you see their eyes and their reaction," Glypka added, "it's kind of why we (as coaches) do what we do."
Glypka comes to Ishpeming with a more European-style of coaching ski jumping - he graduated in 1992 from The Sport Institute in Lvov, Ukraine with a bachelor of science in ski jumping - and his coaching involves a slower progression for the jumpers than his American-born peers. He said the American-style of coaching puts the younger jumpers on the bigger hills too soon.
He views the progression of the Ishpeming Ski Club like he views coaching the sport; it'll take a while, but with time, it's possible to be top-notch.
"We've got some talent here, they just need help, some time," Glypka said. "We need to know how we can take care of this group. Part of the question is probably how the club can get support, how the city, how families, can support (the club)."
When Glypka started with the Ishpeming Ski Club - the second-oldest club in the world and the oldest in the nation - he had seven ski jumpers to work with; currently, he's working with 15.
When 65-year-old Ishpeming native Dale Fredette was jumping with the club, that number was over 150.
"When I was a kid, you couldn't leave Ishpeming without going past a ski jump," Fredette said. "I don't care which direction you drove, you went out of Ishpeming, you saw a ski jump some place. Kids built them all over the place."
Standing beside Fredette was Glypka, whose eyes lit up as Fredette talked about how ski jumping was once viewed in the area.
"This is what I'm looking for," Glypka said. "I need to bring more kids to the program because it's completely amazing for me that these kids can all learn to jump, travel around the country, around the world and meet friends in other cities. It's great."
During Glypka's off-season workout sessions with up-and-coming ski jumpers, it's apparent that he views all of the Ishpeming Ski Club jumpers as equally important. He spends as much time and effort with the 4 year olds as he does with the older skiers vying for Junior Nationals Competition.
One of the older skiers in the group, 16-year-old Adam Uuro, said he was impressed with his new coach from the beginning.
"He's definitely trying to improve the club and he knows how to do it. He's very good at doing it in different levels," Uuro said. "With the little kids, he knows how to train them a certain way, and with the older kids, he knows how to train them a certain way, too."
And Uuro, who'll be with the club at least until he graduates high school, is optimistic about the future.
"We definitely need to get more kids in it," Uuro said. "You've always got to start from somewhere.
"I can see it sparking up again," he added, "but you've just got to get kids to start when they're young."
As for Glypka, the history of ski jumping in the area is part of what drives him to help the club succeed, and he thinks working with athletes from the U.P. is a big asset in finding success.
"The location, maybe it makes some characters in this area stronger, not
afraid, and I want to try to do something (with them)," he said. "I want to find some juniors who want to jump, who want to be in the air.
"I want to go back to the time when, in 1960, there was a full U.S. team from Ishpeming," he added. "It's what makes sense."
