Pavol Skvaridlo is a full-time, professional coach who brings a distinctive, unique background of European training and knowledge to competitive North American XC skiing.

Pavol’s approaches represent a welcome, fresh approach to training young athletes, one that is designed to build for life without burnout. Train hard with enjoyment, and smart without injury. He encourages all athletes to grow within an athletic community training with partners and within a team environment.

His focus lies with achieving sustained healthy training that accommodates natural growth sequences, and balancing fitness development with technical improvement. That balance is needed to achieve performance mastery and, eventually, competitive results.

Pavol coaches his athletes for progressive mastery of all the elements that contribute to high-level, competitive performances.

Pavol began his coaching career after 12 years of Nordic Combined competition. Beginning as a club coach within a mature European training system, he went on to serve with the Czechoslovakian National Ski Team from 1982-89 where he mastered the elements of international-level coaching. As part of the Czech National Training Centre (NTC) he worked with developing young athletes to peak performance levels. Pavol earned a Masters Degree in physical education from the University Of Komensky in Bratislava (Slovakia), emphasizing biomechanical factors in Nordic ski performance.

In 1990 Pavol chose Canada to expand his career. He coached Ski Jumping at the Calgary NTC, and later served as Technical director of Sport North in Yellowknife, focusing on community outreach and promoting athletic activity among youth as a way for life.

He moved to Ottawa in 1997, and from 1998 to 2005 he coached the Carleton University Nordic Ski Team to pre-eminence in Nordic University sport. Pavol works in partnership with Peter Jakl in BC. He coaches athletes who seek to achieve their peak potential, Masters athletes who seek to continue in sport for life, and people who seek to simply either regain or acquire fitness. He coaches the Athletic Directions ski team.

You can e-mail Pavol at humanic.ski@sympatico.ca