USASJ Story Project 6-DEC-2014 WALTER MALMQUIST

Jim Page, former Holderness, Dartmouth, USST, and USOC coach, teacher, mentor, executive, shows the basics to members of the Holderness Nordic team in the early 70's.  Author and then Holderness student Walter Malmquist leans on his poles and watches.

WALTER MALMQUIST
Age 58
Bradford, VT
Ford Sayre (1966-1969), Lebanon Outing Club (1970-1971), Holderness School (1972-1974), Dartmouth Outing Club (1977), United States Ski Team (1974-1981), US Olympic Winter Teams (1976 & 1980)
wmalmquist@kingcon.com

Fantasies Became Goals

During my first week at Holderness School, the Fall of my Sophomore year in high school, Jim Page gave me a training log. Jim told me that before opening the log I should list my goals for my ski career and for the year. Jim also told me that he and I should review my list of goals ASAP.

Articulating my goals to present to someone else for review for the first time was the largest challenge anyone has ever presented to me. While I had unspoken aspirations to make the US Ski Team and to become an Olympian, I really had no idea what it would take to reach those goals. Further, at the moment of Jim’s assignment, I realized it was much easier to maintain those aspirations (fantasies?) if I could harbor them secretly/unspoken... but I trusted and respected Jim as my dorm master and coach... and I wanted him to respect me; so I knew that I could not blow the assignment off.

I gave a lot of thought to the long and short term goals I listed for Jim’s review... making them reasonable/doable for me. When I met with Jim a few days later to submit and speak about my goals, we had a lot of fun discussing how conservative my goals were and consequently how they limited my vision... and how I was limiting my vision of myself. This was the first time anyone had spoken with me in this way. While I found it very complimentary that Jim told me that he thought that I was capable of achieving much more than I had written down, at the same time I found it very challenging that he actually accused me of lacking courage and confidence in myself as demonstrated by my “reasonable” goals. Jim told me that while I had no responsibility to him to set more lofty goals, he was disappointed that I was not aiming higher.

I didn’t realize it at the time but Jim’s challenge broke the ice which in turn made me think about myself and my aspirations completely differently than I had... my fantasies became my goals... my goals became consequences of my willingness and ability to confront/commit to address actionable items... my commitment to address actionable items became my day-to-day tasks... my day-to-day tasks became actions to record and monitor... my records became data to evaluate progress toward my goals... my progress toward my goals became my motivation to set new/better goals... my new goals became consequences of my willingness/ability to commit to address actionable items... What a great mentor and great lesson!

Holderness ski team in the early 70's.
Malmquist back left; Page in center row on right.

Jim Page contemplative before
coaching a soccer game.