Green Bay Director of Athletics Charles Guthrie has announced the hiring of Jeremy Hecker as the new head men's and women's Nordic skiing coach, effective September 2018.
The native of Andover, Minnesota, comes to Green Bay after spending a year as an assistant collegiate Nordic skiing coach with Williams College. The Division III school, located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, is where Hecker found his passion to coach college athletes.
Before that, he spent a year as an assistant coach at Stratton Mountain School, a college prep high school in Stratton, Vermont. While there, Hecker had the rare opportunity to train one of the most successful junior programs in the country, as well as work alongside members of the SMS Elite Team, a professional cross country ski team based in Stratton that showcases Olympians such as Jessie Diggins, Sophie Caldwell, Andy Newell, and Simi Hamilton.
Prior to moving up the coaching ranks, Hecker obtained his first job out of college as Lead Coach for Endurance United, a ski club in St. Paul, Minnesota. He had the chance to coach and mentor several of the best junior skiers in the country, including some that eventually became Phoenix themselves. His first job experience, however, began while he was still completing his bachelor's degree. Hecker interned with the Alberta Cup Academy in Canmore, Canada, and gained experience helping with Canadian National Team members.
Hecker obtained a Master's in the Biology of Physical Activity in 2016 while at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, where he focused his studies in Nordic Skiing and wrote a thesis on Seasonal Variations in Endurance Performance, and Aerobic and Anaerobic Variables in Competitive Cross Country Skiers.
He received his bachelor's degree in Exercise Physiology from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota in 2013. While at the college, Hecker also competed on the varsity Nordic Ski team for four years, qualifying for the NCAAs twice in his career and being named the male sports athlete of the year at his school as a senior.
