Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Local Man Works With U.S. Bobsledding Team In Norway

Imagine being called by the U.S. Olympic Committee and being asked to work at their training center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Imagine getting the chance to work with Olympic hopefuls and champions.

Imagine having the phone ring and being asked to travel to Norway and work with the U.S. Olympic bobsledding team.

Difficult, isn't it?

But this is exactly what happened to Jeff Haynes, a local certified athletic trainer who works with Dean Butler at Hope Physical Therapy.

Haynes had the opportunity this spring to work at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for 15 days.

While there, he worked with the women's basketball in team selections, the judo team, the World Inline Skating Championships and the Native American baseball team.

Well, there's not a Native American baseball team yet. Haynes said while he was there tryouts were being held to form the squad.

According to Haynes, the USOC, the governing body of the U.S. Olympics, is wanting to field a Native American team and has been searching for players.

After spending 15 days in Colorado Springs, Haynes returned to Prescott and work with Butler. However, in August, he received a call from the U.S. Roller Skating Federation to work the national championships being held in Syracuse, N.Y.

Once that assignment was over, Haynes again returned to his "other life" in Prescott and Hope. He had entered into an agreement with Hope High School to work with the Bobcat football program as long as they were playing.

Once the 'Cats grid season ended, he was to come to Prescott and work with the Curley Wolves.

What happened, though, was the 'Cats quit playing after 10 weeks, the Wolves didn't, but Haynes' phone rang again.

This time it was for the World Cup Championship in bobsledding, which meant a trip to Lillehammer, Norway -- and only nine days notice.

"They asked if I had a passport," he said. "I told them no." Then the fun began. He and Carolyn Steed worked on the process and managed to get Haynes a passport in record time -- six days from the time he first applied until the passport was in his hands.

Then, the trip. Haynes gathered all his duck hunting gear for the bitterly cold climate of Norway. He then went to a friend who snow skis and borrowed all of his equipment. Once this was compiled, Haynes added his two bags of medical equipment and was ready to go.

While Haynes enjoyed his stay in Norway, he said there were no laundry facilities where they were staying.

On the other hand, he said it really didn't matter because it was so cold most of the time no one was sweating. "The warmest it got was 35 degrees," he said. "Normally, it was about 10.

"We kept everything covered but our eyes." And the eyes, he said, hurt from the howling winds.

According to Haynes, the U.S. Bobsled team has 13 members. There are three two-man teams and three four- man teams along with one alternate.

"Someone was hurt the entire time I was there," he said. "It's a young team. There are five veterans and the rest are rookies."

The bobsled team, he said, was recruited from across America. The team's top man, interestingly enough, comes from Florida.

The injury situation, Haynes said, consisted of many which would normally be seen on a football field -- pulled hamstrings, quadracep and lower back injuries.

In addition, there were a good many injuries which were track related because the team members, almost to a man, were former track decathaletes.

The majority of lower back injuries are caused by the sled itself, which weighs 350 pounds and must be carried by the team to the track for runs. And, yes, the sled must be carried over ice, which means one slip and someone could be seriously hurt.

In the world event, Haynes said, Brian Shimer, the top man for the US team, and Randy Jones qualified for the bronze medal in the two man run. They placed behind Germany I and Canada, tying with Germany II for the bronze.

Haynes said the eight rookie members of the team had never been on the ice until they reached Norway, nor had they ever been on a bobsled run, which is 1.2 miles long.

With speeds being reached in the neighborhood of 70 miles per hour, Haynes said disaster looms on every run, and nearly occurred with some of the rookies.

Timing is critical in the four-man event, as each team member must get in the sled in a specific manner, beginning with the driver.

All members must be in the sled by the time it reached the first curve, or someone could be killed. Haynes said one of the rookies was having trouble getting into the sled as it neared the first curve and one of the veterans literally dragged him in it.

"The position you are in when you get in the sled is the one you stay in," he said. "Any movement causes the sled to move as well."

Haynes trained with a specialty in sport rehabilitation while at Arkansas State University. He is a certified athletic trainer, not a physical therapist, though he works in a physical therapy clinic.

The 29-year-old Prescott native holds a degree in sports medicine, and was sworn in as a member of Arkansas' new State Athletic Trainers Committee Thursday, Dec. 7.

He was appointed to the committee by Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, and will serve with three others. Eighth Judicial Circuit/Chancery Judge Jim Hudson, who Haynes calls his "common-law brother," did the swearing in in the Nevada County Courthouse.

Spending the Thanksgiving holiday in Norway was an experience for Haynes. He said they don't fry their foods there.

"Mom faxed a recipe for Thanksgiving dinner," he said. "They did good on the turkey and corn on the cob, but didn't know how to make yams."

Haynes said they peeled the sweet potatoes, slicing them and inserting marshmallows before roasting. This left something to be desired in the way of candied yams, he said.

"I'm not sure what all we ate. I know we ate reindeer, elk and caribou. They served boiled potatoes with every meal (even breakfast).

"When we found a McDonald's we paid $6.50 for an extra value meal, and were glad to do it."

Haynes has a shot at being a trainer for the Olympic games, but doesn't want it to be the 1996 Summer games in Atlanta, Ga. "I don't want my one shot at the Olympics to be two states away," he said. "I'd rather go somewhere I haven't been before."

This shot could come at the Winter Olympics in 1998, which will be held in Japan. Haynes has been asked by the U.S. curling team to work with them.

Curling utilizes a 42-pound granite block moved about by taped brooms in a game similar to shuffleboard on ice.

"Hopefully, I'll get picked up by a little more exciting crew," he said. "Maybe bobsled or luge, but I'll take what I can get."

Dur