Toben Sutherland has returned home after coaching Canada’s Olympic slopestyle and big-air ski team during the Beijing Olympics.
The Orillia native and his athletes had high hopes going into the Olympics after having a successful ski season. Unfortunately, Sutherland says, "it just didn’t work out for anybody."
The Canadian slopestyle and big air team returned home without any precious medals.
“We expected at least one if not two medals,” Sutherland said. “Our best result was Megan Oldham, who finished fourth in women’s big air.”
Sutherland, 42, says all his skiers were '"really good" during the Olympics, but not quite good enough.
“I think we felt the fatigue both physically and mentally from the pressure of the Games,” he said. “I also hate to use the COVID excuse, but I think it’s real.”
While Sutherland believes COVID lockdowns and restrictions were necessary and the "right thing to do," it made it hard for Canadian athletes to keep up with the rest of the world who faced fewer restrictions related to training.
Once the ski season is officially over, Sutherland says his team will sit down to evaluate what went right and what could be improved going forward.
Sutherland’s role as a coach is to keep his athletes focused. He also strives to manage their time off, their treatment schedules, and the entire coaching staff.
“It’s my job to be looking over their shoulder to see what opportunities might be coming their way, and what pitfalls may be coming their way,” he said. “I manage those the best I can and use the team around us to the best of their training.”
Sutherland uses his father, Suds, who is a retired music teacher and orchestra conductor, as a mentor for coaching.
“There are so many people with instruments doing their thing,” he explained. “In our world, there are hundreds if not thousands of combinations of movements, skills, and tricks that skiers can do to paint a picture for the judges, and hopefully it’s a picture the judges like.”
Coaches also watch the field, he explained, noting they are always observing other competitors to anticipate what they may do in competition. Then, they strategize the moves needed to have an even better run than the competition.
One of the most enjoyable parts of the Olympic experience for Sutherland was spending time with his team in the Olympic bubble.
“The Canadian Olympic Committee did a great job making us feel at home,” he said. “We are a family on the road, we’ve travelled for years and even decades with some of these athletes.”
Sutherland, Orillia’s athlete of the year in 1992, said he felt comfortable, safe, and secure while in China.
“They did a great job hosting us and making us feel like we were wanted there,” he said. “I would do it again in a heartbeat and I don’t know how much I would do differently. It was a great experience.”
Sutherland, who now lives in Alberta, credits his time growing up in Orillia for the opportunity to carve out a career in skiing. He also says being an Olympic coach wouldn’t be possible without the support of his family and friends back home.
“This was my third Olympics as a coach,” he explained. “Of course, I aspired to be an Olympic athlete and it just never happened for me. My parents and my brothers were a major source of support to keep going as was the community as a whole.”
The Orillia community has supported his Olympic dreams for three decades, says Sutherland, who was inducted into the Orillia Sports Hall of Fame a few years ago.
“I thank the community for everything they’ve done to support me along the way,” he said. “I look forward to Italy in 2026.”
