Galen Sayward

Like many who grew up in the thirties and forties, Galen Sayward’s first use of skis was to move about in winter. Introduced to the sport by his parents he was soon using skis to visit friends, go to school and enjoy the outdoors on weekends. In high school he traveled from his home town of Guilford to nearby Monson to enter ski events in their winter carnival on Homer Hill. At the beginning of his junior year he moved to Farmington and was able to earn letters in both skiing and basketball his final two years.

Following high school he attended Bowdoin College where he skied on the ski team his last two years. After graduation and service in the Army Galen accepted a teaching position at Leavitt Institute in Turner. Coaching football and baseball left his winters free so he talked the Headmaster into letting him start a ski team. That team continued to grow after he left and is today one of the top teams in the state.

Next came three year stopovers at New Sharon and Rangeley. At New Sharon he started a ski team and at Rangeley he expanded an existing alpine program into a full four event program. His next stop was at Farmington High where he again expanded an alpine program to four events. To gain more expertise on coaching cross country and jumping he got personal instruction from Sy Dunklee then coach at Colby and attended clinics from Rumford to Lake Placid. By the early seventies it was paying off for a team that was now the Mount Blue Cougars and in1981 the team won its first State Class A Championship.

In order to expand his coaching skills and help his athletes reach their full potential Sayward began to take his best to the next level of competition, divisional non school events. His efforts resulted in numerous skiers making divisional all star teams and representing the Eastern Ski Association in the Junior Olympics. His coaching and organizational skills were recognized by his election to the Eastern Nordic Committee. His work with that group led to his being team leader for several of the teams that represented the East in the JO’s in Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Colorado and California. His success resulted in his being named Chairman of the Eastern Nordic Committee.

At the same time he was getting more involved in judging and officiating at various competitions. By 1979 he had become a jumping judge qualified to work both divisionally and nationally and at the Lake Placid Olympics was selected for both events. As both were held at the same time he had to choose and selected XC where he was Chief of Hand Timing Calculations for the ‘80 games.

Since that time Sayward has become one of the most sought after ski officials, working at national and international events in the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Europe. He holds Level IV certification as a coach for ski jumping and cross country and Level II as an alpine coach. His work has been recognized with a number of awards including the Fritz Mittelstadt Award as the Outstanding Ski Jump Official in the U.S. and the Al Merrill Award for Excellence in Nordic Officiating. This lifetime of dedication has earned Galen Sayward a place in the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.