LEBANON — A Lebanon High School senior, who is the lone athlete on the school’s ski jumping team, last month became the third recipient of a sportsmanship award presented by a nonprofit that supports ski jumping and Nordic combined organizations in New England.
The New England Ski Jumping Nordic Combined, or NESJNC, named Helena Mielcarz the Kathleen Doyle 2025 High School Sportsmanship Achievement Honoree.
Mielcarz received a trophy and recognition at an awards dinner on Sept. 27.
The 17-year-old started ski jumping at 9 years old and has been competing for the Raiders since she was a freshman.
“I feel like the importance of community in ski jumping is very valuable to me because I’m not the best at ski jumping,” Mielcarz said.
“I believe the community is the best part because you find all these people who are just there to be outside and have fun and just to ski jump, and it’s a great culture. Having good sportsmanship is so important because it helps build this culture of kindness.”
The award is named in honor of Kathleen Doyle, a longtime high school ski jumping coach at Merrimack Valley who is one of NESJNC’s original coordinators.
“This award is not for the best ski jumper or the highest awarded ski jumper,” said Doyle. “This is for good sportsmanship, and that means they demonstrate the ability to listen, desire to learn, practice, and improve, resilience, and show courage to keep trying, are polite, kind, and honest — they show inclusiveness and support to others.”
High school ski jumping coaches recommend candidates for the award, Doyle said. Members of a NESJNC subcommittee review the coaches’ recommendations and eventually select a winner.
Mielcarz stood out for helping other athletes at various competitions, Doyle said, adding that Mielcarz went out of her way to be kind to other athletes all season.
This was especially apparent at the state meet when one coach noticed “all of the high school kids had (glitter) on their face (…) and every school had it, and he’s going, ‘how did they all get this?’ ” Doyle said.
“Helena walked up to him (…) and then she took the material (…) and she put it on his face (…) everybody was smiling and everybody was having a good time — that’s what I’m talking about, that inclusiveness.”
It was particularly meaningful for Dan Mielcarz, who is both Lebanon High’s ski jumping coach and Mielcarz’s father, to see his daughter recognized.
“To have the other coaches and the board recognize that Helena was special in this way meant a lot to me,” Dan Mielcarz said. “In 10 years, when she’s working at a job, the distance she once ski jumped will not necessarily help her, but being a good sport and being someone who really likes to build community is going to be really helpful to her.”
This year, Mielcarz, who finished third among girls at last season’s state championships, said she is hoping to make it to ski jumping nationals in Steamboat Springs, Colo.
In addition to that, she said, “My goal is just to have fun as a senior and to be with the people in the sport that bring me joy, and seeing all my friends, and being in the community.”
