The two-time Olympian, with five-time World Championships under his belt and eleven seasons competing on the World Cup Snowboard Cross tour, Simone Malusa from Ivrea, Italy, boasts a rich history in the competitive snowboard landscape and lands role as Canada’s National Team Snowboardcross Coach.
Proceeding his own athletic pursuits Simone has coached some of the world’s leading Snowboard Cross riders including 4x World Cup Champion Lucas Eguibar (ESP), 6x National Champion Matteo Menconi (ITA) and Regino Hernandez (ESP) who won an Olympic Bronze in Pyeongchang.
“I am extremely happy and proud to have joined the Canada Snowboard crew! Ever since I quit my career as an athlete and started my coaching career, it has always been a professional dream to work with the Canada Snowboardcross Team and the fact that I have succeeded gives me great motivation. Although this team has already achieved outstanding results, I’m sure they have a lot of room for improvement and I want to contribute with the whole staff to lead the athletes to achieve many prestigious results in the coming seasons!” - Simone Malusa
Simone will succeed Jake Holden and will work alongside Maelle Ricker, SBX National Team Head Coach, to develop and lead Canada’s Snowboardcross National Team. We would like to acknowledge Jake Holden’s contributions to the snowboardcross program and wish him the best on his future endeavors.
“I had the pleasure of working three amazing years alongside Jake Holden. We started out as teammates, meeting each other at a summer training camp in the summer of 2006 on Farnham Glacier. Right from the beginning we developed a friendship that made our time traveling the world beyond enjoyable. I had mixed emotions to learn about his decision to step back from coaching full time to be at home with his family. I will miss our time on the road together, but I also respect his values to pursue his passions back in Ontario. With his departure, we had an opportunity to bring in another coach that will continue to support the athletes. Having a strong presence in Europe is a priority for our program that is so strongly grounded in Europe. Simone was an obvious person to bring into our family. His experience at the WC and OWG level is a big asset. He has an amazing technical eye and will easily fit in with the dynamics of the team. It's very exciting to start this next Olympic cycle with Simone, Chris Robanske, and the rest of our staff to lead our SBX program for many years to come.” - Maelle Ricker