Excel Race Academy's New FIS Coaching Team
We are excited to announce the new FIS coach appointment of Nino Handžić this season, who joins longstanding coach Jo Morrison! Nino brings over ten years of international coaching experience across Europe and Canada. Most recently Head Coach at an academy in Gstaad, Switzerland, he has also held Lead FIS Coach and coaching roles with teams in Vancouver, Montreal and Turkey — experience that spans athlete development from U10 through to FIS level, and includes coaching athletes to Junior World Championships qualification.
Our 21-Week FIS Ski Racing Programme
The FIS team is our full-time programme for athletes competing at international level — built for those with their sights on national team selection or a breakthrough on the FIS circuit. It runs October through April, with a 21-Week Full Time option as well as 16-, 12- and 8-week alternatives for athletes balancing racing with exam years or other commitments. Every version is built around the same principle: measured, long-term progression rather than quick fix short-cuts. Small coach-to-athlete ratios and a consistent coaching team mean every athlete nurtured, not just coached.
Athletes train from our permanent base at Hotel Iris in Kramsach, Tyrol — 2–4 bed rooms with mountain balconies, a private ski room and an on-site high performance gym, with access to resorts used by national teams including Glungezer, Niederthai, Spelijoch and Niederau.
Race selection is never one-size-fits-all. Full-time FIS athletes race an expertly curated calendar of around 35 races a season, spanning FIS, NJR, NC, and GBR Home Nations events, with the calendar tailored to each athlete's ability, goals and form, and adapted through the season as training performance and snow conditions change. Where athletes meet the criteria, we support the pathway toward national team selection and World Junior Championships.
Every FIS athlete has access to a High Performance Gym with Watts bikes, an Olympic lifting platform and full weights setup; on-camp physiotherapy from our Chartered Physiotherapist; precision ski servicing and a close relationship with Sport H&N, the renowned boot fitters trusted by World Cup skiers; Brower start, split and finish timing for race simulations; and Dartfish video analysis for instant feedback on the hill.
Athletes doing GCSEs and A-Levels don't have to compromise on their sport or their academic studies. Education runs alongside training throughout the season, with 15 hours of tuition a week from our lead tutor — whether athletes stay enrolled at their home school and take authorised absence for camp weeks, or study through Minerva Online School for full curriculum-aligned flexibility. Wherever we are in the world, athletes have a quiet study space, WiFi and access to major exam board resources, and our tutors liaise directly with schools and parents before and after each camp so nothing falls through the cracks.
Download Our Prospectus
Find out more about our 21-Week Full-Time FIS Programme and other offerings.
Meet Our FIS Coaches: Jo Morrison & Nino Handžić
Jo Morrison — FIS Coach
Jo's own ski racing story started close to home, with Gordon Skiers, where he won the Bairns Bucket three years running before progressing onto the British Children's Team and then the FIS British Ski Team. As an athlete, he forerun a NorAm race just two seconds off Marcel Hirscher's pace — a reminder of the elite standard he competed to himself as an athlete.
Before joining Excel in 2021, Jo instructed and coached at the Warren Smith Academy in Verbier. Since then, he's built some of the most consistent, trusted relationships on our coaching team, working across U14/U16 and now the FIS group. Away from the hill, he's a committed sauna and cold-plunge enthusiast!
Nino Handžić — FIS Coach
Nino brings over ten years of international coaching experience, developing athletes from U10 through to FIS and Olympic-pathway level across Europe and Canada. Most recently, he was Head Coach at an academy in Gstaad, Switzerland, where he led the strategic direction of the alpine programme.
His coaching path has taken him through FIS-level roles with teams in Vancouver, Montreal and Turkey, as well as earlier years coaching U10–U16 athletes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy and Switzerland. Along the way, he's coached three athletes to Junior World Championships qualification and developed an athlete now competing on the Europa Cup circuit. He holds ISIA Level III Ski Instructor certification, CSCF Race Coach Level 2 (Canada) and CSIA Canada Coach certification.
Join Excel Race Academy's FIS Team For Life
Jo and Nino join a coaching group built on the same idea — that whatever potential an athlete reaches, whether that's FIS wins or World Cup level, our job is to develop highly resilient, independent, confident individuals with a community they belong to for life. We're glad to have them both leading the FIS programme this season, and we're looking forward to what this group builds together.
Join Us This Winter!
Interested in joining our team this Winter or would like to find out more information?
