This year, for the first time ever, the Czech Center New York became a partner of the 43rd Annual Bača Cup — a traditional compatriot ski race held in Pennsylvania. The director of the Czech Center New York presented prizes to the winners, including the Cup of the Czech Ambassador to the US, which this time went to Dasha Fletcher and Tomáš Pavlíček.
Like every year, Bača Cup 2022 also included a social get-together, which was a traditional Saturday night at the log cabin in Salas Hills near Bedford in the Pennsylvanian hills. The local organizers were joined by representatives from the Czech diplomatic missions in Washington DC and New York and a large delegation of Sokol Washington members. As usual, the actual ski race took place at the Blue Knob winter resort and saw 65 participants, both children and adults alike, enter.
The prizes were co-presented by Lukáš Fletcher, currently the youngest family member to carry on the tradition of the “Bačas“ – or race organizers. It was mainly his parents, Dasha and Carl Fletcher, who were responsible for the faultless organization of this event. Participating celebrities this year included the journalist Dušan Neumann, who once again captured the race on camera.
The director of Czech Center New York said: “It was an honor to take part in the race itself as well as to be part of this unique gathering of Americans from Pennsylvania, compatriots and diplomats from Washington, and friends of the Fletcher family who help hold this special event every year. It’s one of the most meaningful programs of Czech sports diplomacy in America.”
The compatriot-American ski race enjoys the support of Washington-based Czech ambassadors. Many of them, including Petr Gandalovič, Petr Kolář, Alexandr Vondra, Martin Palouš and Michael Žantovský, took part in the successful sporting and social event, and the embassy’s support continues to this day.
Held on the woody Pennsylvanian hills, which remind local compatriots of the Beskydy mountains from back home, the race was started by Jiří Parma, a native of Frenštát pod Radhoštěm who left Czechoslovakia in 1948. Ever since then, one of the roads in Salas Hills in this part of the American North-East has been called Baca Road. During the lifetime of the first “Bača”, Jiří (George) Václav Parma, diplomas were presented in his log cabin by figures clad in Moravian folk costumes and bearing shepherd’s axes. Today, many Americans from the surrounding area join in on the modern version of this race, but the Czech spirit still dominates the event.
Photo credit © Czech Center New York
