It’s time for some snowboarders to throw down some tricks, hit top speeds in slalom and show some sportsmanship.
Following Arctic Winter Games trials last Sunday at Mount Sima, eight snowboarders received invites to a selection camp this weekend that will determine the team set for the Games.
Cool tricks, high speeds and good attitudes are what Snowboard Yukon is looking for.
“We try to do a holistic approach, not just focusing on points and performance in competition, but also athlete conduct, sport conduct, team building, team participation, those kind of things,” said head coach Katrina Couch. “We’re looking for a well rounded athlete, not just a kid that can throw down. A kid who will support a teammate, show up on time, who is a good role model.”
Each Games jurisdiction is allowed two boarders in each of the four categories - junior and juvenile, male and female.
With no junior-level females out at last Sunday’s trials, Yukon will likely be made up of six athletes, unless one of the three female riders competes up in junior.
Five males were invited to the selection camp after the trials, which included slopestyle on rails and jumps and the banked slalom event in Sima’s halfpipe.
Included in the camp are Haylie Grant, Tim Schirmer and Adam Waddington, all of whom won medals at the 2012 Games in Whitehorse.
Yukon’s snowboard team will also include assistant coach and chaperone Alexander Chisholme, a former Games competitor who won a silver and two bronze for Yukon in snowboarding at the 2010 Arctic Games.
The Arctic Winter Games will take place this March in Fairbanks, Alaska. Yukon’s snowboard team will be announced next week.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com