New Beginnings

Spring is here and it’s time for new beginnings. Rest month is over, training season is well underway, and it feels amazing to be working hard and back at it.

I got the news about 2 weeks ago that I was not re-nominated to the National Ski Team this year. This was heartbreaking for me for many reasons. I’ve been on the team since 2016 and have loved representing Canada as an NST athlete. Although being on the NST has never been my end goal, it’s been a big part of my ski career, and making the team was one of my goals for a long time as a junior. Losing this means re-defining part of who I am as an athlete.

Another difficult part of this is knowing that our women’s NST from last season won’t be able to carry our momentum forward together in the same way. I’m really proud of the determination and grit we showed this past winter, and of the efforts we made to increase visibility and excitement around women’s skiing in Canada.

However, I’m grateful to Nordiq Canada and the NST staff for the support these past years, and for getting to be a part of this team. Thank you.

So lucky to have been a part of this team, and especially grateful for the friendship and support from these women the past few weeks.

Despite not being on the NST anymore, my goals and race opportunities as an athlete haven’t changed. I’ll still get the chance to qualify for the March 2020 World Cups in Canmore and Quebec City, as well as some international World Cups. From a training perspective, I’ll be jumping in on as many of the open Canmore NST sessions as I can.

Although being a part of the NST is a great tool as an athlete, it’s not a necessity. Ultimately, I want to get faster, and to do that I need to train hard and train smart– plain and simple. In every challenge comes an opportunity, and this challenge has made me more motivated than I’ve ever been before.

It’s safe to say that although last season had its highlights, overall I was frustrated with my racing. I’m hungry for a lot more, and I’m making changes to address the problems I had. I’ve set my sights high and have every intention of racing in red and white again.