MySnowSports.com backs budding British Ski Champions
Four major bursaries awarded to talented British youngsters, at the Chamonix/Les Houches-based British Ski Academy, and Les Arcs
It’s tough for young British ski racers to get to the snow to train. These kids sacrifice Christmas, February and Easter holidays to try to compete with their Alpine counterparts. Sometimes a large part of the summer break and autumn half-term too. It costs a fortune. They get up at the crack of dawn, and train in all weathers. It’s one of the most dangerous of sports, but they love it, they are determined, and they can be winners - with our help!
We can’t hope to compete with the Austrians, the French, the Americans, we hear you say? Tell that to Alain and Noel Baxter, Finlay Mickel, Chemmy Alcott! It can be done - in fact it has already, even if Alain was robbed of his Olympic bronze in 2002.
MySnowSports intends to play an influential role in producing the next generation of champions. Cash-strapped “minority” sports are always struggling to find the funds to back talented youngsters. Alpine skiing is no exception. MySnowSports.Com already supports one very gifted young 17 year old British skier and our top junior girl racer, Sega Fairweather, sending her to study and train on an annual basis at the foremost US ski academy, Burke. MySnowSports now injects a much needed £60,000 each year into a sport that had its funding dramatically slashed by the official government agencies last year, following rather average results at senior level at the Winter Olympics in alpine skiing.
Another name to watch out for in the future, 16 year old Harry Brown, has just received a £500 prize for his performances last season.
MySnowSports.Com is particularly determined to support the grassroots in depth, backing not only the efforts of our future champions, but also rewarding the perseverance and good sportsmanship of those not quite at elite level.
Bursaries
Two promising young racers, Nia Jenkins (aged 12, from the Norfolk Club) and Robert Poth (10, Hemel Ski Club) have just been awarded bursaries worth several thousand pounds to train for a fortnight this coming February with top-ranked French race club Bourg Saint Maurice Les Arcs, just prior to taking part in the English Championships in Bormio, Italy. These two youngsters performed exceptionally well in the English artificial ski championships, and are delighted to have the chance to hone their skills on snow at the Les Arcs resort. They will join the elite of the local French clubs in training on the slopes of one of the world’s largest resorts, the Paradiski domain, and are determined to translate the benefits of this experience into success at the English and British Championships this season and at international level in the future.
The winners of two further major awards will soon be announced, with MySnowsports financing two bursaries for two youngsters to take part in race camps at the Chamonix Les Houches based British Ski Academy, run by former British team racer Malcolm Erskine. Almost every top British Alpine racer has spent time at the BSA at some point in their career.
Further info
For further information, contact Pete Garwood or Ian Spare via managers@mysnowsports.com.
The MySnowSports.com forum at http://mysnowsports.com/forums.html contains contributions from all the young racers involved.
