Local snowboard competitor at championships

April 10, 2013 · 0 Comments

By Jeff Doner
It’s been a busy few months in the rink and on the hills for King City Secondary School’s Haili Moyer, who is refining her skills in both ice dancing and snow board cross.
The 17-year-old athlete recently won third place overall at the provincial snowboard cross championships at Mount St. Louis and then 17th overall at nationals in British Columbia.
She wasn’t thrilled with her results, but overall it’s been a very successful season considering its Haili’s first year competing in the sport.
“Provincials was a harder course, but it was fun. All the features were really close together and there wasn’t a lot of space, so they just came one after another. It depends on the snowboarder, but I think most of us had difficulty with that course,” she said. “To be honest, I was even hoping for second, but it did feel really good. It was a big accomplishment.”
In terms of nationals, Haili said it was a great experience and probably her biggest accomplishment in sports.
Also a dedicated ice dancer with Mariposa in Barrie, Haili said she has been skating and snowboarding for most of her life, but it was the switch to snowboard cross that really got her involved in the sport.
“I always did snowboard racing with my school and I like doing jumps too, so snowboard cross just seemed like a cool thing to do.” For those who don’t know, snowboard cross is essentially a big obstacle course. “You go down the course four people at a time and there are jumps, rollers and big turns in it,” she explained.
When asked about what it feels like to be standing at the top of the hill looking down before a competition run, Haili confidently said she doesn’t get the jitters and competing just comes naturally.
“I just kind of get into my own thing. I honestly don’t get nervous because it’s what I do every day. I just visualize everything and do it exactly how I do it in practice.”
Despite dedicating a lot of time to her snowboarding, Haili is still a big competitor in ice dancing and is looking for a new skating partner for next season.
She is currently taking some time off after a busy winter, but admitted it’s sometimes hard to keep up with school, sports, family and social life as a young athlete.
“It is difficult at times, but there are also times where it’s ok,” she said. “You get the hang of it after a while – you always find a way to manage everything.”
Listing her favourite subjects as French and chemistry, Haili’s goals are set high in both sport and academics. She might someday look to study languages, but she also wants to take her skating and snowboarding to the next level.
“I’m hoping to pursue either skating or snowboarding still and hopefully find a university that will help me with that,” she said. “Right now it would be to travel for both my sports and then hoping to zone in on one sport so that I can focus on the Olympics for either 2018 or 2022.”