Young Scottish trio shine in trials to earn call-ups to national squads
Temperatures are rising and summer is nearly here, but school skiers are still hitting the slopes.
Because of the poor outdoor conditions this winter, many school events were cancelled, but three talented young Scots – Thomas Dunn plus brothers Ross and Scott Mcintyre – have taken step towards fulfilling their future World Cup and Winter Olympic ambitions following their success at the recent GBX Ski and Boarder cross trials.
Hosted at Snow Factor Braehead, the trials are designed to help selectors identify young athletes with the skill and attitude to succeed in the fast and furious disciplines.
Thomas, a 12-year-old from Cambuslang who is in Primary 7 at St Aloysius’ College, has been reselected to the National Academy SBX team and has also made the Home Nations SX squad for the 2018/2019 winter season.
The Mcintyres, pupils at Bearsden Academy, were also selected for the Home Nations Academy Ski Cross (SX) squad.
Snow Factor will host a further day of the GBX trials on 9 September when more young skiers and snowboarders will have the chance to impress selectors. Penny Dunn is businessdevelopment manager for Ice Factor Group that includes Snow Factor Braehead. Referring to the significance of the GBX trials and separate race event, she said “Held on real snow like at Snow Factor, the Uk-wide GBX trials provide a keenly contested platform for Scotland’s young skiers and snowboarders to showcase their skills and hopefully impress selectors who are looking for the future homegrown talent in ski cross and Boardercross.
“It’s terrific that Snow Factor Racing (SFR) has seen several youngsters selected for national squads at the trials. Their dedication to regular training and practice at Snow Factor has paid off and hopefully their success will also inspire others to pull out all the stops and impress when the trials return to Scotland on 9 September.”
Next week (29-31 May) will also see members of the British Parasnowsport Team (alpine and snowboard) training at Snow Factor as part of their 2018-2019 preparations. In late June, members of the British Park & Pipe team will also return to practice at the facility as part of their preparations for the forthcoming World Cup and 2018 Winter Olympic Games.