Miriam Lewis has always had that dream of going to the Olympics.
She will get to live that dream now, thanks to China.
The 30-year-old woman is one of the most recognizable faces that works behind the scenes in NWT sport and is set to join the Chinese Olympic team in its preparations for the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan. She'll be doing the same thing she's done for several years with Team NT: working as a physiotherapist.
She said the offer to move to Beijing was too good to pass up.
“It wasn't a tough choice at all,” she said. “I had my offer letter come one morning and I told my employer to expect my resignation in the afternoon.”
The offer to work in China came courtesy of a mentor who had joined up with their Olympic team this past December.
“China wants to improve on their results from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro,” said Lewis. “He went over there to work and he put out a call to people he knew in Canada, the U.S., Australia. I've always wanted to do something like this and once I got the offer, I knew I had to take it.”
Her start date still has not been confirmed and her plane tickets have not been booked but she's hoping to be in China later this month.
“I'm still waiting on everything but I'm hoping to start sometime between May 15 to 20,” she said.
As to what exactly Lewis will be doing is also a mystery but what she does know is that her home base will be the national training centre in Beijing working with whatever team she's assigned to.
“There's no set plan yet,” she said. “They asked me if I had a preference of what I wanted to work on and I mentioned volleyball, basketball and soccer because I've played all of those sports and have experience working with them. I'm open to any sport, though.”
Part of her job will also includes travelling with whatever team she'll be working with to whatever tournament or event they participate in, no matter where it is.
“If they go, I go as well,” she said.
The language barrier could come into play as Lewis does not speak much Mandarin or Cantonese, the two most-common languages in the country. In Beijing, it wouldn't be much of a problem as English is commonly used, she said.
But Lewis said it could be a struggle outside major cities.
“The goal is to have a translator with the team that has physio experience,” she said. “That way when we have to travel, we'll be able to communicate.”
Lewis is hopeful to one day come back to Canada and work with Canadian teams but for now, she's focused on her new job in China. Her last official tour of duty in Canada is with Team North at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships in Nova Scotia, which are taking place May 6 to 12.
She said she will miss everything about the North.
“I've had a lot of appreciation from people in Yellowknife and I've been lucky to work with so many parents, athletes and volunteers over the years,” she said. “There's sadness that I have to leave but I'm happy to get this opportunity. Yellowknife has been so good to me and the people here have helped me get to where I am.”