As athletes grow up, they're told to play a plethora of sports to help with their development.
As they get older, it comes time to pick a sport and Nick Bennett has chosen his.
It's skiing or bust as far as he's concerned.
NNSL file photo
Bennett has joined up with the Alberta World Cup Academy, a national training centre based out of Canmore, Alta. Similar to the hockey academies that some of the city's young players are
a part of, this academy focuses on high-performance skiing and opportunities that skiers
wouldn't normally get.
Bennett, who's attending the University of Calgary, said he chose to attend the academy after talking with Chris Jeffries, one of the academy's coaches.
“I heard about the academy after going to nationals last season,” he said. “I talked with Chris about it and he presented it as an opportunity to chip away at a degree while competing at the same time. It came at the right time and I was excited to get the chance to do it.”
Getting that chance to attend the academy meant he gave up the chance to go to Nipissing University in Ontario, where he has a scholarship lined up and a spot on the school's men's cross-country team in his back pocket.
“I'm spending a lot of money to go to the academy but I would rather be broke and successful than richer and mediocre,” he said. “I firmly believe being at the academy is going to make me a better skier.”
Bennett is part of the academy's pilot program, which saw it expand into Calgary beginning this season. It had been exclusive to Canmore until this season but Bennett said Jeffries was looking to create a varsity team of sorts.
“It's a chance to study and train at the same time,” he said. “A lot of skiers dedicate their life to the sport and when they get into their late-20s and early-30s and it's time to retire, they have no education because they've focused so heavily on skiing and that means they can't get a good job.”
If it comes down to taking the time off to focus on training, Bennett said he's prepared to do that but for now, he'll keep on trying to strike the balance between skiing and school. He's in class five days a week at university with training sessions in Canmore on weekends as well as some in Calgary when the chance comes.
Bennett is training among some rather elite company, two of whom being Dahria Beatty and Emily Nishikawa, both members of the women's national team and both Olympians.
He said he likes the atmosphere among the skiers at the academy.
“It feels like a big family,” he said. “It's awesome to be able to train with people who have the same mindset as you do. It feels like I'm learning something new every day or I'm helping someone learn something new and I'm training a lot. I'm learning a lot about the sport.”
Bennett has seen racing action already this season as he lined up for the Frozen Thunder event in Canmore late last month, where he had several top-15 finishes, but he said he was taking it easy in preparation for a training camp at the SilverStar Resort in B.C.
Problem was he ended up with a bad cold and he's been relegated to the basement of the house he's staying in and hasn't been able to train at all.
“My coach said I'm basically dead to the team until I'm better,” he said with a laugh. “I'm in bed and I can't even see the sun, which sucks because I'm in a beautiful part of the country.”
He will get better and he plans on keeping skiing his no. 1 goal in life for the near future.
“I'll keep doing it until I'm not good enough to do it anymore,” he said. “I want to see if this is the right path for me.”