February 5, 2017
My Family – A True Inspiration
By Albert Bonardi – U14
Question: How have your parents helped with ski racing?
My parents have been an illustrious inspiration for me in my skiing career. They identified my skiing abilities at an early age during a trip to Mount Snow, Vermont, and ever since they have supported my interest in this wonderful sport. They first choose Hidden Valley as the place to learn and perfect my skiing and then moved to wonderful Mountain Creek where I have been supported by various coaches. My parents spent every weekend and some nights during the week to bring my brother and I skiing. They pushed me all through the last 9 years of skiing and continuously remind me to be fearless and push harder. I remember their voices whispering into my ears saying: “faster, faster – you need to win.” My parents always tell me to win – they always say “the sky is the limit”. My parents are there with my brother and I all the time. My sister also started skiing few years ago and now they dedicate all weekend and week nights to the three children skiing.
My parents help me very much, by pushing me every step of the way. When I was 10 years old, I fractured my knee and I was out for the entire season. The accident happened right before my first race, that season. After the incident, I was not really confident in going down the mountain at the speeds that I was able to ski the year before. When I got out of the cast I was not in the best shape, and I was scared to go back skiing. I was afraid because I did not want to fall again, but my parents motivated me to go back to the sport I love most and helped me understand that if you have confidence in yourself, you can do anything you want. After my first ski injury and recovery, I was able to do my best and last year I was able to go to Gunstock. This was a very important achievement. I hope to repeat the same achievement this year as well.
My parents continuously remind me to become a determined and strong skier. The help and encouragement that they give me is just astonishing. It is through their continued dedication that I get encouragement to be the best that I can be. My parents make themselves available for every event. My mother manages to arrange her work schedule to accommodate my interests and love for skiing. I hope to attend a high school where I can go skiing and my parents are embracing this opportunity. This would be a big undertaking on the part of the family, but they are supportive of me. They continuously remind me that I need to excel and focus on technique.
It is through their inspiration and continued financial and emotional support that I excel at skiing. My parents are phenomenal. They are a true role model in many respects