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Racing for my son


RideGuy

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Hi all,

My son is in grade 10.  He started racing with his school last season.  He has no formal race training (and actually does not snowboard that often) but has been improving at an amazing rate.  Over last season in 4 races he finished 33rd, 13th, 4th then 1st at the York Region finals.  At provincials his 1st run was good for 1st overall but he missed a gate on his second run and got a DNF.

This year he has had 2 races.  He got 1st place both races, wining by 7 seconds, way ahead of the pack.   My son does have the advantage of being on hardboots while almost all the other racers are on soft boots, although some are on some pretty crazy setups (Kessler w/ Gecko, SGs, etc).  My son is on a used FLC with Burton Race plates.

If he wanted to try racing outside of high school, where can he go?

 

Thanks.

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Connect with me, as my son (now 13) was / is in the same situation. I can definitely help you with all the good (and bad) I have seen and been through, and I find talking with others and sharing where you want to go is a great thing about this sport.

USASA is the best way for you to "get into" a league where he can potentially go farther than just regional races. They do Nationals in Copper Co every year, and it is truly an incredible event, as you can meet others with your same story, just meet cool people, or find like minded folks whom are just cool in general.

At 10, he will be in the "kids" leagues for the next 5 years, but there are also 13 and under national events he can do which also host a Noram race, so look for them as he can get "to see where the pros play" type of events.... but be warned, it is a bug they catch, and from there it never looks back....

Hope this was helpful and please reach out if you want to chat or shop talk.

--Frank

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Ah, thanks for the clearification....

That said, I still stand by my thoughts he should do a few USASA races, and see how he does at Nationals. This will be a good barometer of his skill vs all the others in his age group, and if successful and if he places top tier, he can look to go the next step if the funds are there.

The good thing about the USASA races is, it is very close to the gate setup and regulation distances for gates and such, so he would be on courses set close to the regulations he would see if he took this further.

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Rideguy lives in Ontario and most of the kids that his son would race against in USASA also do the provincial races in Canada. USASA allows the opportunity to visit Holiday Valley for a weekend ;-), but arguably more opportunity is available by keeping it a hitch more local. Additionally, the provincial series offers some more freedom if he really gets bitten hard by the racing bug to start accumulating some points.

Snowboarding is awesome. Racing is fun. 👍

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Hi all,

My son raced on Wednesday at the provincial qualifier and finished 1st.  His teammates finished 2nd and 3rd.  The whole boys team gets to go to Provincials this year.  The girls made it as well.   Provincials are next Thursday at Alpine.  It's very exciting.

Looking at USASA, the Western New York series includes Southern Ontario.  They had a race at Horseshoe back in January that only had 5 racers his age in it.  Looking at the times he would have been very competitive.  I have no issue driving into New York for races.

I've found the website https://ontariosnowboard.ca/   There is very little information on how you become eligible to enter these races.  I know the minimum requirement is to be a member of "Ontario Snowboard".  I'm going to reach out to them.

I really appreciate the help from AlpineGirl and TVR.  AlpineGirl lent my son some boards last season and has been a good friend to us along the way.  TVR gave my son a pair of Burton Race plates that have been mounted on the Prior FLC that he is currently racing on.

 

Thanks.

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  • 7 months later...

This year York Region has cancelled all school sports so there won't be any High School racing for Tyler

I've searched for a place for Tyler to race this season.  It seems in Ontario the only way for him to get any race training is to join a private club.  I called a couple and they are not taking non-member racers this year, which is understandable.  We would have to join which is not financial viable for us.  Plus I have 2 other kids who do not enjoy skiing that much.

In high school racing Tyler won every York Region race.  At provincials he was 1st after the first run.   He touched down on his second run and still ended up coming 2nd.

I'd like for him to keep racing, but I just don't see how it's possible given the current conditions.  If anyone has any ideas please let me know.   The plan right now is to get a St. Louis seasons pass and just work on his riding.

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Man, I feel for you man. Best of luck....  If you can get to a single USASA race, anywhere (vacation maybe?) and he takes first, he would qualify for Nationals and he could compete there. Train him or just ride and have fun, but that is the best advise I can give. I know once the racing bug bites, its hard to ignore, so good luck man....

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Thanks TVR.  There was a USASA race in Ontario last year, and some in the US that are totally drivable.  With COVID and the closed boarder I'm not sure if any of this will be possible but if there is a race that we can attend we would go.

We are buying season passes for the family for the first time ever, so we will get out and ride allot this year.  Usually the kids have hockey so we barely get out, but hockey for the most part is cancelled.

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