Snow much fun!
Westminster kid competes in national snowboard, skiing competition
By Marguerite Paolino

Colin Rooney, 14, of Westminster, tied for second out of 150 9- to 13-year-olds at the Sports Illustrated KIDS Next Snow Search finals last year. Courtesy Photo

While youth soccer leagues were playing their last games of the fall season, Colin Rooney, 14, and his brothers Kyle, 17, and Owen, 10, had already moved on to what most people think of as a strictly winter sport: skiing.

Starting with some scrap metal procured by an uncle and wooden inline skating ramps their dad built, the Rooney brothers constructed a rail - usually found at a ski resort - in their own Westminster backyard. They filled a pickup truck with snow a Zamboni cleared off the local hockey rink.

Packed around the rail, the snow would last a while so they could ski up onto it and do their tricks on the way off. But the boys still had to go back to the rink several times a day to replace the melting snow.

Their mother, Laurel, was thrilled to see them using their carpentry and welding skills to make the rail.

"There's an energy there that's so creative," she said. "They're just doing what they need to do. I would never dream of saying, 'No, you're not going to do that. You'll ruin the lawn.'"

Catch Colin Rooney on the Sports Illustrated KIDS's All-Star Event, airing on NBC on Feb. 25 at 1 p.m.

Colin's drive to ski, be it on his homemade rail in the mild weather or nearly every winter day as at nearby Wachusett Mountain, is earning results for him already. He tied for second in the "Sports Illustrated KIDS Next Snow Search" finals at Killington last year - out of 150 9-to 13-year-old finalists from across North America. He was featured with the 25 top finishers in the May 2006 issue of Sports Illustrated KIDS, and next month he will travel to Steamboat, Colo. to compete in the program's All-Star Event, which will be aired on NBC on Feb. 25 at 1 p.m.

The Sports Illustrated "KIDS Next Snow Search" is designed to identify the next generation of great skiers and snowboarders. But Jack Turner, who created the event three years ago, wants competitors to be all-around athletes.

"I hate to see really young kids put in a box," he said, adding that it's too soon for them to specialize in just one aspect of the sport, like rails or jumps. "I want to see the kids out there loving the mountain, loving snow, and having a great time."

The "Next Snow Search" judges all competitors together. There are no separate classes for boys and girls or skiers and snowboarders. Each resort hosting a qualifier chooses their own particular menu of events, but they can include moguls, carving, big mountain riding, halfpipe, slopestyle, rails, racing, and big air jump.

Wachusett Mountain is one of just six resorts nationally that hosts super qualifiers. Tonight Wachusett entrants will compete on rails, big air jumps, and the resort's NASTAR race course.

The top boy and girl at the Wachusett event will earn a place on the "Next Snow All-Star Competition," and the top four will go on to the finals in Killington from March 2 to 4.

"This definitely isn't a beginning event. It's definitely at the high end," Turner said. "The talent is unbelievable."

Performance on the slopes is not the only factor affecting the outcome of the competition, however. Style, attitude and personality are an essential part of the equation.

"We really need to say this is an important element of competition," Turner said. "We're not running a church camp, but we insist the kids behave and we insist they're respectful of each other, the parents and the staff at the mountain."

A stealth entry

Colin had entered the "Next Snow Search" qualifier at Wachusett last year without any significant fanfare.

"One night he just said he was going back to the mountain for a competition going on," said Laurel. "I didn't know anything about it until he came home and said, 'I did really well. I get to go to [the finals at] Killington.'"

"I was pretty surprised and psyched out that I won," Colin said. "I didn't want to get my hopes up and have them be destroyed, but I ended up doing pretty good."

The whole family went to Killington to cheer for Colin during the four-day finals. "After the first day of competition Colin placed first. On Saturday morning his name was listed first out of 150 kids," said his mom, sounding proud and still a little stunned.

Colin had been very involved in alpine racing, but has no formal training in the freestyle techniques evaluated in the "Next Snow Search." "We didn't realize he had practiced so much," she said.

Colin is too old to enter the "Next Snow Search" this year, but he encourages other kids to join in the competition, regardless

whether they have much chance of winning.

"They should do it for the pleasure of competing," said Colin, who is now sponsored by Rossignol, a ski supply company. "Do it because you want to, because you love it. Have fun. When I was younger, that's what I used to do. I loved competing. I loved being around it."

While many kids he knows through ski competitions started on the slopes as toddlers and preschoolers, Colin first skied at age 9 and thinks anyone with even a little curiosity should try it out.

"It will take a while to catch up, but it doesn't matter if you're good or not good. You can start at 40 if you want," he said, mentioning that some of his friends' parents started skiing after their kids got interested. "Just go and have fun."

- + - Marguerite Paolino is an award-winning Massachusetts-based freelance writer. She writes for BayState Parent, newsmagazine also published by the Holden Landmark Corporation.