TRU student to represent Canada in youth competition in Russia

KAMLOOPS — Brooke Lacey remembers exactly when she tried snowboarding for the first time. Her friends brought her up the ski hill and threw her on a board.

“They didn’t really give me a lesson, they were kind of just like, “Come on, hurry up,” she says laughing while recalling the memory.

Fast forward a few years and Lacey, who is now a 21-year-old business student at Thompson Rivers University, is on her way to competing in slopestyle for Team Canada in the 2019 Winter Universiade games in Russia.

The games are an international competition for university students. Lacey says she heard about it through a newsletter sent through Snowboard Canada and jumped at the opportunity and within a few months she found out she had qualified.

“I called my parents and I assumed they would say no because it is quite expensive but they have been so supportive,” she says. “I’ve never left North America before so this is going to be crazy.”

Lacey moved to Kamloops three years ago for school from Fort McMurray to study marketing and human resources under a business degree. But in order to prepare for the games coming up in March, she took a lighter course load this semester so she could fit in extra training.

“I’m not a competitive performer by any means, I’m just really into snowboarding and do it for fun,” she says.

Lacey is currently snowboarding four times a week and does dry land training off the mountain in the evening.

“I’m definitely super nervous but I am just looking forward to trying my best and having fun,” she says.

Lacey’s dad and grandma will be joining her on her trip to Siberia, Russia. The cost of the trip is around $12,000 so Lacey has set up a GoFundMe page to help with the costs.

The 29th Winter Universiade games will take place from March 2 to 12.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Karen Edwards or call (250) 819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.