Ty Walker is one of the youngest American athletes in the Olympics this year, and she has a prep background of field hockey and soccer.
Photo courtesy of Oliver Kraus/USA Snowboarding
There came a point in young Ty Walker's life where she had to go all-in for her dream. Now that the 16-year-old is set to compete in the 2014 Sochi Olympics, she knows she made the right bet.
Ascending to international stardom in the debut year of Olympic slopestyle snowboarding required Walker to step away from a traditional high school life, one that for her specifically meant leaving field hockey, soccer and Stowe High School in her past. It's just one of those things that most students have to do if they want to train for a shot at the Olympics.
"It's not about what you want. It's about what you want the most. If you figure out what makes you happiest there will be
sacrifices," Walker said. "When you get everything you dream of, it's worth it."
Walker's event qualifying will take place before theopening ceremonies.
Photo courtesy of Sarah Brunson/USA Snowboarding
Television viewers, Internet followers and spectators in Russia will likely see the youngster jetting down the slopes, grinding rails and twisting in mid-air Thursday beginning at 5 a.m. Eastern time. If she performs well enough she will advance to the semifinals/finals competition that begins Sunday at 1:30 a.m. Eastern.
The diminutive young American left behind a field hockey career at
Stowe (Vt.) that featured loads of promise. Longtime field hockey coach Janet Godin said she could see the talent when Walker was in sixth grade.
"She was amazing. She's an amazing athlete all
the way around. In middle school when I had her she was the Energizer Bunny. In sixth grade she was
bouncing off the proverbial wall. She just had a knack for the sport," said Godin, who then tried to find the right word to describe how it felt when Walker had to quit the sport to focus on snowboarding.
She was losing one of her best players after playing sporadically in Walker's eighth- and ninth-grade years, but at the same time Godin was watching a young girl chase a big dream. Now she too knows Walker made the right bet.
"I was so
looking forward to having her in high school. Then her coaches said they didn't
want to take the chance. I fully understood, but she would have been an
extreme asset to our team. She's an amazing athlete all the way around," Godin said.
Living the traditional public school lifestyle became more difficult with each passing year for Walker. By eighth grade she was traveling all over the country and that meant she was missing field hockey games. By ninth grade she did one quarter of school and then had to leave town because the mountain in Stowe didn't have the facilities necessary for her training. Her family stayed in Stowe, while she continued her schooling online.
She had one more high school sports experience during her sophomore year, when she decided to go out for soccer. The experience was humbling, considering that a world-class Olympian would characterize herself as "terrible" at the sport.
"It was less about
being crazy passionate and more about doing something with my friends. I was
terrible. I had never played in my life but I hustled and wanted to win and worked hard. I played in some varsity games and was stoked on
that," Walker said. "If I could be good at three things, they would be singing, dancing and
soccer. I wish I had time to get good at
soccer, it's a great game."
Walker's family chose to move to Stowe to helpher further her dream.
Photo courtesy of Tom Zikas/USA Snowboarding
Barreling down a hill on a snowboard and doing tricks at high speeds doesn't really compare with any sports that Walker played growing up. Attributes like balance, cardiovascular endurance and strength do play a role, but the similarities pretty much end there. The biggest difference is something she really enjoys.
"Even though I am on the U.S. team it's very much an individual sport. When I
compete I am only riding for myself, whereas in field hockey I played center-mid," she said. "Sometimes it would be another player who had a
great pass or set me up and I blew it, or I set someone else up and
they didn't get the shot. It was hard going from relying on myself
to counting on every individual to make the win happen. I had to get used to the team setting."
The girl originally from Long Island used to make trips to the mountains of Vermont with her family often. By 10, the Walkers moved to the mountains to give her a chance to spend more time working snowboarding.
Undoubtedly there was sacrifice on the part of her family members as well. And all that sacrifice for everyone will pay off in Sochi this month.
"When I was 8 I could tell you I wanted to be in the Olympics some day and at 10 I wanted to go to the 2014 Olympics. When I was 12 I could tell you Sochi but I didn't know how I was gonna get there because my sport wasn't in the Olympics yet. When they named my sport I thought 'This can really happen,'" Walker said. "To finally be here and have it be a dream for so long, eight years, it's like I am in a dream."
She can count on her former classmates at Stowe High to watch her live that dream in Sochi.
"Her teammates and classmates are so proud and they're so excited that she has had this opportunity. She has worked very hard and they know the extremes she has had to sacrifice," Godin said. "They have arranged so they can watch the opening ceremonies and some of her events. They're just amazed at her ability."
