If you can see it you can be it and the ripple effect

It's been a while since I've written a blog post but the success of Ellon Academy pupil Sandra Caune has inspired me.

Who is Sandra Caune and what has she done?

16 year old Sandra is an Ellon Academy pupil and competitive freeskier who competes in the Park & Pipe disciplines of Ski Slopestyle and Ski Big Air. She is a determined, headstrong and ambitious young woman who last week won Bronze in Ski Slopestyle at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Bakuriani, Georgia. Not satisfied with one medal she followed it up by taking Gold in the Ski Big Air a couple of days later. But that's not the first bit of success Sandra has had in 2025. In January she came 2nd and claimed the award for best trick at the Red Bull Rail Riot event in Laax, Switzerland.

Sandra has progressed to this point in her skiing career through Aberdeen Snowsports Centre programmes and crucially Aberdeen Snowsports Club. This has led on to other opportunities with Snowsport Scotland and Snowsport England as they work together to provide opportunities for development beyond the home dry slope including snow time in the alps and time in Belgium. Yes you heard right, Genk in Belgium is home to a world class facility with huge jumps with reduced risk, air bags, allowing trick progression with a reduced risk of injury.

While Sandra now has the influence of other coaches, a mainstay throughout her crucial development period has been Zoe Lewis. Zoe, Head Coach and Lead Park & Pipe Coach with Aberdeen Snowsports Club has coached Sandra for a number of years. In a male dominated sport Zoe is at the forefront of freeski coaching in this country, holding a Masters Degree in Sports Performance Coaching from Stirling University and being a Snowsports Scotland tutor. Why do I mention this? Because having a female role model right in front of you, particularly when things get difficult, which can often happen in freeskiing, will no doubt have been a benefit to Sandra's development and influenced her current success.

But Sandra hasn't just had Zoe to look up to. Red Bull athlete, Olympian and one of the worlds best female freeskiers, Kirsty Muir also calls Aberdeen Snowsports Centre her home. Four years older than Sandra, Kirsty has been blazing her own trail in the sport, and who has been watching her every move and taking it all in, Sandra. Seeing and believing it is possible to come from a small dry slope, overlooking B&Q and Asda, in a country struggling for snow in recent years AND make it to the top of the winter sport they love. Sandra and Kirsty are now friends,and whether either of them realise it I'm not sure but seeing success and successful behaviours on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis and being able to mirror them is priceless for Sandra's development in the sport.

But it's not only Sandra benefitting from the influence of the worlds best. Lesley McKenna Snowboard Olympian and former GB Snowsport Park & Pipe Performance Manager, is a mentor to Zoe. Sharing knowledge and supporting Zoe on her coaching journey, helping Zoe to best support and develop her young athletes and the coaching team around her. While Lesley might not be Aberdeen based she is only a couple of hours away in Aviemore and the influence is real.

Pictured left to right, Sandra and Emily with their gold medals.

The Badennoch and Strathspey connection continues. A couple of hours after Sandra bagged gold in Georgia, her team mate and friend, Emily Rothney from Carrbridge grabbed her own gold medal in the Snowboard Big Air. Emily a huge talent, has grown up with Lesley as a family friend, but also regularly rode with Kirsty during their younger years in particular at The Lecht. Emily has the added influence of snowboarding parents, both passionate about snowboarding, it's dad Craig that has spent the last few winters living in a caravan in the Swiss Alps helping Emily chase her dream. A caravan which in the height of winter is so cold that on some nights they wake up to freezing water in their caravan.

The hard work and dedication to their sports by Emily, Sandra and Kirsty is something to behold whether that's on their skis or snowboards in the gym or cross training on trampolines or skateboards. All these girls are working hard together. Speaking of skateboards, the final ripple in this pool, Daisy Buchanan. Daisy is not a Snowsports athlete but a competitive skateboarder competing for Great Britain from that well known urban, skateboarding hot spot of Catterline, Aberdeenshire! Daisy completes the quad of world class female action sports athletes from the north of Scotland. Daisy often seen with Emily and occasionally Kirsty on skateboards when their schedules allow, narrowly missed out on competing for GB at the Paris Olympics but continues to push her own limits on the international stage.

To steal a phrase from Lesley McKenna, "it's all about the stoke". Hard work feels much easier when you aren't on your own, when you have friends around you, when it feels like play. Good luck to you all, I look forward to watching you push your limits and seeing what you can achieve because these girls certainly can!

@aberdeensnowsportsclub

@sandra__caune

@kirski12

@emily_rothney

@daiisy_sb

@lesleymckenna