MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Fall 2017

FALL 2017 ML BLUE 31 Matt Fields comes from a skiing family. He’s been skiing Blue Mountain his entire life, but his connection goes beyond riding the slopes; his father is a tenacious course builder, and his sister is an instructor—so education, training, and ski knowledge runs deep for the Toronto native. Fields has been a part of the Blue Mountain Special Olympic Alpine team for about 10 years, and supported as a Blue Mountain Athlete for the last five, quickly developing a reputation as a humble and hard-working, gold- medal-earning star of the Special Olympics circuit. The selection and training process is similar to that of the Olympics, in that it’s a four year cycle. Competition begins with regional qualifiers, then provincial, national, and Worlds. In order for an athlete to get to the Worlds, they have to qualify at each one of those other levels. Matt’s been successful over the last four years, winning gold medals at each leg of the journey. Most recently, he won Gold for Canada at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Schladming, Austria in March 2017. “He’s had three coaches; my wife actually started out with him but he got too fast for her,” laughs Terry Sears, head coach of the Blue Mountain Alpine program. “He’s what we call our Golden Boy… he’s definitely been an up-and-comer. He’s an excellent skier and he works very hard.” Sears says what sets Fields apart is his determination and his willingness to listen and learn from his coaches. “He’s very health-conscious, very hard-working.” Fields currently trains with Nick Brindisi, a Collingwood- area extreme runner, trainer, and ski racing coach with the Blue Mountain Special Olympics Program who focuses on physical, mental, spiritual, and nutritional health. “He’s really into conditioning, speed, and everything else—that’s probably one of the reasons why he’s at where he’s at today,” Sears adds. “Plus his dad, Craig. He’s on him all the time in a very good, positive way.” Sears says Fields is aiming for a repeat of his gold medal trail this year, and is looking to place on his home turf in February, when Blue Mountain hosts the provincial qualifiers. —Nelson Phillips UP FRONT BLUE’S GOLDEN BOY Matt en route to gold in the World Winter Games, Schladming,Austria. COURTESY SPECIAL OLYMPICS INTERNATIONAL