Jesse Kertesz-Knight's Ski Racing Dream

 

Hi, my name is Jesse Kertesz-Knight, I am 18 years old and I was born and raised in Jasper, Alberta. I started skiing at the age of 2 and racing at 8, instantly falling in love with the sport. For the past ten years, I have been dedicating my life to becoming the best ski racer that I can be. I started out skiing with the Jasper Ski Team until U16, and then joined the Banff Alpine Racers to finish U16 and start my FIS career. In my final U16 season, I had many successes, including being the top Alberta male selected to compete in Nationals, the top U16 Alberta male overall title winner, and the recipient of the Rob Bosinger Memorial Ski Scholarship. Unfortunately, my second year of FIS racing was cut short due to the COVID 19 pandemic, and like most ski racers from Alberta, I did not get to race at all, with the exception of a short race series in Ontario, where I was invited to race with the Alberta Ski Team. 

This past season was my first with the Alberta ski team and it was awesome! With racing finally back in full swing, I was incredibly proud of   my results which included:  7 FIS wins, 7 FIS podiums, Canadian GS U19 Champion and the Mens Alberta Cup Overall Winner.
This was also my first season racing on the Nor Am Circuit and I finished off the year with a top ten finish,  2 top 20's and 6 top 30's! For my age in Canada, I am ranked 2nd in slalom and Alpine combined, 3rd in SG and 5th in GS.

Having graduated from high school with honors, I now have more time to pursue my ski goals, which include significantly improving my world ranking, lowering my FIS points and also through hard work and focused training, hopefully qualify for the World Junior Ski Championships. My ultimate goal would be to eventually make the Canadian Ski Team and race on the World Cup Tour, and possibly the Olympics!

 

I am hoping to continue to raise $15,000 to help cover a portion of my 2022/23 ski season expenses. The main reason I need support, is that in order to move forward in my sport, I must compete and train at a higher level, which is much more expensive than in previous years. Training and racing with the Alberta Ski Team will help provide an opportunity, which I am very excited about!

 

Listed below is a brief summary of the cost breakdown for this season.

 

Total: $45,000  Accommodation, Food, Coaching ,Team, Race and Travel fees

 

Thank you for considering helping me out with this very important leg of my journey.

Your support means everything and any contribution really does help!!

 

Thank you very much!

 

Jesse