Looking ahead to next season on the snowboard cross front, Meryeta O'Dine doesn't plan on seeing much of her Prince George hometown.
She'll be too busy traveling to exotic destinations in countries like Spain, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Korea, trying to make a name for herself, just like she did this past season while winning the North American Cup championship.
O'Dine is on a path to realizing her ultimate dream -- representing Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
A World Cup spot for the first half of the season is reserved for the Nor Am champ and the 19-year-old hopes to be recovered from shoulder surgery in time to be ready to tackle the slopes with the top racers in the world. O'Dine needs to have the ligaments repaired in her AC (acromioclavicular) joint, which ties her collarbone to the top of her shoulder blade.
"It's an old injury from when I first started snowboarding and I guess I've had it for so long I've shaken it off, but this year I took a couple harder falls so it's getting a bit more finicky and it's causing some bigger issues now," said O'Dine. "I'm not too sure if the rotator cuff is completely attached, so it snags a lot and one side of my body gives out. It's a really a gross feeling.
"We're going to try to get it fixed now because next summer would really suck to have surgery in the summer right before the Olympics. We've put it off for long enough."
As a carded athlete, O'Dine has the ability to get on a fast track for her surgery. She figures after the procedure she will be in a sling for three weeks and will be back weight training within two months.
"The only thing I'll miss are some summertime on-snow camps," she said. "I spent three months in Europe last year so I shouldn't be that upset."
The 2015-16 season which wrapped up in April gave O'Dine complete confidence she's on track to compete in the next Olympics in February 2018. It started in August in Chile, where she landed on the podium in two South American Cup events. The Nor Am season began in late January on her home course at Tabor Mountain resort and she reeled off two wins, a second- and a fourth-place result, on her way to reaching the Nor Am podium a total of five times in nine events.
She also raced Europa Cup events and was third in a junior race in Pitztal, Austria, then traveled to Montafon, Austria for a World Cup race, in which she placed 16th.
She rejoined the World Cup circuit in February on the 2018 Olympic course in Bokwang, South Korea and raced to a sixth-place result, then went on to post first- and second-place finishes at the junior national championships in Quebec. O'Dine just missed the podium in her final event of the season, placing fourth at the world junior championships in Slovenia.
The course in Korea for the Olympic test event was bigger and steeper than she'd every seen before, by far the most intimidating stop for competitors on the World Cup circuit last season, but O'Dine got through it and had one of her best races of the season.
"It really cool that I kind of jumped a hurdle with it, because it was terrifying as soon as I got there and I was super-stressed out and I just kind of went and did it and it worked out really well," she said. "They were the biggest jumps I've ever hit and it took me a little bit to get on the horse, but it turned out really fun and I made it to the big final and I was top Canadian at that, which was really cool."
O'Dine was one of 12 Youth Excellence award winners selected by the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame Society (see Rylan Matters story on page ????????).
This past week she was in Vancouver for fitness testing with the national team and was booked for an MRI exam on her shoulder there as well. She is reasonably certain she will have A-card status as part of the senior team but is still awaiting a funding announcement.
"They said they want me on the team and the only thing I have to wait for is the funding for the team and what's going on with the coaches," she said. "We're not too sure, but I am training with them and whatever happens I'm making a transition either way.
"(As a reward for winning the Nor Am title) I got a personal World Cup spot, so the beginning of next season won't be so stressful. Normally you have to qualify for the World Cup and then you have to fight to keep it. I'm pretty sure I'm good for the whole season."
Last year, most of her travel costs were covered by her parents, Virginia O'Dine and Fern Thibault. She's hoping she won't have to rely on the bank of mom and dad much longer to keep up her national team commitments.
"It's really difficult because I'm at the point where I'm doing these real high-level events but there's only minimal funding, so I'm at an awkward transition," said O'Dine. "It sucks getting up to it, but once you're up there it gets a lot better, so I'm looking forward to that."
