Spring 2012 - 4-H Ontario

More documents

Recommendations

Info

FEATURES Cristy, bottom row and second from the left, and her teammates celebrate their silver medal win at the 2011 World Championships in Bled, Slovenia. on the Road to the Olympics A Halton 4-H Alumni Story By Lois James When people think 4-H they don’t usually think of rowing but, in the case of Alumnus Cristy Nurse, it all ties together. Cristy is an elite athlete who is vying for a position on Canada’s Olympic women’s 8 rowing team, which is the team that will compete at the Olympics in London, England this summer. Cristy believes there is a strong link between her 4-H experience and her athletic success. 4-H competitions taught her many valuable skills and lessons that have had a big impact on her athletic career including self motivation, sportsmanship and a drive to succeed. “Through 4-H and working on my family dairy farm, I developed strong work ethics, dedication and learned that you get out of something what you put into it,” Cristy says. “Because 4-H was part of our family life, the safety of competing in the family with my sister and brothers helped me, although it was a big adjustment to move from 4-H competitions to national and international rowing competitions.” Cristy was an avid 4-H Member in Halton, completing 45 livestock and life skills Clubs, and winning many awards for her contributions to 4-H. Her 4-H accomplishments include winning the Provincial Go For The Gold competition, being a member of the Ontario Judging Team at the World Dairy Expo, exhibiting the Grand Champion calf at the Gencor Challenge, and winning the President’s Cup showmanship competition at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. “My favourite 4-H memories involve the competitions and the good times and many friends I made in 4-H travelling to shows, working as a county team member at the Scotiabank Classic and the week spent in Madison with 4-H Members from across North America. Many of my friends are still those I formed through 4-H and continued at university,” says Cristy. Her experience at 4-H competitions taught Cristy the importance of winning and losing. “I know what it’s like to Leadership In Action • Spring 2012
Because 4-H was part of our family life, the safety of competing in the family with my sister and brothers helped me” be left standing in the outer ring of a 4-H showmanship calf class waiting for the judge to pick you,” Cristy explains. Although being the first person the judge picks is always a great feeling, competitions also show you areas for improvement. Cristy’s parents, Halton 4-H Leaders Jeff and Kenda Nurse, also stressed the importance of good sportsmanship. Losing sometimes is part of the learning process and they would not accept complaints about competition results from her or her siblings. “They told us if we don’t like being at the bottom of the class, then we should work harder to improve,” explains Cristy. Cristy’s competitive spirit was also well utilized outside of 4-H on various sports teams. As a talented athlete, Cristy was recruited to play basketball at the University of Guelph on the varsity team. In 2008 she graduated with a B.A. and then entered law school at the University of Ottawa where she is presently enrolled. It was during university that Cristy had her first experience with rowing. “I actually only started rowing in the summer of 2006,” says Cristy. “I wanted to move from basketball into a new sport and had always been a fan of rowing during the Olympics.” A job interning at a Mississauga law firm close to the Don Rowing Club gave her the opportunity to give rowing a try. Although she had never rowed before, her height and athleticism earned her a position in a formed crew. Two weeks later she competed in her first regatta. A former New Zealand national team coach spotted her potential and encouraged her to make the sport her new pursuit. “I worked with him for the next two years, and in 2008 I won the under 23 women’s pair event at the Canadian Rowing Championships,” Cristy explains. After the Canadian Rowing Champions, Christy was encouraged to move to the National Training Centre in London. She decided to make this move in 2010 after completing her second year of law school. “My improvement really accelerated and that year I made the Canadian women’s 8 rowing team and won silver at the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand. I elected to defer my studies to focus on rowing full-time and in the spring of 2011, I was again selected to the women’s 8 team,” Cristy shares. Last August, Cristy and the women’s 8 rowing team won silver at the World Championships in Bled, Slovenia. Since then, Cristy has been a member of the Olympic selection camp, which is the group of athletes in contention for spots on the Olympic team. Final Olympic team selections will be made in June. The women’s 8 rowing team has historically been Canada’s most successful event for medals at the Summer Olympics, making the pressure for the final selection and the Games quite high. “There are high expectations by Canada for the team to do well, although we put even more pressure on ourselves as we want to pay back to Canadians for their support to the Own the Podium program,” explains Cristy. No matter the outcome of the Olympic team selections, all 4-H’rs can be proud of Cristy’s amazing accomplishments. The skills she developed through 4-H competitions and her athletic career, including her positive attitude, dedication, hard work and sportsmanship are all truly outstanding. That being said, it sure would be nice to see Cristy have a seat in the boat and wear an Olympic medal around her neck! Lois James is 4-H Ontario’s Coordinator, Alumni Services, a position 100% funded by a Promotional Partnership with Hyland TM Seeds. Hyland Seeds is passionate about agriculture and believes in supporting the people who are deeply rooted in the agricultural industry, and dedication to 4-H is proof of this commitment. Cristy competing as a Senior 4-H Member at one of many 4-H shows she attended throughout her 4-H career. Photo by: Anne Howden Thompson Cristy, second from the end, and her teammates on the water. Leadership In Action • Spring 2012 15
Page 1 and 2: SPRING 2012 LEADERSHIP In Action vo
Page 3 and 4: LEADERSHIP In Action official publi
Page 5 and 6: WHAT'S UP across the province May 2
Page 7 and 8: try. At this meeting (Achievement D
Page 9 and 10: IN BRIEF provincial stories Amber U
Page 11 and 12: FEATURES LIFE CHANGING LEADERSHIP T
Page 13: 2. 1. 3. 4. The record breaking num
Page 17 and 18: Deborah Brown The 4-H Motto Master
Page 19 and 20: Anne Marie WERRY The Multitasking G
Page 21 and 22: IN ACTION we all scream for icecrea
Page 23 and 24: Ontario 4-H Foundation As part of o

Spring 2012 - 4-H Ontario

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?