{"id":5309,"date":"2025-11-01T13:15:45","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T16:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/01\/sask-teen-swaps-skis-for-sled-after-being-scouted-at-olympic-talent-search\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T13:15:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T16:15:45","slug":"sask-teen-swaps-skis-for-sled-after-being-scouted-at-olympic-talent-search","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/01\/sask-teen-swaps-skis-for-sled-after-being-scouted-at-olympic-talent-search\/","title":{"rendered":"Sask. teen swaps skis for sled after being scouted at Olympic talent search"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Saskatchewan\u00b7NewEarlier this year, Ava Darbellay was perfecting her shooting and skiing skills for biathlon. Now, she\u2019s preparing to fly down an icy track feet-first on a sled in a sport she only picked up this summer \u2014 luge. Ava Darbellay only luge finalist from Sask. scouted for RBC Training GroundSarah Onyango  \u00b7 CBC News  \u00b7 Posted: Nov 01, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesAva Darbellay works on her shooting skills for biathlon, a sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. (Submitted by Morgan Darbellay)Earlier this year, Ava Darbellay was perfecting her shooting and skiing skills for biathlon. Now, she\u2019s preparing to fly down an icy track feet-first on a sled in a sport she only picked up this summer \u2014 luge. \u201cWhen I was filling out the form for the RBC Training Ground qualifier and they asked me what sports I wanted to do, I just kind of selected them all because I\u2019m really interested in all of them and willing to try different sports and new things,\u201d said Darbellay.  Darbellay, 14, is one of the 100 finalists selected by RBC Training Ground, the Canadian Olympic Committee\u2019s nationwide talent search program. The initiative identifies young athletes with Olympic potential and connects them with national sport organizations for elite training opportunities.The teen from Lumsden, Sask., about 25 kilometres northeast of Regina, was one of seven invited to Calgary earlier this year for Olympic-level luge training \u2014 a sport Darbellay had never tried before.\u201cI\u2019ve always kind of wanted to go to the Olympics,\u201d she said. \u201cI just haven\u2019t decided what sport I want to go to the Olympics doing, so maybe luge will be that sport.\u201dDarbellay first attended an RBC training Ground event in May to compete with more than 2,000 young athletes from across Canada. Participants underwent performance tests for speed, power and endurance \u2014 with top performers earning access to funding, coaching and, of course, Olympic training.\u201cWe generally hold up to 20 qualifying events completely free across the country,\u201d said RBC brand manager Sam Effah. \u201cWe give youth \u2014 anyone who\u2019s 14 to 25 \u2014 opportunities and the goal is just to fuel the Canadian Olympic pipeline.\u201dAva Darbellay attended the RBC Training Ground for the first time in Regina in May as a biathlon athlete.  (RBC Training Ground)Darbellay said learning she had been scouted for luge, a sport she had never even considered, was a shock at first, but she was excited to try her hand at another winter sport.\u201cI didn\u2019t think I was going to be recruited by any national sport organization, so it was really cool,\u201d she said.After training in Calgary in July, she\u2019s heading to Vancouver this weekend for the RBC Training Ground national final, where the top 100 athletes compete for funding and support.Coach believes she can go farDarbellay\u2019s background in biathlon, a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting, had already given her a strong foundation. She trains up to five times a week at the Qu\u2019Appelle Valley Nordic Ski Club, just 10 minutes from her home.\u201cIt\u2019s a great way to spend my winter. I like winter sports in general,\u201d she said.Luge coach Dania Obratov said that Darbellay\u2019s great physical ability is what stood out during the testing session held in Regina in May.\u201cObviously strength \u2026 speed, you need to be explosive, especially for the start, quick reactions, very good co-ordination \u2014 like basically we need all the components, and especially because luge is such a technically demanding sport.\u201dWATCH | Sask. teen scouted as Olympic luge prospect:Sask. teen scouted as Olympic luge prospectBiathlon athlete Ava Darbellay, 14, from Lumsden, Sask., has been scouted as a possible competitor in luge in future Olympics, through the RBC Training Ground program. Darbellay was one of seven finalists tapped by Luge Canada and the only one from Saskatchewan.Obratov said they were also focused on scouting 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds for luge, to build the foundations for sport earlier.\u201cIn our sport, it\u2019s very important to start as early as possible, so this age is kind of perfect time for her to start luge,\u201d said Obratov.When Darbellay, who finished fourth in the female U16 sprint biathlon event at the 2023 Saskatchewan Winter Games, came to train with Obratov\u2019s team in July, she left them quite impressed by her speed.\u201cI remember telling the other coach that was with me that day, look how fast she\u2019s getting the hang of it \u2014 you can see right away,\u201d Obratov said.Obratov said she believes that with proper training, Darbellay can go far in luge. The only full-time luge track in Canada is located in Whistler, B.C., so if she advances past the next round, Darbellay may be spending a lot of time there.\u201cMy biathlon friends are kind of scared I\u2019m going to ditch the sport,\u201d she said.\u201cBut I\u2019m not ditching biathlon completely yet.\u201dABOUT THE AUTHORSarah Onyango is a reporter and producer at CBC Saskatchewan. She holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in journalism at the University of Regina. Sarah is passionate about diverse storytelling in Saskatchewan. She can be reached at sarah.onyango@cbc.ca<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saskatchewan\u00b7NewEarlier this year, Ava Darbellay was perfecting her shooting and skiing skills for biathlon. Now, she\u2019s preparing to fly down an icy track feet-first on a sled in a sport she only picked up this summer \u2014 luge. Ava Darbellay only luge finalist from Sask. scouted for RBC Training GroundSarah Onyango \u00b7 CBC News \u00b7 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,123,1],"tags":[116,122],"class_list":["post-5309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indigenous","category-saskatchewan","category-uncategorized","tag-indigenous","tag-saskatchewan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}