Ontario Equestrian’s amateur high performance program, GRIT (Great Rider Intensive Training) is targeted at podium-bound riders with successful competition experience, whose goal is to represent Ontario in one of Equestrian Canada’s National Team programs. Athletes who are between the ages of 13 and 30, reside in Ontario, are current OE members, and compete in show jumping, eventing, or dressage are welcome to apply.
Ontario Equestrian recently announced the 2022 GRIT team, consisting of:
Dressage
Zachary Marshall
Allie Schmidt
Anna Swackhammer
Eventing
Lindsay Beer-Drury
Nicole Reynolds
Jumping
Olivia Blaber
Rayne Dubois
Carson Lewis
Mackenzey Nadeau
Emma Saunders
Mercedes Shulman
Becca Turnbull
Jessica Wang
Taylor Wood
Their schedules will include:
- Full Team Fall Training Camp
- Two Mini Training Camps
- One Monitored Competition (Per Discipline)
- Completion of Foundational Riding Skills Assessment
- Functional Movement Screening
- Daily Training Environment Visits
- Weekly Strength and Conditioning Sessions with CSIO’s Kiri Langford
- Competition Tracking
- Regular Training Updates
- Creation of Individual Athlete Performance Plans
- Creation of Yearly Training Plans
- Monthly Webinars with Industry Professionals
- Online Learning through Equestrian Canada’s ECampus
- Social Media Campaigns
GRIT’s Head Coach, Christilot Boylen, was encouraged by the exceptional talent in the 2022 applications. The program is a serious commitment and the athletes will be exposed to top level trainers and sport scientists.
When asked about his involvement with the program, Chris Delia commented, “As a coach of a GRIT rider of almost two years, I have really come to appreciate and respect all that the program offers its young members. Not only does it provide so many important resources for them to become well-rounded students of the sport such as fitness programs, sports psychology resources, access to world class and multi-disciplinary clinicians and trainers, it inspires the kids to think big. It fosters a culture and attitude of high achievement ‒ which really is the true engine that will drive their future success in high performance and, by extension, Canada’s future success in our sport.”
To find out more about the program, see profiles of the 2022 athletes and learn about the first class of GRIT Grads, click HERE.
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