NTDC - Athletes

NDC Athletes - 2011 - 12

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Andy Shields

Birthplace: Kitchener
Residence: Kitchener
Age: 20
Home Club: Waterloo Region Nordic Sports Club
Years in skiing: 17
Years on NDC: 2nd
Racing Category: Junior Men

Voted by Skitrax magazine as North America’s Best Overall Junior Male for the 2010/2011 season, Andy had an impressive first year with NDC and was the National Junior Aggregate Champion at the Ski Nationals in Canmore AB. The most memorable moment for Andy during last season was anchoring Canada to a 9th place finish at 2011 Nordic World Junior Championships in Otepää, Estonia. His goal this season is to qualify for World Under 23’s and in the long term be selected to the National Senior Development Team and to ski the World Cup circuit and to compete for Canada at the 2014 and 2018 Olympics.

Andy was recently honoured as Cambridge's 2010 athlete of the year. More...

Growing up and learning to ski in the Kitchener-Waterloo area right smack in the middle of southern Ontario had its challenges for Andy. Snow conditions in that part of the country are not ideal for cross country skiing, so Andy often had to resort to more creative methods of finding places to ski. For example, Andy and his team mates would spend endless hours building and skiing on a 100 meter track made of snow salvaged from hockey arena ice cleaners. Now that is dedication to one’s sport!

As a role model for other skiers in the Waterloo Region Nordic Sports Club, Andy hopes he can inspire other young “jackrabbits” to follow their dreams of competing for their province and country. When not skiing Andy can be found playing his cello, working or practicing his culinary skills in the kitchen.

Andy’s favourite quote is, “You have the power to ignore anything you want.”

Recent results:

Year	Event	Placing
2011	Ski Nationals, Canmore AB.	1^st 30 km Skate Mass Start 1^st 15 km Classic Ind. Start
2011	Canada Winter Games, Halifax NS.	2^nd Skate Sprint
2011	Nordic World Junior Championships Otepää, Estonia	31^st 20 km Pursuit 31^st Classic Sprint
2011	World Junior Trials, Thunder Bay ON.	1^st 15 km Skate Ind. Start 3^rd Classic Sprint 1^st 20 km Pursuit
2010	Nordic World Junior Championships, Hinterzarten, Germany	42^nd Skate Sprint 60^th 10 km Classic Ind. Start
2010	World Junior Trials, Val Cartier, QC.	2^nd 20 km Pursuit
2010	Ski Nationals, Whitehorse YK.	4^th Skate Sprint
2009	Ski Nationals, Duntroon ON.	4^th 15 km Skate Mass Start
2008	Ski Nationals, Whistler BC.	4^th Skate Sprint
2007	Ski Nationals, Mont Ste. Anne QC.	2^nd 7.5 km Skate Mass Start

Recent photos - click for larger versions