New opportunities arise

By Melissa Piche Times Contributor

Strathmore’s own Connor Kautz is exploring new athletic opportunities as he has caught the eye of scouts from Luge Canada at an RBC Training Ground event in March.

The 14-year-old hockey player will attend the RBC Training Ground National Final in Toronto, Ont. in December.

Connor participated in a free qualifier event in March of this year in Calgary where he was selected by Olympic talent scouts. 

“Our family loved the Olympics,” recalls Connor’s mom Jenilee Kautz. She remembers how they noticed the RBC Training Ground advertisement and knew as a family it would be something their children would be interested in trying. 

When they applied for the Training Ground in January of this year the family’s expectations were modest, hoping that he would have “a fun opportunity and another great way to meet some kids – really expecting nothing to come out of it.  An opportunity to learn and try something new,” said Jenilee. 

In September they got an email from the RBC Training Ground committee congratulating Connor on his accomplishment of making it as one of the Top 100 athletes that shows Olympic potential and earning a spot in the finals.

Connor is a diverse athlete across the board, playing badminton, track and volleyball at his school, Holy Cross Collegiate. He is also a member of the Wheatland Raiders U16AA team. Connor is eager to try to balance all of his sports interests for the time being. 

Connor will be attending the finals on his own, leaving on Dec. 1, and celebrating his 15th birthday on Dec. 2. 

“He will be celebrating his birthday with his new friends,” said Jenilee. She explained that having family attend the finals is more of a distraction to the athletes as the weekend is very busy with numerous activities on and off the track. 

“Getting to attend the RBC Training Ground final is the greatest moment I’ve had so far as an athlete,” said Connor. “I was pretty excited and I’m really looking forward to Toronto and having a good experience with RBC.”

Overall, Connor is excited about his December trip.

“I would be nervous, but I have a buddy (Damon McEvoy) going too, so that kinda takes the nerves away, so I’m not as nervous as I would be,” he said. “I’m more excited now for it.” 

McEvoy is also participating in the luge. 

“Connor exhibited very good physical testing scores, so we invited him to a camp where he could try our sport and where we could see if that raw ability might translate to Luge,” said Mike Lane, Junior National Head Coach, Luge Canada. “We were excited to see that he had proficiency in learning all of the Luge skills. He also had the fastest time among all the new athletes in the ice house, and won all of his head-to-head paddling matchups.”

A new season of RBC Training Ground will be launching in 2024; people can read more about the RBC Training Ground and seeing the list of participants online.