2025 Emerging Talent Program (ETP) Athlete Award Winners Announced
Published Thu 11 Dec 2025
Congratulations to the 11 athletes who have been announced as the 2025 Emerging Talent Program (ETP) Athlete Award Winners, part of the Snow Australia Community Sport Awards.
These awards are presented to one athlete per discipline in the Snow Australia ETP who is deemed to have achieved outstanding results at an international, national and/or state level and maintained a high level of focus, dedication, and commitment toward training and personal improvement.
Athletes were endorsed by their respective National Discipline Committee. 2025 Emerging Talent Program (ETP) Athlete Award Winners:
Alpine - Madi Gilson
“My biggest highlight this season was racing FIS and competing for the first time in Australia and winning the Australian national championship title and the Australian national junior titles in giant slalom and slalom,” Madi said.
“The reason it was so special to me was because I grew up training on that slope in Perisher since I was 8 and to compete and win the title was such a full circle moment and a special moment from my season.
“My biggest lesson I have learned this year was to trust the process and be patient. I may have been told this about 100 times from Shawn Fleming and my coaches, but actually implementing it has been hard, but I’m working on it, and staying consistent.”
Ski Cross - Duncan Cowan
“The highlight of my season was racing in the 2025 Nor Am Cup Ski Cross races in USA and Canada and winning the overall title for the season,” Duncan said.
“I've learnt that preparation is the key and delivering solid runs race after race is very important.
I've learnt that being consistent in my starts, tactics and mental approach builds confidence and that is important in head to head Ski Cross racing.”
Cross Country - Sam Johnson
“Finishing second in the Birkenbeiner at Falls Creek was definitely the highlight of my season,” Sam said.
“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that plans don’t always work out, but they don’t have to.”
Para Alpine - Liana France
“My top highlight from this season would have to be getting selected for the 25/26 Australian Para Team, as well as skiing with my friends in the race club,” Liana said.
“I actually do have a weird pre-event ritual. In my first SSA’s, my coach Kendra put a handful of snow down my back, and I’ve found it helps me lock in and focus instead of daydreaming in the gate.”
Para Snowboard - Blair Rosser
“The standout moment of my season was to be able to compete with the Para team on the Thredbo FIS snowboard cross course, being in that environment helped me understand the fundamentals of racing and showed me what it takes to race at that level,” Blair said
“The biggest lesson this season would have to be that even when I’m giving everything I’ve got, there’s always something new to learn. This sport definitely keeps me humble.”
Snowboard Park & Pipe - Juan George
“My biggest highlight this season was landing my first Back 12 in competition and placing 5th in the ANC Big Air at Thredbo,” Juan said
“The biggest lesson I’ve learned this year is that hard work pays off, pushing for bigger and better tricks while staying consistent is key.”
Freeski - Indra Brown
“The equal highlights of my season were winning the USA National open age half pipe event at Copper mountain and competing on the X-Games course at the North American Cup (NorAm) Premium event in Aspen, winning Halfpipe and coming second in slopestyle,” Indra said.
“The biggest lesson I've learnt this season was to approach each training day with a goal of something to work on, so that no training session is wasted.”
Snowboard Cross - Alex Frost
“By far the highlight of the season would have to be riding alongside some of Australia’s top international SBX athletes at the Hotham ANC’s and achieving three top 16 finishes in my first year as a 15 yr old,” Alex said.
“The biggest lesson I’ve learnt is that consistent effort and focus across all aspects of training translates into overall performance on the mountain.”
Moguls - Kayleigh Yap
“My biggest highlight of this domestic season would be winning the NSW Moguls Jr series and placing 6th in the ABOM Mogul Challenge,” Kayleigh said.
“My biggest lesson I’ve learned this season is to trust myself in training and the process along with it.”
Freeride Ski - Lulu Laird
“My biggest highlight from this season is probably the Back Country Invitational that I did in New Zealand,” Lulu said.
“It's an athlete voted event where we had a bit of a free ride scene with some slopestyle jumps that were made.
“We had three goes, and it was super fun and super cool people, and I ended up winning, which was really surreal, and I loved every moment of it.”
Freeride Snowboard - Vaughn Hardwick
“The highlights were definitely taking out the Hotham event and then flying over to NZ and winning both of those, and I was lucky enough to get the invitation to the worlds in February from that,” Vaughn said.
“The greatest lesson would have been the importance of a controlled landing and grounding in competition riding, instead of going too big. And just to have fun while you're in competition, and while you're snowboarding.”
