Two years on, CSA ETP Award winner Mia Clift chases an Olympic dream

In less than a month Snow Australia will celebrate the return of the Community Sport Awards (CSA), after a year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Awards will be held virtually in November and will provide an opportunity to acknowledge and thank the snowsport community for their outstanding efforts over the past two winter seasons.

Snowboard Cross (SBX) athlete Mia Clift was one of six recipients of the first Emerging Talent Program (ETP) awards at the inaugural Snow Australia CSA Award night, held in Canberra in 2019.

Two years on, Clift is now a NSW Institute of Sport scholarship holder, training alongside elite athletes like 2021 SBX Team World Champion Belle Brockhoff and eying a possible World Cup debut later in the year. Now 17, the Mt Buller Race Club rider still holds dear memories from that award night

“It was a very relaxed night, but I was very excited to receive an award. It was nice to see everyone there, talk to some new people and speak with everyone else who got the award as well,” Clift said. 

Snow Australia’s ETP gave Clift an opportunity to meet NSWIS Snowboard Cross coach Jason Clauscen, who has been her coach for about a year now and a huge factor in her development.

“Mia is naturally athletic, which crosses over well in snowboarding,” Clauscen said of Clift’s skillset. “She has a quick reaction time which helps her out of the gate and a great range of movement, which allows her to make technical or aggressive movements in the course,” he said.

Clift is also very competitive - both on the course and in terms of setting expectations and high standards for herself. She said this is something that has driven her to look for constant improvements during her developing years.

“I’d say I am definitely more competitive with myself than with other people. When there is something that I need to do, I just want to get it done and it’s very good motivation to keep me going on,” she said.

One thing that Clift has missed over the last two years is competition. The last time she stood in the start gate of a SBX event was for the FIS ANC races at Mt Hotham, in September 2019, where she was crowned as the overall Continental Cup women’s champion.

“It’s crazy to think it’s been two years already. This period has been a bit nerve wracking as you feel like you’re a few steps behind those who had a chance to compete,” she admitted.

In such challenging circumstances, Clift was able to treasure one of many lessons Belle Brockhoff taught her over the years.

“I've known her since I was about six and she’s always been willing to put some time aside to help me. 

“She taught me that when it comes to training, you need to put emotions to the side, let them go and focus without letting your anger or frustration get the best of you.

“To think that I'm now training with her and I’m about to be racing with her is crazy,” she said. 

Lack of competition aside, the domestic season was positive for Clift and the rest of the Australian SBX team. Clift was able to travel with Belle Brockhoff to NSW early on for a mini boot camp, experiencing the environment of the National Snowsport Training Centre in Jindabyne  for the first time. She was also able to join the full National SBX team at Mt Hotham for a camp that gave her the opportunity to train with Olympic Winter Institute of Australia athletes and coaches such as Harald Benselin and Jan Klema.

Clift will soon travel overseas with the rest of the Australian SBX team for more training in Europe. The athletes are currently at their home base working on strength and conditioning and spending time with their families before departing for the Northern Winter season. 

The team will travel between Switzerland and Austria prior to the first World Cup of the season, held on 26-28 November in Secret Garden, one of the venues for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in China.

In the meanwhile, Clift and the other younger NSWIS riders will continue to seek improvement and chase World Cup starts in the hope of being selected for the Winter Games. Clift said it would be special to make her World Cup debut during the Olympic test event in November. 

“I am very excited at the prospect of getting back into it. There will definitely be a bit of nerves at the beginning, but I’ll try to go overseas without too many expectations, even though of course it would be a dream to qualify for the Games.”