Rob Kneller Youth Foundation assists Jindabyne Olympic hopefuls as they keep chasing winter

Preparing for a Winter Olympic Games is always fraught with logistical challenges as snow sports athletes spend long periods of time overseas, travelling between training camps and competition venues while vying for team selection. Over the last two years COVID-19 has added an additional layer of complexity, with rising costs for flights, insurance and health protocols making the process even more challenging, despite the contribution of Snow Australia and our program partners.
 
Thanks to the Rob Kneller Youth Foundation (RKYF), some of our Australian Olympic hopefuls recently received some additional financial assistance, with the foundation offering to provide five local Jindabyne winter athletes $2,000 each to help support them on their journey towards Beijing 2022.
 
The Rob Kneller Youth Foundation was established in 2013 by two-time Winter Olympian Scott Kneller and his brother Luke to honour the memory of their father Rob, an iconic figure in the Jindabyne community, and further his legacy by supporting local Jindabyne students and athletes involved in the snowsports industry.
 
The five athletes across the disciplines of freeski and snowboard cross who will be receiving the RKYF generous contribution are Abi Harrigan (FS), Cameron Waddell (FS), Adam Dickson (SBX), Josie Baff (SBX) and Adam Lambert (SBX).
 
Scott Kneller said supporting young Australian athletes is absolutely vital as they travel around the world to qualify for the Olympic Games, and he hopes this funding will make a small contribution to their efforts. 
 
“We’re a Jindabyne-based foundation and it’s important that we not only support our grassroots participation, but also our athletes aspiring to become Winter Olympians,” Kneller said. 
 
“We want to leave no stone unturned as we try to reduce some of that financial burden associated with training and travelling expenses.
 
“Jindabyne is a small community that rallies behind its athletes and that’s something that really resonates with me. Coming from a small town that generates so many Olympians, it’s great that we can get behind them and support them on their journey.”

Snowboard Cross athletes Adam Dickson and Josie Baff are aiming to qualify for their first Olympic Winter Games in Beijing and wanted to express their gratitude for the Foundation’s contribution.
 
“The Rob Kneller Youth Foundation’s financial support is a massive help for this season leading up to the Winter Games,” Dickson said. “It provides the extra support we need to keep up high-level nutrition on camps and for us to get the highest level equipment that we need to perform. 
 
“It gives us a great peace of mind to continue performing our best and keep chasing winter,” he said.

Youth Winter Olympic champion Baff echoed the sentiment. 

"I just would like to say a massive thank you to the Kneller foundation for supporting me as well as my fellow Jindy athletes who are aiming to qualify for Beijing 2022.

"This generous donation will help me devote my undivided attention to snowboarding by removing some of the financial stress which is involved. I will be using this money towards my equipment as well as goods and moving costs whilst training and competing overseas. All of which is crucial in preparation to hopefully make my Olympic debut this February," she said.

Many of the Jindabyne winter athletes have some form of connection with the RKYF, having been involved in one of the programs run by the Foundation in the past. Park and pipe skier Abi Harrigan participated in one of the first camps run with the support of RKYF, the ‘Ride with Russ’ organised in Perisher with Freestyle World Championships medallist Russ Henshaw.
 
“I am so thankful for the Rob Kneller Youth Foundation support,” 19-year-old Harrigan said. 
 
“The Foundation has played a part in assisting many Jindabyne kids’ goals, and to be given some funding to help my dream of competing at the Beijing Olympics is awesome. To travel and compete for months at a time can be very expensive and this donation goes a long way to meeting some of those costs.
 
“I would like Scott and Luke to know how grateful I am, and that I am trying my best to represent Australia and Jindabyne,” she said.
 
Kneller added that it’s a fantastic outcome for an athlete like Harrigan, supported by the Foundation as part of their grassroots initiatives, to now be preparing for the Olympic Games. 
 
“To be able to provide a program that back then encouraged her to pursue that dream and now be assisting her as she tries to qualify for the pinnacle event of the sport is pretty special,” Kneller said.
 
The Rob Kneller Youth Foundation is also a supporter of Snow Australia's FUTURES program and they are currently looking at community initiatives built around the use of the new airbag facility, soon to be commissioned as part of the National Snowsport Training Centre in Jindabyne.
 
The Foundation raises most of its funding through the Jindabyne Disc Golf course, with proceeds from disc sales supporting their activities. They also accept tax-deductible donations which can be made on their website or directly through their Australian Sports Foundation page.