Thredbo hosts Moguls Talent Identification Program for first time

For fifteen years, the Talent Identification Program (TIP) has been quietly doing what its name promises: finding the next generation of Australian mogul skiers and giving them a reason to fall in love with the sport. 

This year, for the first time in the program's history, that search moved from its usual home at Perisher to Thredbo, running alongside the NSW Junior Mogul Series on 24-26 July.

TIP was established by Olympic coach and current NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) Manager of Winter Sports Peter "Toppa" Topalovic, with a simple but powerful idea: find the kids who already have the raw ability, and open the door to moguls before they even know it's there. 

Athletes are selected off the back of the previous year's Interschools Freestyle Moguls competitions, specifically, those who placed at regionals but weren't yet part of a dedicated moguls program. It's talent identification in its purest form, aimed at the athletes who don't yet know how good they could be.

This year's TIP cohort was Austin Huang, Oscar King, Kylie Pu, Jayden (Xinhao) Hua, Tristan Chen, Isabelle Leel, Sofia Woolford and Leo Ziju Gong.

The move to Thredbo was a deliberate one. With a slightly gentler course than Perisher, the hope was that these young skiers could build confidence and, most importantly, have fun, without feeling overwhelmed. 

Across the three days, the squad was coached by Thredbo's Will Martin, who guided the group through technical training and event preparation from Friday's dedicated training day right through to competition on Saturday and Sunday. Will was joined each day by NSWIS athlete mentors, who brought their own experience pathway to life for the group (Friday - Eliza Peake and Oli Logan, Saturday - Emma Bosco and Talia Manns, Sunday - Lottie Lodge and Ed Hill).

With this year's group now having had their first taste of moguls competition, the hope is that Thredbo will be remembered as the place a few more Australian mogul careers quietly began.