Calgary athlete set to have twice the fun at Alberta Winter Games

A gifted athlete, Felicity Geremia is what some might call a double threat.

“Felicity’s just really a natural athlete,” said Karen Tereposky, who is head coach of the Alberta Winter Games zone 2 futsal team.

Futsal (think indoor soccer played on a hard court) is just one of two sports Geremia will compete in at this month’s event in Airdrie.

The Calgary athlete is also a provincial champion snowboarder and will be competing in that sport as well.

Instead, she prefers to talk about what she likes best about each sport.

“Scoring,” Geremia said with a laugh, as she talked about playing futsal.

“She’s just a really strong player, adds a lot to our team,” Tereposky said.

“She brings a lot in our attack, she has a crazy hard shot.”

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As for snowboarding, Geremia says “it’s very fun.”

“Halfpipe is my favourite, and powder days,” she said.

Jared Anderson is the head coach of Geremia’s club team, Riders on Board. He thinks her passion for snowboarding and sport in general has helped the Grade 7 student find success in both.

“She just loves to snowboard, whether it’s training in the halfpipe or jumping in the van and going out to the mountains and riding, you know, with her friends — she just loves to snowboard, so I think that goes a long way,” Anderson said.

Two-thousand-five-hundred athletes, competing in 19 different sports, are expected to take part in the Games, which run from Feb. 14 – 17.

“It’s a very neat experience,” Tereposky said. “They all stay together for the weekend in the athlete’s village and there’s other sports that they can watch.

“They’re supporting their own zone like they would if they were supporting their own country. It’s a really, really cool experience.”

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For Geremia, that experience is heightened by the fact she gets to compete twice in two very different disciplines.

“I like them all,” she said with a chuckle.

Geremia is able to compete in both sports due to facility restrictions that have forced a number of events, including snowboarding, to take place on a separate weekend.

“It’s pretty cool that we have her on our team and we’re going to be able to hopefully see some at least highlights of her burning it up on the slopes too,” said Tereposky.