Welcome New Coaches for the 2017 - 18 Sliding Season
Posted: October 30, 2017
Please welcome Cassie Hawrysh and Ryan Taal to our team as coaches in Skeleton and Bobsleigh respectively.
Cassie was born and raised in Brandon, Manitoba and is a graduate with distinction from the University of Regina - School of Journalism. Athletically, Cassie is a former Varsity Volleyball player and Track and Field athlete, but is most well-known as a Canadian World Cup Skeleton Racer. A spur of the moment move to Calgary in 2009 launched her Skeleton career and Cassie spent the first few months convincing herself that sliding head-first at 140km/h wasn’t a crazy idea. As many of you know, it is a little crazy – but she adored it and somehow, it felt entirely natural. Cassie’s hard work on the track paid off with numerous podium finishes, the 2013/14 Canadian Championship title, 2 World Cup medals and having had the great honour of being named as the 2014 Canadian Olympic-Alternate.
Ryan comes to us from Calgary. He grew up playing soccer as his primary sport. He was always drawn to downhill activities as we grew up, building carts to ride down hills in his childhood and moving to longboards briefly during and after high school until a bad crash in 2006. He was part of the forerunning group at the 2010 Whistler Olympics and it was during that time that his love for bobsleigh was cemented. Ryan represented Canada mainly on the North America's Cup circuit with one World Cup appearance as a crew member on a 4man sled. He also joined the Tourist Bobsleigh team in Calgary, piloting members of the public down the 1988 Olympic track. In 2015 he joined the Dutch Bobsleigh team, where they competed on the North America's and World Cup circuits. Ryan loves being able to pass on his knowledge of the sport to other athletes, and hopes to foster the same passion he has for the sport in others. Whether they are competing or just visiting the track for a day.
