Sports White taking Barbados onto the slopes by Barbados Today 08/02/2019 written by Barbados Today 08/02/2019 4 min read A+A- Reset Share FacebookTwitterLinkedinWhatsappEmail 307 Victor White is a twenty-two-year-old professional skier who represented Barbados in the World Ski Championships in Utah in the United States four days ago where he placed 31st out of about 60 competitors. White who grew up in Sweden said that he fell in love with skiing and at the age of 11 he realized that he had a natural talent in the sport as he had won a number of competitions. “I went to school in Sweden and early on I came in contact with the snow which I loved. Growing up between Barbados and Sweden I had the fortune of getting the best of both worlds. However, at the age of 11 I realized I was good at skiing and from there it spiraled upwards,” he Barbados TODAY. The professional athlete said that he felt honoured to represent Barbados as well as the Caribbean in winter sports. “I always take a lot of pride representing Barbados. Although I represent Barbados as an island, I feel that I am a pillar in winter sport for the Caribbean as a whole. It is always fun to get the reaction from people when they hear ‘Barbados’ at the world stage in winter sport,” White said. The 22-year-old attempted to become Barbados’ first athlete to compete in the Winter Games in February 2018 but did not qualify after tearing anterior cruciate ligaments. White qualifies to represent Barbados because of his Barbadian father. However, his father was never able to see him represent the country of his birth as he died in 2004 after a bout with cancer. You Might Be Interested In Pybus returns Holder is number two Ferdinand on the mend “My dad passed away from cancer in 2004 but he was very proud of what I was doing and a big part of me representing Barbados is to honour him as we started this journey together. Unfortunately, he did not get to see me compete internationally at the highest level. My mother is proud yet very scared since it is a very dangerous sport,” he told Barbados TODAY. White said he would be interested in mentoring any Barbadian who is seeking to become involved in winter sports and believes it is high time that Government develops an ice rink. “To become a professional in any sport is not easy and if I could help someone along the way that would most definitely be an honour. I would love to see the development of an ice rink. Barbados has a lot of great talent and I am sure that with an ice rink we could produce a good ice skater,” he said. The professional free-skier said he never made the decision that he wanted to be a professional skier, in fact, all he did was to follow his heart. “I never really made a specific decision I just followed my heart, my passion and let that just lead the way. Of course, there are thousands of hard working hours behind it as I have to deal with sponsors, travelling and getting funding for myself. Skiing is a very expensive sport, unfortunately, but I was raised with the belief that anything is possible once you work hard for it which is what I have done. I am very proud of the fact that my skiing career is self-made,” White said, adding that his goal for 2019 was to get into a University in Sweden. “My big goal for 2019 is to get into a University in Sweden so that I can combine skiing with studying and get myself an education in business and economics to be precise. That is something that my friend and co-host Jonathan and I are working very hard on – making education cool and trying to be good role models for the youth,” he said. White said that outside of being a professional athlete he always does vlogs on his YouTube page @VictorWhite246 as well as a podcast dubbed The Breeze Podcast. “I do YouTube and my most recent project The Breeze Project where me and local entrepreneur Jonathan McCollin release a new episode every Friday where we talk about our lives and try to inspire our listeners by actually executing and not just talking,” he said, adding that he wished to thank everyone for their support as the video of him skiing at the World Ski Championships in the USA went viral on social media. “It is crazy, I feel honoured and blessed to receive so much support. I would like to thank my family, friends and anyone else that supports me. Persons can follow my journey on Instagram @victorwhit3, YouTube @victorwhite246,” he said. Barbados Today Stay informed and engaged with our digital news platform. The leading online multimedia news resource in Barbados for news you can trust. You may also like Parsons holds sole lead of Michael Forde Memorial chess event 07/12/2024 Lovely defeats Show Time in Run Barbados Sprint Cup 07/12/2024 Four from Barbados for Norceca beach volleyball 07/12/2024