Eclipse’s sponsored sister athletes’, Emma and Abby Van Groningen, continue their journey towards their ultimate goal of competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics, currently training in Tinges, France. Since becoming part of the Alpine Snowboarding Canada Development Team, the sisters, along with their coach Danielle Courchesne, have been training hard on a glacier at the top of a mountain in Tinges, enabling them to practice during the off-season.

Due to the conditions on the mountain, the sisters are only able to snowboard from 7:00am until 11:00am each morning, when the snow is hard enough for them to ride on. During the rest of the day, Emma and Abby can be found in the gym or participating in cross training sports, keeping to a strict workout regime that is dictated by their coach. This training both on and off the course is helping the girls improve their abilities and build strength in preparation for the upcoming season.

As one of the company’s corporate social responsibility intitatives, Eclipse Automation’s sponsorship has provided the sisters financial assistance with a variety of trip expenses including flights, accommodations, lift tickets, equipment, coaching fees, training equipment, and rental cars. Through this support, both girls have been able to reach their training goals thus far, focusing on their training rather than their finances.

Before returning to Cambridge, Emma and Abbey took personal day in Paris as a treat to conclude their exhausting trip. In September, the sisters will be returning to their studies, both attending Guelph University for Biomedical Sciences; Emma in her second year and Abby in her first. To lighten the workload in the winter season, Emma has been completing three courses throughout the summer while training.

The Van Groningen sisters are very grateful for the financial and motivational support the Eclipse community has provided and will continue their hard work in upcoming competitions this winter season. Stay tuned for more updates about our featured athletes!