SEATTLE- Fisher Black is a student leader, mentor group captain, and a top placer in DECA. He plays lacrosse for O’Dea, and most would have thought that he was done there. Black is a top 300 skier in the United States for his respected age group. The junior has placed in many big races across Washington putting himself on the map while most at O’Dea would never know.
The path to skiing at this high of a level didn’t always seem like it would end up like this. Black has been skiing his whole life and never considered going out competitively until injuries from his other activities made it impossible for him to continue them. This opened up time for a new hobby.
"When I ended up quitting hockey due to too many concussions that led me into taking skiing more seriously and ended up trying out competitively and didn’t look back sense," Black said.
Black had a family history of hockey which got him into the sport. This was his main activity as he traveled a lot and loved the sport. This ultimately closed a door for Black and opened a new one that he has exceled at.
The injuries were difficult to deal with at the time, but he’s glad he has had new opportunities.
“[N]ow I've found skiing competitively fun and something I look forward to," Black said.
Black is also part of the lacrosse team and aims to have a successful season. He compares skiing to lacrosse as he recently picked up both competitively and has seen the interest in both sports grow.
"[E]very single year, ever since I joined our free red team, it’s been on an uptrend, a lot more people… are applying for the team, trying out and making the team and in that aspect I think that is similar to how lacrosse is growing, " Black said.
While lacrosse has big turnouts for the team, he also enjoys the intimate skiing atmosphere at O’Dea. There are many skiers at school who do it for fun, while only a select few do it competitively.
“Matthew Livingston, Jack LeClerq and I, we're the three who compete in skiing, but there's a lot of others who ski on the weekends, having a fun hobby for themselves. [I] hope they keep doing it and maybe eventually do it competitively,” Black said.
Black will start his competitive ski season in February and hopes to ride the momentum from last year into this one. Black ended the season #252 in the U19 junior rankings. His best performance came from the 2024 Alpena IFSA Junior 2 event where he placed 5th.
Knowing how new to the sport Black is, he hopes to keep improving in skiing. Only time will tell.
Talan Scott
Irish Sports Network
Comments