An Okanagan Mission Secondary student is being considered for Team Canada in a sport he has never even attempted.

Primarily a hockey player, Kaleb Poitras attended the RBC Training Ground event in Calgary, Alta. in March. The RBC Training Ground is the Canadian Olympic Committee鈥檚 official cross-country talent search, designed to identify and fund future Olympians.

More than 2,200 athletes aged 14 to 25 ran through a variety of core speed, strength, power and endurance tests in front of the Olympic scouts at the free event. The scouts decide which athletes are talented enough and which sport would best suit them.

Poitras caught the eyes of the luge scouts.

鈥淜aleb had really good physical testing scores at the RBC Training Ground in March, so we had him out to one of our camps to see how he would take to luge,鈥� said Luge Canada head coach Mike Lane. 鈥淗e showed a lot of potential, a lot of athleticism, and is very coachable so we鈥檙e excited to see how he does at the final and if he may have a future with us.鈥�

The top 100 athletes from the event have been invited to the RBC Training Ground national final testing in Toronto and Poitras is on the list.

鈥淚鈥檓 excited about the whole national finals experience, travelling and being surrounded by so many other high-level athletes,鈥� said Poitras. 鈥淚f RBC Training Ground gave me an opportunity to pursue a new sport, I think I would be best suited for speed skating and luge.鈥�

At the Dec. 2 event, the 100 athletes will get their chance to test their speed, power, strength, and endurance again, but this time against sport-specific, high-performance benchmarks under the supervision of program sport partners. Each athlete鈥檚 features (height, weight, wingspan), and competitive sports history are also taken into consideration for the sport they are trying out for. For Poitras, he won gold for 琉璃神社 at the 2022 U15 Tier 2 hockey provincial championships.

From this event, the top 30 athletes will earn funding, a spot on Team Canada with one of twelve partner National Sport Organizations (NSO), and an accelerated path to the Olympics. The funding is organized by the NSO team the athlete makes. The NSO works with Boxing Canada, Canoe Kayak Canada, Climbing Escalade Canada, Cycling Canada Cyclisme, Freestyle Canada, Luge Canada, Rowing Canada Aviron, Rugby Canada, Speed Skating Canada, Triathlon Canada, Volleyball Canada, Boxing Canada, Climbing Canada, Triathlon Canada, and Wrestling Canada.

The 30 athletes will be announced in early January 2024.

This is the eighth year the RBC Training Ground has taken place.

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