Anita Emery, daughter of Frank and Christine Emery, was our speaker on February 26, 2019. Anita was born with cerebral palsy. She was adopted at age 1.5 into a family with a skiing legacy (her grandfather is in the Maine Ski Hall of Fame!). Frank got the kids involved in skiing early and Anita started with Maine Adaptive Sports at age 8.
Maine Adaptive now has multiple programs in winter and summer. The programs are staffed by many volunteers, including her dad. This year is Anita’s first year volunteering, one day a week, and she loves it. It provides the opportunities to meet people and hear their stories.
Anita has been a competitive skier with the Maine Adaptive race team for the past six years. She learned about the team one day from a coach who suggested she give it a try. She was interested because her dad races and has shared his love of the sport. Since joining the team, she has also fallen in love with racing herself.
As a member of the team, she has the opportunity to travel. She participated in the Empire State Games at Lake Placid, New York last February and has skied in competitions in Vermont, NH and Colorado. While in Lake Placid, the team stayed at the Olympic Ski training center along with other athletes who competed in hockey, snowboarding and figure skating. At the Hartford Ski Spectacular in Colorado she has made many friends from across the country. Her team did very well last March, placing second in a group ski event. She mentioned that over 80% of the Hartford participants also go to the Paralympics.
Anita at Lake Placid NY
The Stowe VT AIG Disable Sports USA event she competed in last March is an invitational. The invited athletes attended race camp, participated in events at night, and met other attendees and guests. She was excited to have been invited to return again this year. She is also looking forward to heading to Winter Park CO for Nationals, her first time competing at that level.
She continues her training in the off season by going to the gym regularly and doing her work-outs in her ski boots! This extra effort has really helped her skiing as she has continued to improve. At age 22, she hopes to make the Paralympics and is focused on her training with that goal in mind.
To achieve her goal, she is looking for sponsors. If you have questions about sponsoring or would like to help, please contact Anita at: anitaemery91@gmail.com.
Anita signs a book for Baxter Library