Much more than a sport

Jan. 15, 2022  |  Video by Jesse MacDougall

In the final days of 2021, Jesse McDougall took his snowboard and video camera up to Sugarbush Resort in Warren where he met Waterbury Center's Avery Bard. 

A freshman at Harwood Union High School, Avery has been snowboarding since he was barely a preschooler, but he only started riding at Sugarbush in the past few years. Nonetheless, he fits right into the snowboard park community, even becoming a rider for the Splinters Boardshop team. 

Avery and his friend Taj Phillip did some snowboard tricks for Jesse's video report and they explained why snowboarding is their favorite thing to do.

Taj also made a request that Harwood bring back an after school ski and snowboard program to make the mountain more accessible to students. Although COVID-19 precautions may prevent such a program this year, the friends hope to introduce more Harwood students to the sport they love.

But, as Jesse observed, it's much more than a sport.