February 16, 2020

MEET SNOWBOARD SENSATION LIAM BREARLEY FAMILY DAY

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — Meet snowboard sensation Liam Brearley Family Day.

The rising Youth Olympic silver medallist will be speaking twice tomorrow in Gravenhurst — at the Muskoka Discovery Centre at 11 a.m. and at 12:30 p.m. at the YMCA.

And he may be back with more medals after amazingly qualifying third among 16 in for Sunday’s finals at World Cup in Calgary this weekend, where top international athletes compete as part of a circuit.

The 16-year-old Gravenhurst High School snowboard and wakeboarder, who won Silver in Switzerland Jan. 20, will greet his growing legion of local supporters.

His mom, Janis Nevison-Brearley, will be picking him up at 2 a.m. Monday, in Toronto, after he flies home.

She was at Opera House winter carnival events Saturday to promote her son’s bottle drive fundraiser, which helped her fill her van. The family has a collection bin at the home on the Beach Road.

After winning silver in Laussane, Switzerland, Jan. 20 — then returning home to GHS to write exams — he went to California for two competition where he won bronze in his slope style specialty and was fifth in big air, said his proud mom, a Gravenhurt Public School teacher.

One event was a qualifier for the U.S. Cup team.

Liam also competes in rails and jumps.

He is a member of the Ontario snowboard team and Canadian Olympic Next Gen national development team, the “Olympic farm team.”

He trains at Mount St. Louis, near Barrie, where he will compete again next weekend.

After that he turns 17 on Feb. 27.

His mother says Liam, who began snowboarding when he got his first board at age 8, has thrown himself into the sport since his father, died of cancer in 2018.

Liam is also a ranked competitor in summer, in cable-wakeboarding, which doesn’t use boats.

See a video pitch below by Liam’s mom for the talks Monday, Feb. 17.

And see a nice CBC story about Brearley’s podium finish last month and how his mom, sister Emma and grandmother Beth Brescacin got there just in time to see him podium.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/youtholympics/canadian-snowboarder-liam-brearley-wins-silver-at-youth-olympics-1.5433262