A Pinay snowboader at the Winter Olympics?

CALIFORNIA - I have some crazy relatives—and I’m actually proud to say that. Take my cousin Eli Serina, who, at 68 and despite a heart condition, conquered Mount Everest two years ago, becoming one of the oldest people to scale the highest peak.

Well, now his daughter, my niece Eden, who is in her 30s and a veteran snowboarder, hopes to take on a totally different challenge. She wants to become the first Filipina to represent the Philippines at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Now, Pinoys competing in the Winter Olympics isn’t as crazy as it sounds. In fact, according to Wikipedia, the Philippines is known as the first truly tropical nation to take part in the games, when alpine skiers Ben Nanasca and Juan Cipriano took part in the giant slalom event in Sapporo, Japan in 1972. Nanasca finished 42nd in a field of 73.

Other athletes from tropical countries (where there’s no snow) have become Winter Olympians since then. The most well-known, of course, was the Jamaican bobsled team whose seemingly quixotic bid for Olympic glory was immortalized in the movie, “Cool Runnings.”

My niece Eden, who works as a financial analyst at Walt Disney Animation Studios and lives in Southern California, first tried snowboarding in 1997 during a holiday trip with my two other pamangkins, her brother Eugene and sister Elaine.

“I had skied maybe six times before and wasn't very good at it so I figured I'd give it a shot and fell in love,” Eden told me. “I was living in New York City and working full time so I would take a three-hour bus ride each way on the weekends to go to a local mountain to snowboard.”

Now, I must confess, I don’t like snow. That’s why my wife and I decided to live in California. My own attempt to ski more than 20 years ago was so traumatic I’ve never tried it again. But one can’t help but admire Eden’s passion for her sport which was plainly evident in her blog.

“Snowboarding might as well be my significant other,” she wrote from Colorado back in December. “I’ve sacrificed a lot and given it my heart and all my effort, yet we have fights, sometimes I hate it and sometimes it hates me. Of course most of the time I love it and it loves me back.”

And she grew to love it so much she became serious competitor. In 2002, she placed second in her division in giant slalom during the USA Snowboard Association National Championships. She later began competing internationally, and has consistently ranked in the world’s top 50 snowboarders.

But Eden’s bid for the Olympics has faced tough hurdles. For one thing, it takes money to train and enter competitions to qualify. And she doesn’t have big-time sponsors to help her out.

“It's about $25,000 per season full-time which includes coaching expense, travel—the biggest expense—equipment, and on- and off- snow training,” she told me. ”In the past 10 years I've been racing full-time for eight years, so I guess I've spent roughly $200,000. Yikes! That has come from my personal savings, extraordinary help from my family and friends, and a few corporate sponsors. And of course loans.”

But all the training has paid off. Narrowly missing a slot in the 2006 Winter Games, she’s trying again this year, and is set to compete in qualifying tournaments to earn the right to represent the Philippines in Vancouver in February.

“I want to honor my family and heritage,” she says.” I am first and foremost a Filipino, of 100 percent Filipino blood, and was raised in the Filipino culture and its values. I am very proud of who we are and would love the opportunity to share that with the rest of the world…I would love to motivate other Filipinos to follow their dreams despite any barriers and preconceived notions that we cannot do something…I hope to trail-blaze a path that no longer excludes Filipinos from winter sports.”

She’s even found a few non-Pinoy boosters along the way. She represented the Philippines during the 2003 World Championships in Kreischberg, Austria.

“When they announced Team Philippines during the parade of nations at the opening ceremonies, I walked out carrying the flag,” Eden recalls. “In the crowd was an Austrian man, running along side me, yelling ‘Philippines! Mabuhay! Mabuhay!’”

“It was a great moment,” she adds.

Let’s hope she enjoys an even more memorable moment in Vancouver.

For more information on Eden Serina’s bid for an Olympic slot, check out her website at www.firstfilipina.com.

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