For the Kizuka family of Sinking Spring, life comes alive in the snow season. All three daughters inherited a love of alpine snowboarding from their parents, Makoto and Carrie. With a disciplined and inexhaustible dedication to the sport, Kaiya, Mika and Akina spend close to 100 days a year on the snow: training, competing and tearing up the slopes.
While less practiced in the United States, competitive alpine snowboarding is popular in Europe and Asia. This snowboarding discipline is different because it involves little to no jumping, instead seeing two competitors racing down a slope, often taking sharp turns on the packed snow.
Kaiya, an 18-year-old Wilson graduate and student at Reading Area Community College, and Mika, a 15-year-old junior at Wilson High School, each have more than 10 years of experience in competitive snowboarding. Akina, 11, cannot remember a time before she snowboarded; she has just always done it. Wilson School District works with the Kizukas to create an individual curriculum for their education, which includes some cyber classes, to allow time in their schedule for snowboarding training.
Four days a week, all three Kizuka daughters travel to Harrisburg to participate in the Ski Round Top Race Club. They each have a coach who works with them for 3- to 4-hour lessons, helping to improve their form and to prepare for competitions. These efforts and long hours on the mountain have paid off, as both Kaiya and Mika now hold medals from the USASA (United States of America Snowboard and Free Ski Association) National Championships.
Additionally, Kaiya, Mika and Akina have all been ranked #1 in the Mid-Atlantic Snowboard Series in Parallel Giant Slalom and Parallel Slalom races. Akina, following in her sisters’ footsteps, has also finished within the top 10 at the USASA National Championships. Last year, Kaiya travelled to the Czech Republic to compete in the Junior World Championships. She competed in the finals against Olympians from other countries and left as the top finishing American.
While proud of their achievements thus far, the Kizuka daughters have greater goals they are ready to take on in the 2018 season. They will head to the Mid-Atlantic Snowboard Series and the USASA Nationals at Copper Mountain in Colorado, hoping to leave, once again, ranked #1. Kaiya and Mika will also compete in the North American Cup ISF (International Ski Federation) races in Colorado, Minnesota and New York. They both hope to qualify and compete at the Junior World Championships, this season in New Zealand.
As they work to attain sponsors and chase their dreams, each sister says she is inspired to be as good as the other, taking sibling rivalry to a new level with their skill on the slopes. Their ultimate goal is competing in the Olympics, so you may have to keep an eye out for the Kizuka name at the 2022 competitions in Beijing.
Want to keep up with the action? Follow the adventures of the Kizuka daughters on Instagram and Facebook under “Snow Surf Girls.”
