Maybe altitude is a factor in attitude because Colorado seems to have more than its share of extreme athletic kids. This is especially true in Boulder County. For example, Boulder resident Stella Noble climbed the sheer faced Diamond section of the 14,259 foot mountain Longs Peak at age nine with her dad. The last person that held that record was professional mountain climber Tommy Caldwell, who climbed that route at age 12, also with his dad.

Cross Country champion Paul Roberts became the first male runner to win four individual state cross country championships last fall. As well he placed 59^th in the IAFF World Cross Country Championships in China the year before after placing in the top six for the chance to compete in China. His father, Mark Roberts, has been the cross country coach at Lyons Senior High for 20 years and Paul comes from a running family including his older brother Andrew and two older sisters Melissa and Miriam who also have major running accomplishments.

Proximity to the mountains is what makes a lot of these kids get physical. With at least four indoor climbing gyms (one specifically for youth) in Boulder alone, climbing both indoors and out is an opportunity kids in Kansas just don’t get. Stunning views and easy access prompt all kinds of biking. Of course all winter sports are easy enough with Eldora Ski resort nearby and world class skiing at the major ski resorts just a few hours away.

However, what makes these kids great athletes is not just their physical abilities and mountain proximity but their joy in life and love of the sport. For these next three youth athletes the love of their sport began at an early age.

Bailey Boys on Bikes

Cassidy (17), Kahill (11), and Chase (9) Bailey were instilled with the love of biking through their mother Lina Dzekciorius Bailey of Lyons, who is also a competitive racer. “After I had my second baby I would train for Ride the Rockies. I’d put my kids in trailers and ride 60-70 miles a day. During the race my husband would meet me at certain points so I could breastfeed. We did that for many years,” she said. Her husband Dave, said “we just threw the kids in trailers and rode all the passes. They’ve been on a bike in some fashion for years.”

Cassidy Bailey, now age 17 and a junior at Boulder High School, started racing at age 9. According to his dad, Cassidy came late to biking but has since caught up. Cassidy is a podium winner in both mountain biking and cyclocross (CX). He has been racing the Open Pro regional CX races since 2015 as well as competing in his junior age category.

His early years saw many CX podiums and a few State championship wins plus the top five national podiums including a fourth place in Bend, Ore. and in Verona, Wis. He also placed third in the large Derby City cup in Kentucky.

He was the first ever junior in high school to win the Varsity Mountain Bike title through the Colorado High School Mountain Biking leagues.

According to his dad, Cassidy didn’t love mountain biking right away. “The first time he was on a mountain bike he cried,” said David. But Cassidy soon got over his fears. “Initially he was winning a lot and that was huge for him because he didn’t know if he was good or not. Then he liked winning — a little bit of success goes a long way,” says his dad. “As it gets more challenging the social aspect keeps a lot of the racers competing. Relationships in middle and high school can be tenuous and the racing community is an amazing social safety net.”

What Cassidy loves about biking: “My favorite thing about biking is the sense of freedom. Just go out in the mountains and ride and enjoy everything. You go as hard as you can. It feels good to just go hard. I love going off on the start line in a race.”

What Cassidy doesn’t love about biking: “For me, it’s the stress and commitment involved. I spend a lot of time on my bike. If I want to rock climb I have to ride my bike instead. It’s constricting because I can’t do all the things I want to do.”

Cassidy’s Career thoughts: Cassidy would like to pursue opportunities in the medical field. At age 13 he earned his Wilderness First Responder credentials.

Kahill (11) started riding two wheel bikes at age two and was racing before there was even an age category for him. According to Lina her son would line up with kids three years older than him in cyclocross and often times get to the podium. “We were eventually told by officials he was going to have to wait until he could legally race or his results wouldn’t count.” Kahill is a mountain biker, competes in cyclocross and loves to ride his unicycle.

In 2015-16 Kahill took 2^nd place in Cyclocross Regional Championships and then went on to win the Colorado State Cyclocross title.

In 2016 he was 5th overall in the Nation for cyclocross this year in Asheville, N.C.

2014 he placed 2nd in the nation at Cyclocross in Austin.

What Kahill loves about biking: “I like being able to ride my bike and have fun with it.

What Kahill doesn’t love about biking: “Getting up early for bike rides.”

Kahill’s Career thoughts: “I want to be a pro-biker.”

Chase (9), just like his name, chased his big brothers for so long that the start line seemed natural to him. At age 8 Chase started racing. He took racing and riding very casually until just this past summer. Then, according to his mom, he found his legs “and showed everyone what he could really do.” Because Chase likes a variety of biking (XC, MTB and the unicycle) he decides whether he was going to race by asking the venues if they offered donuts.

In 2015 he placed third in mountain biking in the nation in Mammoth, Calif.

2015-16 he placed 4th in the Nation in XC in Asheville, N.C.

Although he hasn’t competed Chase has become amazing at unicycle skills

What Chase loves about biking: “I like being in the race.”

What Chase doesn’t love about biking: “At the start of the races I’m really nervous.”

Chase’s Career thoughts: “I want to be a scientist, an inventor, and a pro-biker.”

The Family: Lina, Dave and the boys all focus on their family more than the do placing on the podium. According to Lina “Our biggest thing isn’t striving to win but to try our best. We put a lot of money and time into this. We fill up our RV with our kids, dogs and guinea pigs and head out. It’s just fun. There are a lot of life lessons built into this “It’s something we all do together. It’s a lifelong sport. All they’ve known is riding bikes. It’s been our family thread. We all ride together. It’s been an essential bond and this is what keeps us close and weaves us all together.”

Diabetes doesn’t stop Sofia Wendell, age 12

On a Friday night in January of 2015 in the emergency room of Children’s Hospital Denver Sofia, then age 11, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. On Monday morning she was back at school and at gymnastics practice.

At age 4 Sofia was a gymnast, a soccer player and a skier. She decided she liked gymnastics the best and wanted to do that full time. She started training at a private club in Boulder but did not find success until she moved to her current gym, Flatirons Gymnastics in Broomfield and started training with her new coaches, Kassie and Justin Haag.

Sofia, who lives in Boulder, works out 20 hours a week and competes in Colorado and other states as well. She does well in school to boot. According to Flatirons Team Manager Kassie Haag she is also an amazing support system for the rest of their team. “She’s the first member to offer encouraging words to other athletes when they are physically or emotionally struggling in practice or at a meet,” says Haag.

The diagnosis of type 1 diabetes changed her life but also changed her as an athlete. Type 1 diabetes has no cure but it can be managed. According to the Mayo Clinic it is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone needed to allow sugar (glucose) to enter cells to produce energy. This disease was formerly known as juvenile diabetes or insulin dependent diabetes.

For the rest of season after Sofia’s diagnosis she fought to achieve the same placement as she did at her first meet of the season, which she won. Diabetes could have negatively impacted Sofia’s season, she could have quit and given up on her love for the sport, but she did not.

In 2015 Sofia was the Level 7 State Champion for 11-12 year olds. She also went on to compete at the Regional meet, where she placed 2nd. Now she is a Level 8 gymnast. There are 10 Levels of USA gymnastics and 10 is the elite level.

When Coach Kassie told Sofia that she wanted to submit her to the YellowScene as a SuperKid for extraordinary athletes Sofia’s reaction was “Why? I’m not that extraordinary.”

“I think the most amazing thing about Sofia is not her ability to compete with her illness, or her ability to win gymnastic meets, it is her ability to make everyone around her feel supported. She is truly an amazing asset to our team,” said Coach Kassie.

In April, of 2015, Sofia came in first place at Colorado Level 7 State Championships. She also came in second place at Level 7 Regionals in her age division. This was 2.5 months after her diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. “I’m not sure how I did that…” Sofia said.

What Sofia doesn’t like about her diagnosis: “When my blood sugar is high or low it prevents me from performing the way I want to because my body gets tired. Mentally it makes me lose my confidence because I can’t concentrate and that makes me scared.”

Sofia’s Idols are: “I have always loved going to the University of Denver Pioneer gymnastic meets and watching Nina Mcgee and Mohria Martin compete because they are so much fun to watch and so talented. Someday I hope to compete in college gymnastics. Other idols are, Gabby Douglas and Nastia Liukin.”

The best part about competing: “The best part is my teammates! We all support and encourage each other every day and we have a lot of fun even though we are working hard. It is also really really cool when you gain a new skill. Secondly, knowing that Coach Kassie is always there to monitor my blood sugar and my Omnipod insulin pump, which keeps me safe at practice. The worst part is having to deal with aches and pains from all the training. It’s really good to have a great physical therapist, massage therapist, chiropractor, and orthopedic doctor to stay healthy. “

Sofia’s future career thoughts: “I think I would like to be in the medical field so I could help people in the way that they are helping me. Being a gymnastics coach would be kind of cool too.”

Brooke Raboutou Climbs to the top

It helps when your mom and dad are professional climbers, but the essence of elite climbing belongs to Brooke herself.

At age 1 Brooke starting climbing. Then, around age four or five (nobody is sure when) she started climbing regularly. This coincided with her mom and elite climber, Robyn Erbesfield Raboutou, opening up ABC Kids Climbing in Boulder. It was the first climbing gym to cater specifically to the athletic needs of kids.

In 2005 Robyn, a five-time US Champion and four-time World Cup Champion in climbing, formed the elite Team ABC Boulder. Brooke, along with her older brother Shawn (also an elite climber) were there from the beginning. The entire family enjoys climbing both inside the gym (sport climbing) and outside when possible.

At the age of eight Brooke broke her first World Record by becoming the youngest female in the world to climb the US equivalent of an E6 (5.12+) route, which is an elite climber’s route. Later, at age 11 she became the youngest person ever to climb a 5.14b route, which she accomplished in Rodellar, Spain.

Brooke still chooses to compete internationally, hang out with her friends and team friends and spend time with her parents and brother. One of the possible goals in her future? The Olympics, which may include climbing in the future.

The post Super Strong, Super Motivated, and Super Local: Boulder County’s SuperKids Shine appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

As Meredith “Merry” Yacht approached her fifth birthday, she was diagnosed with cancer. She had been sick for a few months prior, but the doctors continually assured the family that is was nothing, that Merry was fine.A

“But I could feel it even though I couldn’t see it in the mirror,” Merry said.

Two weeks before she hit that quarter decade mark she woke up with a black eye, compliments of the tumor that formed in her nose, and it was obvious to her parents, Allison and Steve, that Merry was not fine. They rushed her to the hospital and had emergency surgery. Two days later, on Monday June 5, 2011 they found out that their daughter had rhabdomyosarcoma, a type of cancer that usually forms around the skull of young children.

“Imagine the worst feeling ever and multiplying it by 10, by 20,” Allison said.

Naturally, Allison immediately quit her job as a computer consultant and dedicated her time to Merry. Urgency is a common theme when anyone is battling cancer, especially so for children and their parents. Doctor’s appointments aren’t scheduled on convenience, but are more like orders. Be here at 9 a.m. on Monday and again at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. So following June 5, the Yacht’s year of treatment and craziness began.

Summer was on the horizon, and the family was gearing up to send Merry’s older brother Zach to summer camp and preparing Merry for her first year of kindergarten. But treatment came first, and for the first eight weeks they spent their time at the Colorado Children’s Hospital in Aurora.

The following eight weeks were spent in New York City where Allison and Merry moved to do radiation at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. They stayed with Steve’s parents in Manhattan while she went through treatment.

When the two moved to the city Merry had most of her hair, but once they moved back she was completely bald.

Merry Yacht of Bravehood

“I don’t remember when exactly I started losing it, but I remember how it started happening,” Merry said. “Usually I brush my own hair, and when I brushed it I looked at the brush and so much was coming out, and I started freaking out. I’m still a little scared to brush my hair.”

During chemotherapy, powerful medications attack rapid growing cancer cells as well as other cells, such as the ones found in hair roots. Hair loss usually occurs three weeks after treatment starts, and will last through the duration. Merry’s hair loss lasted for an entire year, which is longer than average.

Some people shave their head beforehand, but the Yachts cut Merry’s hair when they found out, and again shorter sometime later. The rest fell out as she underwent treatment. After the last strands fell out, the Yacht’s explored a number of options minimize the attention Merry received when she was out and about. They tried hats and scarfs, but those sometimes attracted more attention.

“It was also itchy and I just didn’t like the look,” Merry said. “But sometimes when I was out other kids would stare and sometimes they made fun of me, like a boy at a baseball game.”

The boy at the baseball game, who saw Merry as she was recovering, made jokes about her bald head, asking her why she was bald if she was a girl. And then called her a boy.

But it wasn’t all bad. Merry made a lot of friends she wouldn’t have, just by striking up conversation while waiting in line at Target. Kids would respond well once they explained that Merry had cancer, and that it definitely wasn’t contagious. But Merry still wanted a way to minimize the attention drawn to her, and about halfway through treatment Allison found a hooded T-shirt at a random retail store she couldn’t recall, and thought she would give that a try.

“It was perfect,” Allison said. “It was this lightweight knit-jersey shirt which didn’t overheat her like a sweatshirt, and it was easy to put the hood up so she didn’t attract attention. It made her feel a little more in control. The only problem is that finding a light-weight hooded t-shirt for someone Merry’s size is a lot harder than you would think.”

So Allison reached out. She called and emailed relatives and friends, asking them to be on the lookout for hooded t-shirts for Merry. She went to Kohl’s and bought one of every hooded T-shirts they had on the shelves. The collection grew as people sent more that they found while shopping.

Merry’s grandma sent one from New York, and in attempt to add a little style to the plain pink hoodie they decided to deck it out with a big heart on the front, with the words “cancer survivor” inside the heart. But it came out with a small heart on the chest, with the words underneath.

“It didn’t come out exactly how we wanted,” Merry said. “But we still have it in the basement.”

A sentimental reminder of how BraveHoods began.

Today, Merry is seven years old and her loosely curled brown hair frames the petite features of her face. The words “Veni, Vici, Vidi” are scribbled across the chest of her hooded T-shirt, which translates into “I came, I saw, I conquered.” But even though Merry has been in recovery for two years, she still keeps her toes dipped in the cancer world.

During remission, after they made the first BraveHood and her hair slowly grew back, Merry and her family set out to help other children battling cancer by adding a little joy and comfort to their world by sharing their fashion secret.

BraveHoods had formed.

With so many organizations concentrated on helping children battling cancer, the Yachts wanted to do something more personal. So drawing from their own experience, they started making more hooded T-shirts to give kids battling cancer, whether they are bald or not.

It works similarly to the popular shoe company Toms, where every T-shirt purchase sends a shirt to a child battling cancer. The buyer can also opt out of getting their own shirt and buy two for the children.

The shirts come in a multitude of colors and sizes, and all have inspirational quotes on the front, such as “future cancer survivor,” “it’s all good,” and “veni, vidi, vici.”

“These kids need both something to make them feel more comfortable and also lift their spirits,” Allison said. “What we hear a lot of is from the moms and dads who see their kids wearing these shirts that says ‘future cancer survivor’ really just gives them hope and brightens their day as well.”

Since the Yacht’s started BraveHoods in 2013, they have donated nearly 1,000 shirts as close to home as Denver, to children in Delaware, and even across the sea to the Philippines. The first drop was to Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Sent to Brent’s Place, a housing program for families with children battling cancer. The first shipment of BraveHoods, delivered on the mission to add joy and comfort during the most difficult times in these young children’s lives.

Once delivered, the volunteers and nursing staff at Brent’s Place handed out the hooded T-shirts to all of the children and out the left overs in the lobby so they could pick up a second one if they wanted.

“It was really a great thing to see,” Rachel Bernstein, community engagement manager at Brent’s Place, said. “They all came down and showed off their hoodies to each other, comparing them and smiling. There were a lot of smiles.”

Bernstein said that when these donations come in, it indeed gives the children comfort. Some are miles or states away from home, and even the littlest gifts brighten their day.

“It’s also great for the parents who can see that Merry went through this and is doing great,” Bernstein said. “It lifts everyone’s sprits.”

Even though they don’t deliver them in person, families still reach out and express their gratitude to the family in letters, emails and some even send photos of the kids in the shirts.

“It’s really fun to see other kids wearing the hoodies,” Merry said. “Especially when I see them smiling in the pictures.”

But BraveHoods doesn’t just stop there. When a child is diagnosed with cancer, it’s not just on that child but also on the entire family. Parents have to turn their attention to treatment, and siblings have to clutch on for the ride. It was something that Merry’s older brother Zach took in stride.

“It was just horror when we found out she had a tumor,” Zach said, also decked out in a BraveHoods sweatshirt clutching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Even though it was never the intention to put Zach on the backburner is seemed to Allison and Steve that it happened on occasion. That was hard for them to watch. So when they established BraveHoods, they made it a point to include the siblings of the children going through treatment.

In this, they are not alone. When Madelene Kleinhans’ little brother Addison was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010 everything changed. Doctors’ appointments took precedent, and when the initial novelty of spending time with extended family wore off Madelene started to feel abandoned. Her life was centered on her younger brother, and for an eight year old it was hard. Her mother, Sarah Kleinhans took notice.

“Addison’s treatment lasted for 38 months and it was hard on everyone especially Madelene,” Sarah said. “He was going through so much radiation, and still today if she has a sniffle she has to stay away so he doesn’t get sick. I could see her getting angry.”

That anger came to head over a box of toys. More specifically, a box of toys that were given to patients at the children’s hospital, and a box that Madelene couldn’t even touch. Confused and discouraged, she decided to create her own box of toys for siblings of the patients.

So, with determination and cause close to home Madelene hit the ground sprinting collecting not only toy donations, but also cash to buy toys. Soon she had more than 150 toys in her possession and a lot of money to buy more, but none of the hospitals would place the box, or give out the toys. She didn’t see this as defeat, but rather another challenge that she had to overcome.

With too many toys, and more than enough cash donations than what she knew what to do with, Madelene decided to start a support group for children whose siblings are battling cancer or have a terminal illness.

“Well it’s not really a support group because there isn’t a therapist,” Madelene said. “We don’t need another therapist, we just need a place to go and escape the hospital. It is our day off, and we need to enjoy it not dread it.”

So in October 2014, Madelene organized the first Heartfelt Hugs meeting, all by herself. Doing all of her own marketing and carrying most of the grunt work on her back, never taking “no” as an answer. So when only three siblings showed up to a pumpkin patch for a day filled with getting lost in a corn maze, and picking out pumpkins.

She did the same thing two months later in December, but with the addition of two new members. She traded in the pumpkin patch for an ice skating rink and invited her new members to leave the worry and stress off of the ice. The growth was small, and Madelene knew that if she wanted Heartfelt Hugs to continue growing she had to start marketing.

So, on her own, she set up a website, contacted the local Broomfield paper and started calling anyone she could think of. All of which worked. Going into the third meet up at the Paul Derda Recreation Center 36 siblings had RSVP’d.

“It’s completely her organization and I wanted her to do it all. Even when she made grammar mistakes on the website I left them,” Sarah said. “I want both of my kids to leave their own legacy and make their own mistakes.”

But even with the small grammar mistakes on her website, Madelene’s organization is on the rise, and at 12 years old she has set up a one year plan to meet every two months at different venues. And she’s not taking no as an answer. Partly because she is a marketing prodigy – just ask the suckers she corners with Girl Scout cookies – and partly because she still has the innocence of a child who isn’t trying to scam or trick people, but thinks that there’s not a reason to say no.

Madelene isn’t going to stop because she knows what it’s like to feel left out. She knows the struggles these children go through as they watch their siblings at their worst. She knows how great it feels to be able to escape for a day, and be an average kid.

“I’m not really thinking when we all hang out, it’s just a fun day with friends,” Madelene said. “What more do we need?”

The post Kids Doing Super Things appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.