The Mercy ski team is unusual because it teams up with Catholic Central’s (CC) ski team. According to the girls on the ski team, having boys at practice and traveling with them has more pros than cons.

They are all coached by the same coaches, so the teams work together for most activities. The joint team practices and travels together, but when it comes to competitions, they race separately. According to junior skier Julia Crowley, practicing with boys from CC challenges everyone to do better. Teammates encourage other teammates, help one another with their skis, and give each other advice on what they are doing wrong.

“The boys are great to watch and learn from because some of them are really great racers,” said Crowley. “When we have team dinners, the guys often help wax our skis and that’s really helpful because in past years, a lot of the girls didn’t know how to.”

The coaching staff demonstrates an effort to help each individual reach his or her goal.

“In my experience on the team, I don’t think the coaches show favoritism towards the boys,” said Crowley. “I can tell how they really try to help and coach every person on the team so they can reach their full potential.”

According to junior skier Dayton McGrail, everyone gets along very well and having the boys on the team enabled her to meet new people.

“All the boys are super nice and make the hard parts of ski team fun,” said McGrail.