Wiz Kid: Oscar Halliwell

Name: Oscar Halliwell

Age: 13

School: 7th grader,

Accomplishment: While most Sonoma teens are worrying about school dances and algebra, Halliwell is competing as a internationally ranked skier.  Currently, Halliwell is in Italy competing in the Junior World Cup (wish him luck on his races this coming Friday and Saturday) on the heels of winning the J4 Boys Far West Division tournament.

Though the New Zealand national is a Sonoma resident, the family relocates to New Zealand every summer, so Halliwell can train with their national juniors league. Halliwell started skiing recreationally as a young kid, but his talents soon took him to more competitive places, according to Mom Vicki Halliwell, also a ski instructor.

"He challenged himself to become a good skier - you do a few races and it pretty much snowballed from there," said Vicki Halliwell.

Secret to Success: Vicki says that it takes hard work and perseverance to accommodate Oscar's talent. Oscar trains between four and five days per week, depending on the weather and the family spends almost every weekend in Tahoe training - in addition to the 30 races he travels to per year.

Recently, due to significant racing requirements, Oscar's been on-leave from the Presentation School, working with a tutor until his schedule lightens up. Still, the hectic pace is worth it for the family, "in the winter you don’t even question what you have to do," says Vicki.

And hopefully Oscar's hard work will pay off in invitations to events like the Junior World Cup.

"It’s a proving ground for young racers, they go on to be the best in the world in future years -  the Americans who have qualified for the team have made wonderful friends," she said.