HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-05-16, Page 3THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2019. PAGE 3.
Australian mentoring, degree next for Yungblut
Continued from page 2
issues with her thyroid as well as
amenorrhea, which still require
monitoring to this day.
While those issues made day-to-
day life tough for Yungblut, she said
they didn’t factor into her decision to
retire.
Yungblut also said that she
desperately wanted to leave the sport
while she still loved it. If she held on
longer, knowing that wasn’t what
she wanted to do, she felt she might
grow to resent it, which would be
unfortunate after 10 years of love for
biathlon.
Not only was it her love for the
sport that kept her going, but she
says that she’ll be eternally grateful
for the support she’s received over
the years. Whether it was from local
sponsors, both in Alberta and in
Huron County, family or friends,
Yungblut says she couldn’t have
chased her dream and reached so
many of her goals without them.
While she acknowledged that
biathletes often peak later than most
athletes (between 30-35), she still
felt like it was the right time to walk
away and life was pulling her more
strongly in other directions.
For the immediate future,
however, Yungblut won’t be straying
far from her roots in the sport, as her
next project will be a coaching
position in Australia, working with
the country’s international ski team
throughout July and August (winter
for Australia). She said that while
she’ll technically be coaching, the
program is more about connecting
elite athletes with the team to train
alongside them and she’s excited to
take on that challenge.
In Australia, there is a 42-
kilometre cross-country ski race
called the Kangaroo Hoppet, set for
Aug. 24 this year, and Yungblut
plans on taking part. When she
crosses that finish line, she said,
she’ll officially be retired.
During her time in Australia, she
plans on spending time with friends
and enjoying some time to herself,
both of which were in short supply
during her training days. While she
will still work towards the Hoppet,
that schedule will be casual
compared to her training in
Canmore.
FAST AND FEMALE
While in Australia, Yungblut
will continue to work with Fast
and Female, a charity she’s worked
with for a number of years. Yungblut
works remotely, managing the
charity’s media and communications.
She was first involved with the
charity as a youth participant, then
as an ambassador and now as an
employee.
As a teen, Yungblut said she had
the opportunity to ski with a national
skier through Fast and Female and
she experienced firsthand what that
type of interaction could mean to a
young female athlete.
The organization, which was
founded by two Olympic gold
medalists, Canada’s Chandra
Crawford and Kikkan Randall of the
U.S., aims to empower young girls
through sport and keep them healthy
and active for life.
Yungblut said the organization
believes that “you can’t be what you
can’t see”, so it aspires to connect
young girls with elite-level athletes
to inspire and encourage them
through sport.
After moving to Alberta, Yungblut
was brought on by the organization
as one of its ambassadors before
working for its communications
department. Yungblut said that
while it was tiring at the time to
need a part-time job to support
herself as an athlete, always being
just under the threshold for funding,
she’s glad she spent time in the
working world, learning all that it
had to offer.
Working with Fast and Female,
she said, was an ideal job for her,
which is why she hopes to continue
with the organization in Australia.
NEXT STEPS
After her time in Australia,
Yungblut said she hopes to return to
the business of finishing off her
degree from Royal Roads University
on Vancouver Island. She’ll
officially be back in school next
spring with the hopes of graduating
in 2022. At that point not only does
she hope to have a degree in her
hand, but she also hopes to have
brushed up on both her French and
Spanish to improve her job prospects
for the future.
The path in front of Yungblut is
now wide open and full of
possibility and she said she’s eager
to see where she’ll end up in the
coming years.
Jennifer Miltenburg of Ashfield-
Colborne-Wawanosh (ACW) is
looking for a study partner in Huron
County to examine the use of faith-
based buildings after the churches
they once housed have folded.
Miltenburg spoke to Huron
County Council at its May 8
meeting about the study. Though
Miltenburg is an ACW councillor,
she was at the meeting in her
volunteer capacity with the
Kingsbridge Centre and as the
research lead for the Ontario
Trillium Partnership study of faith
building usage in Huron County.
Speaking to Huron County
Council, Miltenburg said that Huron
County has been chosen to represent
rural Ontario in the study, which will
look at the closure of churches and
their subsequent uses, if any, in a
number of provincial scenarios.
Miltenburg said the study would
examine three different cities (sized
large, medium and small) as well as
rural Ontario, represented by Huron
County.
Miltenburg’s own Kingsbridge
Centre, she said, has been an
example of the success that can
await a former faith-based building
if the volunteers and passion are
there. The centre, she said, has
raised over $850,000 for its
renovation and operation and
reinvested nearly $170,000 back
The Citizen
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MONDAY, MAY 20
for
The deadline for the
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Friday, May 17
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We find that they are empty bubbles!
(J.C. Ryle)
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of
sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--
comes not from the Father but from the world!” 1 John 2:15-16
The possession of the whole world and all that it contains, will never make a
person happy. Its pleasures are false and deceptive! It’s riches, rank,and
honours,have no power to satisfy the heart! So long as we have not got them-
-they glitter, sparkle, and seem desirable. The moment we have them--we find
that they are empty bubbles, and cannot make us feel content!
And, worst of all, when we possess this world’s good things to be the utmost
bound of our desire--we cannot keep them!Death comes in and separates us
from all our property forever! Naked we came upon earth, and naked we go
forth--and of all our possessions, we can carry nothing with us.
Such is the world, which occupies the whole attention of thousands!
Such is the world, for the sake of which millions are every year destroying their
souls!
“This world is fading away,along with everything that people crave!”
1 John 2:17
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At home... for now
For the last seven years, Huron native Erin Yungblut has called Canmore, Alberta home,
nestled in the Rocky Mountains. While she has travelled the world extensively through her
work as a biathlete, she says some of her best memories are training in the beauty of the
Rocky Mountains in Canada, an area she’ll deeply miss as she starts the next chapter of her
life, travelling to Australia to begin with. (Photo courtesy of Peter Collins Photography)
Faith building study
to feature Huron
Continued on page 12
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen