Kasete Naufahu Skeen’s dream of becoming the first Tongan alpine skier in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang is now his goal, after he recently quit his full time job to focus solely on skiing.

The 34-year-old is in the process of moving to Europe, where he will set his sights on the Alps. Kasete will commit to a full time training regime in the disciplines of Giant Slalom and Super G, which involves skiing between sets of poles spaced at certain distances to each other.

Trainer, Hermann Aigner, a former coach for the Italian National Team, will push Kasete to reach his best.

“He’s a special guy because he is a good athlete. He knows how much he has to work. He made a lot of sacrifices to be here to train, to want to train and ski and I have great respect for that,” said Hermann.

Kasete will spend six weeks undertaking glacier training in Austria and a month in Scandinavia before moving to the Dolomites to train and base himself for competition.

Skiers must compete in races sanctioned by the International Ski Federation in order to achieve the points required to qualify for the Olympics.

Training throughout the 2017 year will include a stint in New Zealand for southern hemisphere training with final preparations to be completed in Tonga.

Kasete’s father is Tongan and his mother is English. He grew up in London and has spent time in Tonga with his family in Nuku’alofa and Kolonga. He also has strong family ties to Vava’u.

His interest in skiing developed as a 12-year-old on a school trip to the Alps where he says he “fell for skiing instantly”. 

Kasete admits that he had to change his unhealthy habits once he made the choice to chase his dream.

“Until six months ago I smoked, I drank too much, I ate badly and I didn’t exercise at all. Since then I have begun a dramatic transformation that has seen me quit smoking, start exercising, revolutionise my eating habits and loose 25 kilograms; all in the pursuit of my dream to represent Tonga.”

Funding

To help him reach his goal of becoming a Winter Olympian, Kasete is crowdfunding with PledgeSports to help him with his training, travelling and competing expenses.

“I don’t come from a traditional skiing background and I need to improve a lot as a skier so I need all the help I can get,” he said.

His target over the next few months is to raise £10,000, with almost £3,000 already donated since the fundraising started six days ago. He estimates the entire journey will cost him at least £50,000.  As part of his crowdfunding campaign, Kasete is offering rewards for contributions of different values.

The rewards range from a live Q&A session, Tongan skier clothing, name printed on his helmet for the 2016/17 season, and a hand written postcard from the 2018 Winter Olympics.

To support Kasete’s dream of skiing for Tonga at the 2018 Winter Olympics, contributors can donate at the following link - Tongan Skier on the road to PyeongChang 2018.  He is also blogging about his journey at Tongan Skier [2].

“Being the first alpine skiier to represent the Kingdom of Tonga at the world’s most prestigious winter sports event would be a huge honour and a privilege,” Kasete said.

Related article: Four skiers have chance to represent Tonga [3]