CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine — Five Carrabassett Valley Academy graduates are in Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Mike Day, class of 1989, is Mikaela Shiffrin’s head coach; Forest Carey, class of 1994, is the Head Alpine Men’s Coach; Liam Moffatt is a 2015 graduate and is a snowboard cross athlete for Team Canada; Nessa Dziemian, class of 2012, is the head coach for the Brazil Moguls Team; Nick Stagers, class of 1997, is coaching an athlete on the alpine team from Ecuador.
Carey got promoted to the team's head coach in May 2021.
Moffatt competes in Beijing on February 10.
“I’m beyond grateful for the skills, training and integral development of my career that I gained at CVA,” Moffatt said in a news release. “Representing the incredible CVA community all the way from Beijing and on the world stage is a huge honor for me and I can’t wait to compete on Thursday.”
"It's just wonderful to be a part of that ongoing tradition that started so many years ago and to have so many connections from Maine, from CVA, from Sugarloaf representing home countries at the Olympics. It's a real honor and privilege to be a part of it," said head of school Kate Webber Punderson (CVA '89), who started working at CVA in 2001 and took on her current role in 2011.
"I love how these alums are giving back to the sport that gave them so much. That’s key for the next generation. We know for the next generation we headed to the Olympics years from now, we need great people who are passionate about the sport, passionate about kids, to come back and give back to the sport as coaches," Punderson said.
CVA is a private middle and high school at Sugarloaf Mountain in Carrabassett Valley, about two and a half hours north and west of Portland.
"The intent and purpose of CVA is to foster focused individual student-athlete development by providing the optimum balance between outstanding college preparatory academics, responsible community living and world-class athletic training in competitive skiing and snowboarding," according to the school's website.