University of New England

Snowboarder Nora Connors '06 finds Maine a great place to train for pro competitions

By Sarah Day

When one thinks of Maine, generally the great outdoors comes to mind. Dense forests, rolling hills and the vast Atlantic Ocean provide countless opportunities for natives and visitors alike to explore Mother Nature. One sport that dominates the winter landscape here is snowboarding. Young and old, Mainer and tourist, flock to the state’s many ski resorts to test their strength and balance on the half-pipe or slopes.

University of New England students take full advantage of these resorts, located practically in their backyard. Nora Connors ’06, a native of West Newbury, Mass., is one such student. Connors came to UNE to study sport management and graduated this spring 2006. The University Campus, located halfway between her home and Sunday River (her mountain of choice), afforded Connors the opportunities to surf, kayak and even snowboard, a passion she developed recently.

A competitive person from the start, Connors competed in gymnastics for 12 years before switching to snowboarding a dozen seasons ago. Though seemingly two very different sports, gymnastics and snowboarding both offer Connors the thrill and competition she actively seeks, though those thrills often come with a price. Having fractured her back twice as a gymnast, along with suffering a myriad of other injuries, Connors reveals that the possibility for further injury makes her nervous. “When I fall, I feel it,” she says, but so far she has managed to stay relatively injury-free during her snowboarding tenure.

Each year Connors participates in about 15 competitions in both the slope and half-pipe events.  She explains that she started doing slope-style, which involves a timed competition where the rider must go through a series of jumps and obstacles while performing tricks, but got involved with the half-pipe (a man-made trench in the snow used to do tricks) thanks to her snowboarding brother.

Pro Competition
During her senior year at UNE she competed for the first time in the pro division, entering two pro slope-style contests where she placed in the top five each time. In addition, she placed in the top ten for two years in a row at the United States of America Snowboarding Association 2006 National Championships held in Tahoe, Calif. Connors has also competed with Olympians in the U.S. Open, which she says was the most fun she ever had, and at the Rocky Mountain Snow Riders Fest in Jackson Hole, Wyom., the site of her first half-pipe competition.

To supplement her time outside of class and away from training, Connors spent three semesters her junior and senior years working as an intern for the Resort Sports Network at Sunday River. There she was able to work the camera, man the control panels and host some of their daily programs. Meanwhile, she consistently made the dean’s list and even worked at Joe Jones, a local sports shop, for a semester while snowboarding every Friday through Sunday. If that weren’t enough for Connors, she was even president of the Snowboarding Club at UNE, which became one of the largest clubs at the University during her senior year.

Connors lived in Fort Collins, Colo. this past summer, then moved back to Maine to “toss myself around” some more as she continues to represent her sponsors, Manitoba Harvest and Pinnacle Snowboard Shop, in competitions. She hopes to work for RSN again this winter if she can find the time between working full time and competing on the side. Graduate school isn’t out of the question as she says she would like to study television production or communications, but she would also like to travel more “while I’m young,” perhaps spending more of her “free” time in Alaska and the French Alps.

When asked if she would do it all over again, Connors replies with a definite yes, saying snowboarding is a great stress outlet. With a dad who learned to snowboard when he was 50 years old, and a thrill and competition–seeking nature, it’s no wonder Connors decided to take up the challenge. And UNE provided her with the perfect opportunity to do so.

More on the Department of Execise and Sport Performance and the Sport Management Program.