Spirit of Interschools Award presented to Claudia Krake and Alessandra Sydun-West

Snow Australia would like to congratulate Claudia Krake and Alessandra Sydun-West on receiving the Spirit of Interschools awards in the 2022 Snow Australia Community Sport Awards. This award recognises students who, through their actions, have embodied the spirit of Interschool Snowsport competition. 

This season, Krake has gone above and beyond to promote the spirit of snowsports throughout her school community. As the 2022 snow sports captain at Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar, Melbourne, she was instrumental in encouraging and promoting snow sports participation at her school. She encouraged 15 members of the school team to take part in the 8-week SnowReady program in preparation for the Victorian Interschools. 

Sharing this award with Krake, is biathlon athlete Sydun-West. Over the years Sydun-West has competed in Alpine, Ski Cross, Moguls, Cross Country and has been involved in Interschools since year 2 at Presbyterian Ladies College (PLC) Sydney. She now serves as the Junior School Snowsports Mentor, working with students from kindergarten to grade two in preseason roller ski and roller skate training.

Both athletes said they were honoured to receive the award and have found their roles to be an amazing experience and are thrilled to receive recognition for their hard work. 

“It’s a huge honour, this award means it’s a recognition of what we are advocating for in snow sports and I am just really grateful to be a part of pushing that ideal and values we want to uphold,” Krake said.   

“It’s a great honour, supporting my school and growing biathlon as a sport has been an amazing experience for me. I have really enjoyed working with the younger children to help them develop in the sport from grassroots upwards, so I am very grateful,” Sydun-West said. 

Krake has been a large advocate for snow sports within her school community, promoting programs such as SnowReady gave herself and her team the perfect opportunity to bond and connect as a team in the lead up to Interschools. 

“I really wanted to push the team bonding and thought the SnowReady program would be perfect in the leadup to Interschools. This also prepared us physically for interschools when we didn’t have training and mainly relied on our own ability and what we chose to do outside of school. This program gave us the opportunity to train together in a different way and reconnect as a team,” Krake said. 

As a mentor to younger students, Sydun-West finds the experience not just valuable to those in primary school, but also for herself. 

“Mentoring the younger athletes has been really amazing as they are all super enthusiastic, they are really excited to start the sport and are really passionate, which is great to see,” said Sydun-West. 

“As a mentor I have learnt a lot about myself and how to coach young athletes. It's really important to listen to them, understand how they feel and start from what they know to make sure they are comfortable and having fun. I’ve learnt to be very patient and to ensure they are having fun along the way.”

The Sydney-local goes above and beyond for the athletes she mentors, supporting them at competitions. She is proud to see how far the younger athletes have progressed and how much they enjoy training.

"It's amazing watching the younger athletes compete, seeing where they started from and seeing where they have ended up is really amazing."

“It's great to see them excited to race, train, and work hard, and I've enjoyed watching them grow up," she said.

Krake had many individuals to thank for their support throughout the season, from her school Sports Director Mrs Hoban to fellow teammates. 

“I’d like to thank my Director of Sport Mrs Hoban, she has put so much effort into this program and really put in the effort during the interschools program making sure the team stays together and were able to really enjoy it,” Krake said, 

“My friends and fellow sports captains really support each other in the way we captained the team, there were so many events that we ran that they would have no idea about but still came to support and help out.” 

Sydun-West expresses gratitude to those who have been along for the ride for their unwavering support throughout her sporting career.

"I would like to thank Malissa Johnston, the coordinator of sport from Presbyterian Ladies College (PLC) in Sydney, she has been a really big support for me over the years and I really appreciate her support and help.”

"My parents are amazing, as is my coach Lucy Glanville, who has been supporting me and is also a former PLC student,” she said.