A feeling of victory is how Bo Maier describes his most memorable athletic moment – hitting his first home run at the age of eight.
“It was infield and running back home. I was exhausted,” Maier said. “I feel like I beat everybody on the other team and on my team. Not in a necessarily rude way, I just felt great.”
The moment helped inspire the now 14-year-old Maier to pursue baseball all the way to St. Albert, where he is attending a training camp throughout the winter starting Jan. 7. The local multi-sport athlete, who has played as a pitcher with the Athabasca Trappers over the past few years, hopes to advance to AAA in St. Albert this season.
“I want to keep going with it, so I’m going to the camps in St. Albert,” Maier said. “I’m going to hopefully try out and make the team in St. Albert. It will be tough though, really tough.”
Although Maier highlights baseball as the sport he has a particular passion for, he has been part of a multitude of sports teams in Athabasca. He currently participates in the Athabasca Nordic Ski Club and has also done swimming and soccer, as well as other sports.
“After I went to a few sports, I started to like it. I liked the competition, I liked trying to be better than anyone,” Maier said. “After a while, I learned the benefits of being in a sport, health-wise. It’s fun.”
Participating in multiple sports has a cross-sport benefit, Maier said. He noted how his dryland training for cross country-skiing helps keeps his overall fitness high.
“That really helps me toughen up for the other sports,” Maier said. “It just keeps me active. Just everywhere, it helps everything.”
Athabasca Nordic Ski Club coach Henrik Asfeldt said Maier is an uplifting presence on the team.
“He’s a really enthusiastic athlete and one of the guys who really enjoys the sport,” Asfeldt said. “He’s a pretty social guy, always kind of fun-loving and joking around. That bumps the team.”
But during races, Asfeldt said Maier is very concentrated.
“He’s pretty focused. He’s always out there doing his best,” Asfeldt said.
Maier’s multi-sport proficiency earned him placements in both the Alberta Winter Games and Alberta Summer Games in 2016, for skiing and swimming respectively. It was a memorable experience, he said.
“It was amazing. I felt like I was in the Olympics, everything was so professional,” Maier said. “I felt like I was fast because I was racing with those fast people.”
However, Maier has had to start narrowing down the sports he wants to pursue as he’s gotten older. He left the Athabasca Rapids Swim Club this season after several years in the pool to focus more on other sports, he said.
“My sports are being limited, because of time I need to put into everything. I’m now realizing how much harder I have to try at a certain sport if I want to get good at it, if I want to keep going with it,” Maier said.
He said skiing is something he wants to continue through his life, recreationally if not racing.
As for baseball, Maier said he has high hopes.
“I hope to play really good and I hope to get a scholarship to university,” Maier said. “That’s the dream.”
