A thirteen year old Cochrane girl is headed to South Carolina to partake in the 2017 BMX World Championships.

Katie Scott, is one of eleven riders from Cochrane that has earned an opportunity to partake in the races being held in Rock Hill. When she started riding four years ago she never anticipated she would be one of the top riders; fast forward, Scott has moved from joy riding to expert.

Her competitive drive has taken her far, fast. "I just wanted to get better and better and beat everyone; I moved my way up to expert last year." The drive to get better has Scott training year round by doing spin classes, bootcamps, skiing, and playing volleyball for the Jaguars. Keeping up her physical strength and cross training will help Scott stay at the top of her game as well help to keep her chance of injury low. "That is why I did functional movement tests to strengthen my body to prevent injury."

Now that Scott is on team Alberta there is more opportunity for training and coaching. Getting a handle on what racing is like in the US, she headed to Rock Hill at the end of March for a training camp and Nationals; the experience was eye opening.

"In the States they train all year, where we only train in the summer; we can do fitness training but not actually on your bike training.They are really aggressive, they are hard to race against."

Scott is excited to experience World's for the first time this summer, the championship races run from July 21-30, and while winning would be great, it is much more about the experience. "It is an amazing experience just to see what it is like and see people all over the world competing at that kind of level."

This summer besides heading back to Rock Hill, Scott will travel not only across the province for training but to Surrey and Toronto as well to compete in Canada Cup races.

Scott is sponsored by Shimano, Kendell Sports Marketing, Bike Bros, and TCR and is always looking for more sponsors to offset costs for gear and travel.

While Scott has an idea where she wants her BMX career to end up her journey as a professional athlete is just beginning.

"I want to try and make the Alberta team every year, maybe eventually Team Canada, and possibly the Olympics at some point...if I work hard and keep progressing,"

The other riders joining Scott at World's are:

Haylee Laurell - 7 female 

Nathan Vlahakis - 8 male

Caleb Carey - 9 male

AJ Laurell - 9 male 

Jaxon Ross - 9 male

Brock Foster - 11 male

Sam Scott - 11 male

Caleb Graham - 11 male

Luke Christensen - 12 male

Riley Carey - 12 male