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John Russell

John Russell's sports column appears Sundays in Steamboat Today. Contact him at 871-4209 or e-mail jrussell@SteamboatToday.com.

Steamboat Springs — Ten-year-old Val Katsman is living proof that Olympic dreams can be found in small packages. It's true that, at first glance, he looks like any other child. But this pre-teen can explain the difference between an axel and a Lutz with the same enthusiasm most children his age describe the latest video game released for the Xbox.

He's just cleared 4 feet in height and probably weighs less than a sack of groceries. But once he steps onto the ice, he seems to grow to new heights and shows the experience of an athlete at least twice his age.

His performance is polished and well-practiced, and his demeanor - even in front of the large crowd at Howelsen Ice Arena on Friday night - was professional.

It's easy to believe that Val spends six days a week on the ice practicing his jumps, spins and routines. He will tell you that his biggest goal is to land a double axel jump, but you don't have to know him personally to see he has Olympic-sized aspirations.

But the competition to get there is going to be stiff, and his odds of making it to that final goal are long. In 2010, the U.S. will have only three men representing the country. So Val already understands that if he wants to reach the Olympics someday, he will have to make some sacrifices.

Val calls Colorado Springs home, but the young skater easily would fit in on any playground in Steamboat Springs. He understands the dedication and desire that form the foundation of our town's Olympic traditions. He shares the same drive that is found on the ski jumps and steep, pitched slopes of Howelsen Hill every weekday in the winter, and he has more in common with athletes Todd Lodwick, Bill Demong and Johnny Spillane than he will ever know.

From what I've seen, it looks as though Val and his teammates on the Broadmoor Figure Skating Club are headed in the right direction. Twenty-one members of the elite-level club spent last week in Steamboat Springs training at the Howelsen Ice Arena. As part of the camp, they held performances Friday and Saturday night - a true glimpse of what we might see from the Americans in Vancouver.

The show included future prospects such as Val, Brittany Guevara and Lauren and Tamia Ellison, who all are very young. But there also were national finals skaters such as Rachael Flatt, Alexe Gilles, Ryan Bradley and Brandon Mroz, who have a legitimate shot at making the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team.

I'm glad that the members of the Broadmoor Figure Skating Club came to Steamboat Springs to train. It seems to be a perfect fit, and it's a reminder to locals that the Olympics now are just months away.

Maybe I can't tell you the difference between a Lutz, a double axel or the full names of the athletes those jumps were named after. But I don't need to know those things to understand what it means to have a dream, whether it's on the ice in someplace like Colorado Springs or on the jumps in a place like Steamboat.