FEATURE

JJ Rayward Receives Inaugural Mons Royale Progression Scholarship

By Snow Sports NZ

Merino clothing brand Mons Royale have awarded the inaugural Mons Royale Progression Scholarship to snowboarder JJ Rayward.
 
THE MONS ROYALE PROGRESSION SCHOLARSHIP
The Progression Scholarship was created by Mons Royale to help young New Zealand action sports athletes on the pathway to international success. As the Official Base Layer of the New Zealand Winter Olympic Team for Sochi 2014, Mons Royale created a limited edition “Black Snow” range of merino base layer garments and a proportion of the profit from the sales of this range was used fund the Progression Scholarship.
 
The $5,000 scholarship is to be used to fund travel to events, training camps and other activities that will contribute to an athlete’s success on the global stage.
 
Mons Royale Founder Hamish Acland said “People say a little extra help can go a long way and having spent time as a professional athlete I’m well aware of how hard it can be to make the leap from aspirant rookie talent to successful pro. We created Black Snow so people could show their support of the national team and the scholarship extends that support in a really tangible way. We wanted to effect the biggest impact on an athlete and accelerate their success on the global stage, so travel is a great way of doing that. As amazing as it was to be part of the Olympics in Sochi, this scholarship is one of the coolest things that’s come out of our relationship with Snow Sports NZ and the New Zealand Olympic Team.”
 
JJ RAYWOOD
Snowboarder Jordan John Rayward is one of New Zealand’s most prodigious young riders and is currently a member of Snow Sports NZ Snowboard Talent Development Squad. JJ competes in both the slopestyle and halfpipe formats.
 
A native of Nelson, the 19 year old is based in Wanaka during the New Zealand winter and trains at Cardrona Alpine Resort. JJ was a member of the New Zealand team at the 2015 FIS Snowboard Junior World Championships in China, where he finished 8th in slopestyle and 15^th in the halfpipe. He has also shown strongly in FIS competition in North America, placing 6th at the Mammoth Mountain slopestyle event in California.
 
Marty Toomey, Snow Sports NZ CEO said “JJ is a guy with huge potential and we think it won’t be long before he starts making an even bigger impact at an international level. Travel and accommodation is one of the biggest hurdles a young rider has to deal with in order to compete internationally and this scholarship will make a real difference in helping JJ gain valuable experience in high level competition over the coming months.