The Olympic Dream

Howdy!

My name is Boone Niederhofer. I’ve always had a passion for sports, or more specifically, the competition that comes with playing sports. That competitive drive led me down a path characterized by highs and lows, the joy of victory and the sting of defeat. That path also instilled in me an unwavering desire to seek out and overcome new challenges--like becoming a bobsledder from South Texas.

I grew up in San Antonio, TX, graduated from Texas A&M University, and currently reside in Houston, TX. All places that are incredibly hot and humid--not conducive weather for bobsled.

Being a Texan my whole life, my dream was to be a football player, and I was fortunate enough to live out that dream. After feeling overlooked in the recruiting process as a high school senior, I decided to bet on myself and walk on at Texas A&M. I quickly discovered that life as a walk on is, to put it lightly, not very glamorous. For 2 seasons I got to be a blocking dummy/punching bag on the offensive scout team for some of the biggest and strongest defensive players in the SEC (think Myles Garrett), got to wake up early for 5:30 AM workouts 5 times a week, and got to attend all classes required for my petroleum engineering degree. The running joke on the scout team was that we were, “paying to get our [butts] beat everyday!” This process tended to be a grind at times, but I would always remind myself, “this is something I GET to do”, not something I “have” to do. Maintaining a positive attitude and strong work ethic with whatever my hands were given enabled me to be excited about getting to walk into the football facilities everyday. I got to be with some of my closest friends for 10-14 hours a day, got to earn an engineering degree from a top 10 engineering school, and even got to receive a full athletic scholarship after my sophomore year. I learned that there is great value in having a positive attitude and strong work ethic. I finished my career at Texas A&M with 35-ish catches for 300-something yards and 1 touchdown.

At the end of my career at Texas A&M, I had the goal of pursuing football at the next level. This was a life-long dream of mine. Unfortunately, that dream ended before it ever managed to get off the ground. In the 4th quarter of my last regular season game as an Aggie, against LSU, I tore my ACL. I had been planning on training for “pro day” the following spring and was gearing up to take my shot at the NFL, but unfortunately, my knee would not allow me that opportunity. My chance came and went, I rehabbed my knee, graduated from A&M, and eventually landed a job in Houston, Texas. Throughout this journey, however, I never lost my desire for competition.

After working in Houston for about a year and a half, a company buyout left me without a job. That was when a buddy of mine who also recently started competing in the sport, fellow Texas Aggie, Sam Moeller, convinced me to try something new. And I mean REALLY new. He got me in touch with one of the bobsled coaches who told me about an upcoming bobsled combine (which consists of a 45 meter sprint, broad jump, and an underhand shotput throw), and an opportunity to compete in The Next Olympic Hopeful.

(For more info about the show: https://www.teamusa.org/Scouting-Camp-The-Next-Olympic-Hopeful/About https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44Hqg-OQmAs due to agreements with the USOC, I cannot share any results from the show).

With limited time and training, I wasn’t able to put together the performance I knew I was capable of in the combine. Thankfully, I still was able to receive an invitation to the bobsled rookie camp. Falling back on what I learned as a walk on, keeping a positive attitude and strong work ethic, I knew it was time to get back to work. So I hit training. Hard.

Rookie camp was an amazing experience. After being introduced to the Olympic Training Center and seeing how much time, effort, and passion these people invested into their sports, I was able to envision myself in their shoes. I was fired up. With a little bit more time to train, my performance at rookie camp improved, which resulted in an invitation to compete in the National Push Championships against both rookies and veterans the following month.

(Pictured left to right: Weight room at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO where The Next Olympic Hopeful took place, Rookie camp bobsled athlete group picture, View of the Lake Placid bobsled track from the upper start.)

When I headed back to Lake Placid for the push championships, I had about 2 months of training under my belt. I knew there was still room for improvement, but I was eager to see what my new combine scores would be and where I would finish in the competition. I was able to improve my sprint time by almost half a second (5.51 to 5.07 seconds), my broad jump by almost a third of a meter (2.80m to 3.12m), my throw by almost 1.5 meters (14.7m to 16.1m), and finished in the top 9 in the push competition. This earned me an invitation to live in Lake Placid at the training center for 6 weeks before the upcoming bobsled season. This time has been vital for my development as a bobsled athlete. I have had the opportunity to learn from and train with current Team USA members, while learning not only how to push the sled fast on ice, but also how to drive the sled down the track. I have now completed 12 trips from the top of the Lake Placid track, one of the most difficult tracks in the world, and feel very excited for the future. This season, I will be traveling to compete in the North American Cup (in Park City, UT in December and Lake Placid, NY in January), European Cup (in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland in January and February), with the goal of, hopefully, making the National Team and competing in the World Cup later this season and following seasons.

(Video from National Push Championships)

That leads us to now. What is next? After a series of doors closing and opening through this process, I have a new dream: to be an Olympian for the United States of America. In pursuit of this dream, not unlike my journey as a walk on at Texas A&M, I must once again invest my time, hard work, and finances into a priceless opportunity. Only this time, it is to compete for the greatest country in the world at the Olympic level. I will gladly appreciate any and all financial, verbal, or social support. A donation, a prayer, a “Go Team USA!”, or even a quick sharing of my gofundme link are great ways to support my dream! To donate, please visit gofundme.com/booneniederhofer. Many bobsled athletes, and other Olympic sport athletes, are entirely self-funded. All funds will go directly to bobsled equipment, airfare, lodging, meals, team fees, and everything else I will need during upcoming bobsled seasons.

Thanks and Gig ‘Em!

Boone Niederhofer

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