Neilly Ross is as comfortable on the water as most 10-year-old Canadians are on the ice.

No wonder.

 

Her father, Belleville native Drew Ross, is a world waterski champion who runs his own instructional academy in Winter Garden, Florida. The former winner of the Robinson-Kelleher Memorial Award as Belleville's Athlete of the Year introduced his daughter to the water early and is guiding her in a competitive career that is drawing rave reviews in the U.S.

 

Ten-year-old Neilly — who holds dual citizenship (her mother, Leigh, is from North Carolina) — has already won three Canadian championships and one in the U.S., plus erased three previous Canadian age-group records in tricks and slalom, and two in the U.S. for the same events.

 

But to simply conclude that Neilly's success is based mainly on genetics and the coaching of her father would be a colossal error.

 

This kid works hard. Extremely hard. And she loves what she's doing too.

 

"She's a perfectionist," said Drew Ross, during a recent interview with The Intelligencer. "And, she has a good work ethic which makes the coaching easy. Kids sometimes have a hard time envisioning what needs to be done, like with new tricks and movements, and being able to process all of that at a young age is difficult. But she's keen and motivated.

 

"Leigh took her swimming early and Neilly was never afraid of the water," said Ross. "Being comfortable around the water and being around waterskiing was good. I had a lot of time to formulate a program for her."

 

But, before she could ski on the water, Neilly did some unique dryland training.

 

"I learned behind a golf cart," she said. "In the grass. With skis."

 

"That's how they get the hang of it," said Ross. "The balance aspect of it. Then, we move on to the pool."

 

Soon, Neilly was being pulled behind a powerful ski boat, training six to eight times a week and three times a day on weekends.

 

"I love competing, having fun and travelling," said Neilly, when asked to describe what she enjoys most about her favourite sport.

 

If she continues on her current path, she'll travel far afield next year to compete at the 2012 World Junior Championships. Ross says the host country has yet to be determined by international waterski officials but bids have already been submitted from Australia, Chile and France.

 

Neilly will compete for Canada which gets the full support of her American-born mom.

 

"Leigh just wants the best for her," said Ross.