I am constantly in awe of the individuals that make up Rocky Mountain Adaptive. From the instructors to office staff, to participants and volunteers, each human who plays a part in what RMA does is truly incredible and I tout myself as lucky to have the great fortune to work alongside them all. Today, however, I want to shine a light on one particular individual, whom without there would exist a noticeable gap at RMA.

Kim Cosman is RMA’s Program Manager and she is also one of the most incredible individuals I have ever encountered. Kim embodies passion and dedication. She is remarkable in all that she does and her compassion extends beyond just our work environment. In my short time at RMA so far, Kim has very quickly become a mentor, a confidant, and a very good friend.

Most recently, she was nominated in the annual Change Makers event hosted by YWCA as a Community Champion, among many other notable women in our community. While Kim didn’t take home the award, in our eyes she’s already won so much.

While I could write many, many words about how wonderful Kim is, none would adequately do her justice. So instead, I made her do what she doesn’t do often (and, in fact, really does not like to do) — talk about herself. Today, I chatted with her about what got her into adaptive sport programming, what she loves the most about it all, and more. Here is what Kim had to say:

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself, what you like to do in your spare time, etc.

A:  That’s a great question… I like to cook and bake. I love to read, that is a passion of mine. Throughout COVID, I’ve gotten into crocheting and knitting, actually I’m now an owner of a loom. Real exciting stuff! I am passionate about what I do for my job, which is the vast majority of what I do with my life and my time.

Q: How did you get into teaching adaptive sport?

A: When I was working down in New Zealand, the ski resort I worked at had an Adaptive ski program. They were short on volunteers and at the time I was only working as a casual instructor, so I did the volunteer training. The guy who ran the program said ‘hey, you’re kind of good at this. You’re already an instructor, why don’t you do your instructor certs?’ So by the end of that summer I did my level one and two exams and that was it, I was hooked… It’ll be ten years this summer that I’ve been an adaptive instructor. I’ve been with Rocky Mountain Adaptive since winter 2014 and started year round in 2018.

Q: What motivates you to get up and do what you do every day?

A: Our participants, the staff, the volunteers. The fact that we are all so passionate about what we do and want to share that passion with anyone and everyone. I just genuinely love what I do for a job. I’m one of the few who’s lucky enough to fully enjoy what they do on a daily basis.

Q: If you could pick one aspect of your job that is your favourite, what would it be and why?

A: I love teaching, that’s what got me here, but probably the fact that I get to build relationships and community with so many different, awesome and incredible people — that’s pretty great.

Q: What do you wish people knew about adaptive sport? Disabilities? RMA?

A: I wish that what I did on a daily basis was better recognized as being a legitimate career; that the knowledge and experience we have is more than just ski instructing or program facilitating. I wish that the athletes that we work with were better recognized for what they do, not just because they live with a disability, but because of the fact that they are incredible athletes. Being seen on an equal playing field as other incredible athletes who do the same things every day. I wish people saw what we do in adaptive sport less as “oh, we’re doing something good for someone who’s disadvantaged” and more as look at these incredible athletes that do these incredible activities whether or not they have challenges in their lives. 

When it comes to what I wish people knew about Rocky Mountain Adaptive – that we’re here… It always amazes me how few people have even heard of RMA. There are still so many people who don’t know that we’re here and what we have to offer. I think what we do is quite unique and quite special and it frustrates me to no end that there are still people that could theoretically access our programming, but don’t know that we’re here. It frustrates me when people limit themselves when it come to activities they think they can’t do. There are so many tactics and tools we can use to make all these activities accessible to all these people and they just don’t know it yet. On the plus side, it gives us plenty of room to grow and encourage more people to try new things.