This Professional Kiteboarder Followed His Childhood Dream

Sam Medysky is a professional kiteboarder. Born and raised in a small town just north of Toronto, Ontario, Sam started kiting when he was nine years old. By the age of 13, Sam began competing professionally and winning events. After realizing his potential as a teen, Sam wanted to quit school and pursue a career on the kiteboarding pro tour, but his parents pushed him to finish his high school education. “My parents being teachers are like, you don’t leave the house until you have your grade 12 education. So I did everything I could to travel as much as I could through high school and compete as much as I could. And I think the whole time I was just hungry for the sport and just wanted to keep going.”

After graduating high school, Sam’s audacious goals and laser-focused plans remained and he moved to Brazil to chase his dreams of a kiteboarding career. “I was really motivated to prove to my family that I could do this, that I could become something with this. I didn’t go to university, I went and traveled the world, living my dream. I made the sport I love my career. And I feel like from doing that, experience has been my best teacher. I’ve traveled all over the world, seen places most people will never see and met so many amazing people. I love my life; I make a living traveling the world and essentially playing every day.”

Sam is open about how challenging it was to turn his childhood dream into a career and credits his success to relentless persistence. “I knew I always had to stick to my guns, pushing to keep that lifestyle going. It’s being passionate about the sport. And just knowing that you want it so bad that you’ve got to do it, and doing whatever it takes to make it happen.”

Sam is a now six-time Canadian National Champion, global competitor and amongst the top kiteboarders in the world in his disciplines. He makes his home living in an off-the-grid cabin in Squamish, BC, one of the windiest places in Canada. “I create all my own electricity through solar and micro hydro. So there’s no power lines that actually come up to this community. It’s a really unique way of living. But it’s also a special way of living, which I think is really important. And especially, you know, I’ve gotten so much out of nature that it’s incredible to be able to kind of live more of a sustainable lifestyle, and kind of give back for all the good times that I’ve had using the elements.”

Even though Sam still competes professionally, he is beginning to shift his focus to becoming an ambassador for kiteboarding, and is hopeful to grow, and raise the profile of the sport that has given him so much.

MORE stories