With the Olympic games underway this month, and the Paralympic Games coming up, we have been thinking about what it takes to be an Olympian or a Paralympian. So why not ask the athletes themselves? Quincie Mattick, who spent much of her school years in North Dakota, was a member of the Paralympic Judo team, and made a run to compete at the Paralympics. While she ultimately decided to leave the sport before competing at the Paralympics, she learned a lot from her experience on the world stage. Read about her experience and the lessons it taught her, as well as her advice for young athletes today.
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Quincie Mattick. I was born blind. I’ve got Leber’s which is genetic. I have a little bit of light perception. I currently live in Idaho. I was actually born in Canada, and my family lived in North Dakota for a while, then we moved to Colorado. I went to college in Idaho and have never left! I never predicted I’d end up here. I just really like this town, Pocatello. It’s smaller – around 55,000 people – but there are public transportation options which is important to me. I have a master's degree in social work. I work as a therapist at a local clinic.
What is your connection to ND?
I lived in North Dakota for about 8 years as a child. We lived in Burlington, which is a small town just outside of Minot. My mom worked for NDVS/SB. I attended public school in North Dakota but went to NDVS/SB for some short-term programs. When we moved to Colorado, I attended the School for the Blind in Colorado Springs, which is a residential school.
Tell us about your experience competing in Judo.
When we lived in North Dakota, I went to a sports camp in Bemidji, MN. I got to try a whole bunch of sports there, including judo. While there, the judo coaches saw my interest and reached out to my parents. About 6 or 8 months after that sports camp, I attended a judo training camp in Colorado. The Olympic training center is in Colorado, so when we moved there, I got even more involved and started competing nationally and internationally. I was considered a para-athlete and a part of the Paralympic training team. At the competitions, we would earn points towards qualifying for the Paralympic Games. I never competed at the actual Paralympics, but I competed in many of the qualifying competitions both nationally and internationally between 2013 and 2019.
Tell us about some of your travel experiences.
I went to Rio, Brazil, and toured the Paralympic village before it opened in 2016. That was where I had my first international competition. I have been to Germany for qualifiers, as well as China and Tokyo, Japan. In Germany we visited castles. In Rio, we got to see the Christ the Redeemer statue. If I was able to do it again, I would take time and appreciate those sightseeing opportunities more. They have your schedule quite packed for training and competing, but if I was going to go back, I would set aside more time for sightseeing.
Why did you leave the sport?
I stopped competing in judo during my senior year of high school. I made the choice to go to college instead of continuing to compete. After high school, I could have moved to the Olympic training center in Colorado and lived there while competing. But it had gotten to be too much. I was struggling to balance high school with competing. I knew college meant not pursuing an Olympic career because I knew I wouldn’t have the time during college. Plus I was paying tuition so I needed to focus on the thing I was paying money for. It had also become very serious. There is a lot of pressure on the athletes, and it becomes your life. I loved the sport but hated the competition. I did do a little bit of judo in college just for fun.
What are you most proud of regarding your judo experience?
It gave me a lot of confidence as a traveler. Traveling internationally, there was the language barrier, and there were different traffic patterns, which was an O&M challenge. There’s really nothing Delta can throw at me now that I’m not ready for!
What advice would you give young athletes today who may dream of competing in the Paralympics?
If you want to go for it, go for it. But know that it will take over your life. Some people are OK with that. I was not. I was doing high school, and it was hard. And, if you don’t feel comfortable doing something competition-wise, don’t do it. Parents, if you think your child is not ready to do what their team or coaches are telling them to do, speak up. There were times I felt very out of my depth and a lot of pressure to compete. I learned a lot from my experience, but it’s a choice to compete at that level.
If you could compete again, what sport would you play?
Probably goalball. I love to play that sport, and I think competing in a team would be a different experience than competing as an individual.