10-year-old helps Colorado get a state sport

DENVER – Thanks to the efforts of a fourth grader from Lakewood, Colorado now has new official winter recreational sports.

William Kane was studying Colorado history in his class at Dennison Elementary School when the 10-year-old had a question.

He had learned that the Columbine is the state flower, the state bird is the Lark Bunting and the state fossil is the stegosaurus.

But he wondered why the state didn't have an official sport.

"So I thought, why not skiing?" he said.

He passed out a petition at school and came to the Capitol Monday with a notebook with 82 signatures in it.

"We've got to show Utah we've got better snow than them," said Kane.

That led to House Joint Resolution 1008: Colorado's official state winter recreational sports are now skiing and snowboarding.

"I'd like to thank my family for telling me I can do anything I want, anything I set my mind to," said Kane at his news conference.

The state of New Hampshire is the only other to have designated skiing as its official state sport.

The trend of students making things happen will continue Tuesday when Gov. Bill Ritter will sign a measure that makes the Western Painted Turtle Colorado's official reptile. That was inspired by students from Skyline Vista Elementary School in the Adams County 50 School District.