Fifteen-year-old Josue Montiel was too tired from soccer practice to listen to his mother.

The pair had just seen a flyer on the wall of a local store encouraging local Mexican and other Hispanic youths to come and at least listen to the pitch of the Mexican Bobsled and Skeleton Foundation.

But his mother forced his hand and made the now Park City High School sophomore attend the tryout.

“Once I was there, they told me to just try it,” Montiel said looking back. “I did. It was pretty cool. It’s a big deal.”

A big deal to the country of Mexico. And he is doing something no one of Mexican descent has ever done.

Montiel, born and raised in Park City, traveled to Lake Placid, N.Y., the week of March 21 for 10 days to represent his parents’ native country of Mexico in the annual America’s Cup bobsled and skeleton race.

“It’s like any other sport,” he said. “You have to train for it, you need a coach and you need to be coachable. People take it really seriously. People have won gold medals doing this.”

Montiel finished in the top 20 in his category at Lake Placid.

Art Piña, one of the founders of the Mexican Bobsled and Skeleton Foundation said Montiel, along with Salt Lake City’s Tania Valdespino, were the only two representatives of Mexico at the America’s Cup. Piña said he couldn’t be more proud of how far the foundation has come in just the last year.

“These kids are licensed by the country of Mexico,” he said. “We’re excited about it. The foundation was established to help Mexican kids to compete for their country. That’s why we started this foundation.”

Piña said he hopes the success of Montiel and Valdespino will open the eyes of other Hispanic youths in Northern Utah.

“There’s a lot of Mexican and Hispanic kids in this population in Summit County,” he said. “We just want to get these kids involved in winter sports. The big thing is, if the parents are Mexican and grandparents are Mexican, it gives them an opportunity to slide for their country. We have it all here; why not just do it here instead of doing it in Mexico”

He said he wanted to let the public know that the foundation has the full support of the Mexican Sports Federation and the Mexican Olympic Committee and that the growth process is starting to shown worldwide.

“It’s the first time in history that a Mexican female and a Mexican youth have slid in the sport of skeleton for the country of Mexico,” he said. “We’re making history here.

“Just to get them there is a big accomplishment.”

Montiel recalls being put into sliding school by Piña last year after he signed on to try skeleton. He started training twice a week. As he continued to progress, his sessions were increased to five times a week each.

He said it’s hard to remember everything the coaches tell him to do before he flies down the track. “It’s complicated, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Montiel understands the significance of competing against some of the world’s best athletes on a big stage.

“At first, I was just sliding,” he said. “Now, just for racing, it got the federation money. It was just like, ‘Wow.’

“It’s really fun,” he said. “It’s a big opportunity not a lot of people get. Not everyone gets to travel around the world. My goal right now is to just keep racing.”

Montiel’s 10-day absence came as a surprise to many of his friends at school who asked him where he was.

“I told them I was doing skeleton,” he said with a chuckle. “They didn’t know what it was.”

For now, the sophomore on the junior varsity Park City boys’ soccer team must turn in his ice-track shoes for soccer cleats, but said he cannot wait for training this summer at the Utah Olympic Park.

“Hopefully get enough points to head to Innsbruck (site of the 2011 Junior Winter Olympics),” he said. “That’s my goal right now.”

The Mexican Bobsled and Skeleton Foundation is still looking for sponsors. Anybody interested in sponsorship or getting involved can reach Art Piña at (801) 209-2385.