Mesa native Harrison Murdock on U.S. Parachute Team

Harrison Murdock, a 2018 graduate of Red Mountain High School in Mesa, is proving that big dreams can take flight.

Now a member of the U.S. Parachute Team, Murdock has turned a first-time tandem skydive into a career, according to a release.

“I tried skydiving once and something just clicked,” Murdock said in the release. “From that moment, I poured everything into it.”

Today, Murdock works as a professional skydiving coach at an indoor skydiving facility in Oceanside, California, while continuing to train and compete at the highest level. His journey wasn’t built on shortcuts, but on consistency; hours of training, learning through failure and pushing forward even on the toughest days.

“You don’t have to follow a normal path if something else is pulling you,” he said. “With consistent work and dedication, it’s possible.”

Murdock credits mentors from the Arizona skydiving community for helping him get started and hopes his story encourages others in Mesa to chase what drives them.

His message to aspiring athletes and dreamers back home: start now.

“You’ll never feel fully ready,” he said. “If you embrace the process, you can build something incredible.” P

The U.S. Parachute Team has represented the U.S. in international parachuting competitions since the 1950s. The U.S. Team include aerial athletes in all disciplines. Go to www.usparachuteteam.org.

Founded in 1946, the United States Parachute Association is a nonprofit association dedicated to the promotion of safe skydiving nationwide, establishing strict safety standards, training policies and programs at more than 200 USPA-affiliated skydiving schools and centers throughout the U.S. Each year, USPA’s 41,000-plus members and hundreds of thousands of first-timers make roughly 3.65 million jumps in the U.S. USPA represents skydivers before all levels of government, the public and the aviation industry and sanctions national skydiving competitions and records. For information on making a first jump or to find a skydiving center, go to www.uspa.org or call 1-800-371-USPA.