Competitive Water Skiing On Its Way to a Comeback (Part 1)
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Reading through the pages of comments on SkiFly, it would be easy to get the impression that water skiing is a dying sport. This website is one of the primary resources available to skiers across the world as means of direct communication, but the anonymity allowed on its message boards results in a measure of unreliability in a number of the posts. I see the sport in a different light than some of that which is portrayed, and I think competitive water skiing is on the verge of a comeback in a big way.
To clarify, I don’t think the recreational aspect of the sport ever saw a major decline in participation. Now more than ever I see slalom skiers on the water cutting mellow arcs back and forth through morning glass. Sure, people wakeboard as well, but the two sports work together in getting people involved with water sports and enjoying their time at the lake. Most of these skiers are in the dark, however, when it comes to competitive water skiing, especially that of the professional level.
I wasn’t around in the glory days when water skiing was on ESPN, but I think that the same level of professionalism can be reached in the immediate future. Webcasting is a great way to promote events to an audience around the world, but in itself, this will not gain new viewers. The tournaments themselves have to do this in their own local region, and they’ll have to be innovative to do so.
Successful examples are the Louisiana Night Jump and the Big Dawg Series. From what I’ve seen online after these events, they have both taken new angles in order to amp up the level of excitement. Without a doubt the most exciting water ski events I’ve been to, however, have been collegiate tournaments. Whether it is a standard weekend tourney or Collegiate Nationals or All-Stars, these events are a blast for spectators and competitors alike. The team spirit has something to do with it, but it’s also simply bringing so many people together in the anticipation of having a good time. The collegiate division is a window that can be learned from by the other disciplines, and used to grow the sport as a whole. How can collegiate events benefit professional water skiing? By having collegiate skiers volunteer to host Pro Stops themselves. Not tied down by full time careers, collegiate skiers are in the perfect position to be effective tournament organizers. The following Google map will include the locations, websites, images, and videos of all 80 or so collegiate water ski teams. Currently it is limited to a portion of the Western Region, but looking at the extensive reach of the collegiate water ski network when the map is complete, will give you an idea of how easy events could be spread throughout the US.
Keep an eye out for Part 2 of this post, in which I’ll detail exactly how a collegiate team can host a Pro Tourney.
