Increasing Participation in This Sport

[ALPJr]

I like @Horton's idea of more regional tiered events leading up to a smaller Nat's. I also like what I heard about this year's eastern regionals. I think if more major tourneys were on public water there would be a whole lot more exposure, fanfare and fun. The '66 Nat's were held at Lake Charmauggaguagchambuag in Webster, MA. ABC's Wide World of Sports covered the event and thousands of spectators turned out. The Pro Tour used to stop in Hartford right off I-84. In '97 thousands of fans were there for the finals to see Roberge win against Mapple. The town I grew up in had a ski school at the town dock in the 60's on Great Egg Harbor Bay which offered ski rides for $3. In the late 80's Jud and David Spencer were giving lessons for $13 - they only went as high as $25 by 2004. In the 90's you could get a set in the coarse behind an inboard on Lake Lenape for $20. All of these places had plenty of business. Then it seems as private, remote, man made lakes became the norm the crowds have gone away. I think the best way to grow participation these days is for a boat manufacture to get together with a ski company and open a public water ski park near the population centers of all of the awsa regions, offer lessons and rides at a reasonable cost, and put just a little local and national marketing plan in place. About six to eight locations across the country. It doesn't have to be the big three ski boat companies or big ski manufactures either. The Gekkos and Glastrons of the world could drive this. So could a smart little ski shop or company. Heck maybe even a cool website or a magazine could help.

[skiray]

In addition to the current Nationals:

 

What about a different type of "national" tournament? Sanction 3 round record tournaments in every state on the same day. (I know this makes the traditional guys roll their eyes, different conditions, blah, blah) Develop a ranking list from all of the tournaments using the 3 round cumulative scores. As a prize, the Water Skier could do a short Bio with photo of each of the 252 top three finishers or put something on the website. (According to my math, you end up with 252 podium finishers.)

 

My math:

28 divisions X 3 (slalom, trick, jump) = 84

84 X 3 places = 252 place

 

Key to the tournament is consistency. Heck expand it across the pond, make it the worlds largest tournament. Cool tee shirt and I could be a part of a world record...

[LeonL]

Granted participation in the sport is hampered by most of the "good" skiers now on private sites. No doubt exposure of the fringe water sports enthusiasts to tournament type skiing on public water would increase interest in "our" type of skiing.

[PatM]

The Eastern Regional site was a tough site to ski. I probably won't go next year if held there again.

[MattP]

@"Pat M"‌ because its tough you are giving up..?

[kingshredd]

I do believe access is one of the biggest problems. I live in Chico ca. And there is no shortage of private lakes within 15 minutes of my house but access to them is nearly impossible as pretty much all of them do not offer memberships. So for a person that would like to course ski it leaves me without practice options. So I have to agree that public ski course options would be the best promoter of increasing the numbers of people at tournaments and interest of participating in them.

[Chef23]

@MattP not to speak for Pat M but I know that he has young kids that don't ski tournaments, the site of Eastern Regionals is a 5 hour drive from his house, is in a resort town so hotels are expensive and the likelihood of putting up a good score is very low. If you have no plans to go to Nationals it makes the trip to Regionals hard to justify for one round.

 

I am in a different boat because my son three events so it is a father son trip. My son was hurt this year so I didn't go for many of the same reasons I laid out above. I was never going to qualify for Nationals and I couldn't justify a weekend away from the rest of my family (wife and daughter couldn't go to Lake Placid that weekend) and the $1000 plus it was going to cost to go even driving.

[nleuth]

Eastern Regionals was the most fun tournament I have been too. The average person on the street was very intrigued. It was an equal playing field, but it was a different playing field. I personally skied the same at regionals on the mirror lake bathtub as I did at nationals, (Not sure what to think of that) but besides rollers on your 3rd pass it skied well enough.

 

Most of all it was FUN! Again how many times have you skied in front of a crowd and at the end of your set people are cheering. And I have noticed people asking questions and showing interest after watching. I hope more events like that tournament come around. It was a great venue.

[MattP]

@Chef23‌ well when you put it that way. He made it sound like the conditions were what drove him away.

[LeonL]

@eleeski‌ had a pretty good idea that no one has specifically commented on. What if regionals/nationals qualifications required at least one class c or above on a public lake? Sounds a little strange at first, but the resulting exposure would probably be priceless. It could be done.

[andjules]

I think a great way to grow the sport would be to embark on a multi-year campaign/strategy with organizers to find potential/tolerable sites for state/regionals in or near towns with—let's say—a minimum population of 100,000 (and ideally, towns with a lake/watersports 'culture').

 

The problem:

 

On a selfish level, we all want to ski at a site with great conditions, put up our best score, and not break the bank doing it.

 

There's rarely a way to reconcile those two, and I'd suggest that for the last 25 years, we've had a (too) strong bias towards the latter (and not a lot of opportunity/funding to make the former happen).

 

 

When I was a teenager, in Canada, the Eastern Regionals were held out in St John's, Newfoundland one year. They'd had miserable weather all summer, but the last day of the tournament, it was hot and sunny. We had 5,000+ spectators come out, mostly because it was 'what was going on in town', on a nice day. Great exposure, better than any of the Nationals I went to back then.

[Roger]

Public lake slalom ended with the invention of the Jet Ski and Wake Board boats...

[TylerR]

@Roger‌ as someone who's home site is an open water course, I will say that you are wrong. There have always been jerks out there that those of us who ski open water have had to deal with. It just so happens that they have gravitated towards wakeboard boats in the last 10 years.Public water can be nice if you place your course carefully. I caught a set this morning at 830 am with no problems. There were 2 of us and we skied till 1030 with not another boat in the area except for a fishing boat parked about 500yards north of the course. If you are ever in north Alabama I would love to give you a pull.

[ToddL]

The solution is simple... Give people opportunities to learn how to ski at affordable prices. Give them opportunities to practice and prepare for competition at affordable prices. Give them affordable competitions focused on beginners. Those who excel in that environment will move up to traditional competition (if they can afford it).

 

In Austin, we have a local business doing morning ski pulls on a public lake behind a decent inboard ski boat at a fair price per set. We have another business pulling lessons for beginners through max speed on a private lake with a course at a affordable price per set. We have a club doing bi-weekly ski practice sets for an amazingly affordable price. We have about 3 tournaments a summer where these novice skiers can ski at their level (mulligans, 4-pulls per set, mini-course, ski gates, etc.).

 

It is an investment of time and effort. In Austin, our clubs have decided that this investment is worthwhile for the growth of the sport.

[Ed_Obermeier]

Actually I think @‌ALPJr has one of the better ideas I've heard in awhile. Small wakeboard cable parks have sprung up around the country and seem to be holding their own. In fact I live 15 minutes away from one (KC Water Sports cable park, Google it). Why couldn't the same concept work for slalom skiing? Maybe we need a poll - if you lived within say a 45 minute - one hour drive of a small ski lake with boat where you could buy a couple sets for let's say what, $50 a set, 1) would you do it (probably need a time slot reservation system), and 2) how frequently do you think you'd use a facility like that if it were available?

 

The Austin ski scene @ToddL describes above rocks, what an awesome concept! I think it gives at least a little credence to the idea of a for-profit ski lake set up on the same model as the cable parks could work. People get interested in a particular sport by being exposed to it enough to know if they're interested in it or not. Sounds like a great way to expose a larger portion of the public who might not otherwise ever be exposed to it. Downside - start up costs.

 

[The_MS]

Affordable opportunities always come at someone else expense.

Water skiing is an expensive sport.

[skiray]

@ALPJr - I didn't mean to high jack your post earlier. Apparently, I'm more ADD than I thought. Your idea has merit and I wish they would. My concern is they are more likely to spend their $$ on the bigger groups. I think we have to add a little sparkle to what we have to pull the larger group back. Your idea adds the sparkle if we can just sell the manufactures on it.

[ToddL]

Keep in mind that novice skiers don't expect the latest or best boats or conditions. Many will think the worst boat at your private lake on the worst day is a step up from their friend's family run about on public water with rollers everywhere.

[03lightning]

I think the only way to really grow participation in our sport is to invite new people as much as possible. I'm not a great skier nor will I ever be for that matter but I do love the sport and teaching someone how to ski and educating them on the sport gives me a lot better feeling than shortening the line or making that next buoy. I have taught many people how to ski at my local site and guaranteed that is a moment in his/her life that they will never forget.

 

Also I don't know if this has been tried or even talked about but as recent vet I have found that skiing really helps me deal with certain "stress issues" acquired from combat time etc.. Has anyone thought about linking up with a vet program like Wounded Warrior Project and doing something with them? Not only would it be good exposure for the sport but it would also be helping out a vet.

[TylerR]

@03lightning‌ great ideas man

[crashman]

Always good to take new people skiing, but I think real growth happens when people who already own boats get off the wakeboards, surfboards, and tubes and get on a ski. it's harder to have instant success on a slalom ski like people do with a wakeboard and surfboard- but good to see skis like the Satori and HO freeride and guys like Marcus to help get people on top of the water on a ski who might otherwise not do it. If only people could know how satisfying and addictive slalom is once you start to feel the acceleration they might realize how boring surfing is.

[ALPJr]

@03lightning‌ check out Leap of Faith Waterskiers in CT. Many wounded warrior and other community events. Super group of people!

[Roger]

@TylerR - great for you (doesn't make me wrong, just makes your lake a better experience than mine). There are only two skiable lakes in the County I learned in and really only one of those that is usable. Once Jet Skies and Wakeboard boats began showing up, our ski time was limited to sunrise to 9 or 9:30am. On top of that, the Bass fishermen would regularly cut our course out.

 

Glad your lake is better. I live in Palm Beach County now and ski at Okeeheelee Park, so all that is behind me.

[Marco]

Good public water is a relative term. I skied on a course on a public lake for years before we built our lake. My definition of good water has changed drastically since then.

 

Don't get me wrong...I loved the years of camping and skiing at a public lake with dozens of my friends, but the skiing is way better on our own lake. I do miss the social side of the public lake life however.

 

[Edbrazil]

Noting the @ALPJr original comments. It was the 1964 Nationals in Webster, MA, and may have been CBS and not ABC. The full lake name being:

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

 

The Water Skier had a photo from the event, during Mens jump on the last day. Showing a huge

crowd of people. Maybe I can get that posted.

 

 

[TylerR]

@rodger I guess I am lucky that I have an open river to ski on. We do have problems with fishermen cutting the course acasionally but luckly they tend to leave us mostly alone.

[ALPJr]

@Edbrazil‌ thanks for the right year for the Webster Nat's. We've been skiing with the Nipmuc crew in Webster, Thompson and Pachaug for about 15 years. The second or third oldest club in the US I was told. Great club - have seen lots of new skiers over the years. One of the members may have a film reel from the WWS taping. He was trying to dig it up for their 50th anniversary a few years ago.

[Edbrazil]

I have a CD with lots of 'footage' of the 1964 Nationals. Converted from 8mm film. Also has

1965 and 1966 Nationals on it. Among other things, it shows Billy Spencer winning JU and SL

in Boys. Also shows ramp tricks. Such as Carl Lyman doing both 2-ski and 1-ski ramp flips.

If @ALPJr can give me a mailing address, I may be able to send a copy out.

[9400]

Dang Ed, you are the man! Can you put any footage on youtube please?

[ALPJr]

@Edbrazil‌ I sent you a message. Thank you

[DefectiveDave]

I see 3 real problems:

 

1) lack of accessibility

2) high costs

3) lack of public awareness/interest in general public

 

I think that accessibility and costs are the two main problems. You can raise awareness all you want, but it won't change the fact that access to the sport is limited by geographic and economic barriers. I think that if these problems could be solved awareness and interest would follow.

 

We want young people involved to kickstart growth and keep it going moving forward. Slalom as a sport seems right up the alley for the younger extreme sports crowd. It's fast, exciting, dangerous, and can definitely be an adrenaline rush. The problem is that this demographic consists of younger adults and teens with little disposable income and short attention spans who don't gravitate towards sports with high costs and significant time commitments to boring things like trailering/maintaining boats.

 

So we need to make it cheap and easy to go out on a course and get that rush. Once you get them hooked then they'll start making the financial and lifestyle commitments it really takes to grow a sport such as ours. However, how do you make slalom cheap and easy for lots of people to enjoy? I have some ideas:

 

1) We need more facilities like Trophy Lakes. $45 for 30 minutes on the water, open on weekends, and close to a metro area. Maybe we can find ways to lower that cost by increasing throughput. Also providing community skis, lessons, etc would make the cost of entry much lower for the participant (think bowling shoes but not so gross). The cheaper and easier it is the more accessible it becomes. Lots of private lakes out there that could be purposed for this on weekends while still being used as a private ski site on weekdays.

 

2) New tools that allow us to more efficiently teach people the basics like getting up on a ski and moving on top of the water. Maybe a cable system? Such a system must be cost and time efficient. No more going back to pick up a novice skier who has fallen and lost the rope. I've noticed lots of people give up here and don't put in the time commitment to get further. Let's make that initial learning curve as quick and painless as possible.

 

3) Barebones towboats, we need the toyota corolla of ski boats (it doesn't have to be competition certified so long as it gets the job done at a reasonable cost and is reliable, think entry level with a v6 or i4). I know the manufacturers are afraid of cannibalizing their own sales, but surely there is some way to make a cheap boat profitable. Put advertisements for IBM on them if you have to.

 

4) More learn2ski events. The lake norman ski club does 2 a year and there is great demand, but we don't have enough slots. We should do more of them as should others. I think we all need to make an effort to get others involved even if it means sacrificing some of our own skiing time or letting more people on our lakes or in our boats.

 

 

[skosney]

How about hold a few more tournaments/events on public water (or water closer to major cities). Conditions won't be as good and scored may be lower, but the crowd won't care. Combine such an event with some learn to ski clinics and you just might turn some new folks on to it.

 

Big Dawg type events would be perfect for this type of venue. Add a few of those into the mix and make attendance to one required to ski the finals. Good for the sport, great for the sponsors and might be a little fun skiers.

 

I also agree there are cost issues and anything that can be done to make it more affordable is good for everyone. However, I seen quite a few young folks filling the tanks on the $100k wake surfing boats this summer.

[PatM]

@Mattp I ski on a public lake with roller conditions. That's what I'm use to. The conditions at the Eastern Regionals were bathtub like. I sucked and I should have skied better even in those conditions. I am not taking my lack of preparedness out of the equation, but to have a tournament that I look forward to skiing in every year in those kinds of conditions is not right. People paid big money to be there, travel there and ski there for it to be like that. I know Webster Lake where the 1964 nationals were held and it is way more skiable than Mirror lake, not even close.

[nleuth]

I do agree that the financial cost to ski one round in a bathtub is outrageous, but that is due to a broken system of very high costs involved with holding regionals. The price tag is the same for every regionals because of this and I would say a change in the way we run regionals would be ideal. Too much money is spent on judges for these events, using a tremendous amount of volunteer judges who are participating anyway would be great. As for conditions, well they were the same for everyone and regionals isn't a tournament with the objective to post a big score. Instead you are striving to beat the other guys who are skiing in the same conditions. At mirror lake we sacrificed big scores to showcase our sport.

[ALPJr]

I've seen quite a few blow out - no way to ski days in Webster. A lot depends on the weather too - when one area is blown out another may be glassy. In the East region there are also many back bays, coves, ponds and rivers near the populated near coastal cities that would offer good conditions, great viewing, other tourism attractions and lodging. Baltimore, Cape May & Atlantic counties NJ, Hartford / Springfield, New London / Mystic, Providence, Fall River / New Bedford, Worcester, Boston, Portsmouth, and Portland.

[Ralph Lee]

blue lake park in oregon is a good example of what some of you guys are saying. it used to be a stop on the pro tour, close to the bigger cities, the water was horrible, the scores were low, and the crowds were huge!! 10 times bigger than most pro events now days. not one person attending cared wether or not someone set a pb. i think places like that promote the sport on a greater level

[Ralph Lee]

id love to see nate smith try and run 41 off there

[gmut]

I ski on a public lake and yes there are seawalls and yes there are rollers but I know that with a little ingenuity a system could be developed that runs along the periphery of the course that would allow boat wakes to exit the skiing area but would prevent them from returning. Just a thought.