Nationals - Same as it ever was

[Horton]

The American Water Ski Association's board of directors held its annual mid-winter board meeting on Jan. 24 with the priority item on the agenda being to increase the skier participation at the 2015 GOODE Water Ski National Championships. There was a lengthy discussion of several options ending with the appointment of a Special Committee of five members to study the details of the discussed proposals and to report to the board with their recommendations by Feb. 28, 2015. AWSA President Bob Mayhew has issued the following statement regarding the Special Committee.

 

"The Special Committee developed a number of interesting concepts applicable to future AWSA national tournaments; but, in the end, it was decided by the Committee, the officers of AWSA, and the board of directors to continue with the same format used in past Nationals for 2015."

 

The schedule for the 73rd GOODE Water Ski National Championships, set for Aug. 11-15 at Okeeheelee Park in West Palm Beach, Fla., is expected to be released in the coming weeks. It will be posted at USAWATERSKI.org as soon as it becomes available.

[Wish]

What a waist. Politics sucks even in our sport. It's to bad it has to be that way. It would be nice if the powers that be would take their collective heads out of their a$$ and focus on what would propel the sport forward. Same old Same old is not a direction, it's a death sentence. Hard to believe they would rather (and I know it's not all) push the status quo. The survey was good and I would suggest informative to those that analyzed the results. To take the time and effort to create a committee, have them do their job and then turn a blind eye to the their recommendations is appalling. And my guess is as long as those folks continue to run the show or allow others to influence them then status quo is what we will get. Time for a change of the guard. Or at least a revolt from its citizens. Hope I'm way off on this and someone corrects me...

[mmosley899]

Great! That should help...

[Zman]

Do we really think a drastic change in the Nationals set up fixes all that ails our sport (assuming something seriously ails our sport in the first place)?

Scratching my head......

[Zman]

Keep in mind this comes from an old fart who has only competed for 7 or 8 years - and thinks Nats are a blast the few times I have attended, including last year and my first one about 20 years ago.

[klindy]

Unfortunately the recommendation of the special committee wasn't acceptable for this year and, ultimately, was withdrawn before it could be voted on by the board. There were many good ideas that were openly discussed and debated and, generally speaking, it was felt it was better to work hard to attract the 53% that were qualified to attend nationals rather than simply invite more people. (Note that I was one of the voting members and tank just below level 8 on slalom, trick and overall, I'd clearly personally benefit from lowering the level 8 threshold but felt it was a bad path to follow long term).

 

The group lives on as a special interest group with the goal of presenting sometimg at the summer meeting which is geared to stimulate competition, help stabilize and increase membership and, in turn, improve the quality of the Nationals. The composition of the group will be expanding somewhat and I fully expect a solid plan to develop from the effort.

 

All that said I think I can speak for the group and express our disappointment that the proposed plan was not ale to move forward. We have an excellent opportunity to "test market" a viable idea. Instead we're back at the drawing board with a somewhat broader scope and open to ANY ideas and input. Please feel free to provide the group input, suggestions or criticism. Post your thoughts here, thru PM or email anytime.

[Horton]

I have expressed my opinion and offered a few ideas. After all of this conversation about Nationals my conclusion is that it is no longer the pinnacle of the season for me. Perhaps there is no format change that would change that. The landscape and the culture of the sport has simply changed.

[Horton]

@Zman the association membership and competitive participation is a tiny fraction of 20 years ago. If that is not a sign of doom I do not know what is.

[RichardDoane]

It is a shame that the "Nationals" is no longer the event that skiers look forward to the most.

[Wish]

I look forward to it this year based on location. But it's a whoooole lot less now given the current bad news.

[boarditup]

Every competitive field will have the participants sort themselves out over time and the elite will form. Competitive advantage will come from training, technique and the application of money. The AWSA has become the tournament sanctioning organization and has largely abandoned most other elements of towed watersports - like expansion and marketing. The overall social culture has also changed dramatically and there are many more options than trying to break into a mature sport with a highly established elite. For most newcomers and kids, the excitement is in the social aspect of a new activity and in being on the leading edge - being the new adopters - bringing the fad into the mainstream. That was part of the appeal of wakeboarding and now wakesurfing. Wakeboarding has peaked and so will wakesurfing. The curve will be the inverted "U." However, the board sports have a vibrant social aspect that can carry them like sufing has been carried for so many years by its social culture. So, the AWSA has not found a way to make the newcomers enjoy the sport ruled by the elites or to have the excitement of a new adopter. The social aspect of the sport is also difficult - it lacks the vibe of the big ballasted boats with the speakers pounding. It is much more isolated and technical. There are good ideas that will work on some demographics, but those were ignored. Perhaps another year of struggle and pain will do us some good.

[Wish]

@boarditup well said.

[Mateo_Vargas]

I blame the internet. I don't have to go to nationals to see where I stand and who is skiing well. Now we can just look at the rankings list every week.

[klindy]

@boarditup it's ironic that many of the "elite" or old timers involved with 3 event waterskiing cite the social aspects as one of major drawing cards to participation. Comments like "seeing old friends" and "seeing people I don't see all year" come up time and again as reasons to attend the 'bigger' tournaments like regionals and Nationals. That said I do believe some of the things that are missing are dedicated "social events" which are geared toward bringing people together. That can be anything from a big BBQ to a volleyball night to able exciting event finals. In other words a reason to show up and stay "lake side".

 

One comment I don't agree with is that AWSA has "abandoned most other elements of towed sports". AWSA is the competitive 3 event sport division or USA Waterski. As such it IS the sanctioning body of 3 event competitive waterskiing and wakeboard, wakeskate, barefoot, show or whatever are separate divisions focused on those disciplines. Maybe it shouldn't be that way. Maybe there's enough common ground to be one big happy family - maybe not. Either way, currently it's USAWS job to support the other sport divisions to grow overall participation and promote competition in those sport divisions.

 

I do think AWSA (specific sport division) has catered to the elite or upper level skiers more than the beginner or mid level competitor. A couple important points - first is the person identified with a specific discipline - 3ev, barefoot, snow, whatever - AND they want to compete! A recreational skier of any type has a different level of participation and focus - or no focus. For example someone freeskiing up and down a public lake could probably care less about a ranking list or what it takes to aspire to ski at the nationals until a competitive bug bites them. That's ok but those skiers are not AWSAs target until they want to go to tournaments.

 

Once at those tournaments do they appeal to what the skiers - elite or new - want? Currently the age based divisions allow us to compete against our peers (age wise) but ability wide we may be far apart! Which means tiles you care about mean nothing to me. I think we've appealed and catered to the upper echelon skier at the expense of the mid to lower end skier. Why should a level 4 or 5 skier put in the time, effort and money to aspire to level 6 or 7. Maybe a chance to ski at a regional tournament? What keeps them around? Why do they buy a new boat or ski unless they have significant disposable income? Simulating and encouraging competition at that level is key to growth!

 

Remember that when an elite level skier doesn't show up for a regionals or Nationals or makes room for one more lower level skier to move and qualify. But when a lower level skier gives up and drops off it moves the bar for everyone. Said another way if you bring on a new skier who can maintain a level 3,4,5 or 6 level it "improves" the quality of skier at the upper levels (8 & 9) percentile wise. Point is if you want to see improved quality of skiing at the nationals it's better to add 10 lower level skiers than it is to add one elite skier - both are important but for different reasons.

 

@boarditup is right we haven't found a way to attract the lower level recreational skier to get involved. Crossing over from another discipline is a valid path but what are we doing to encourage it? We're even having a hard time keeping collegiate skiers who ARE 3 event skiers by definition! So the solution is wide and deep. Attract the newcomer, make competing valuable and exciting, showcase the elite athlete so others aspire to that level. And most importantly invite and enable those who are interested to be involved as much as possible.

[randy meny]

My son won nationals four times. After the last one, in pouring rain, he said dad is this really worth it. You get a five dollar metal. He is sixteen now and does not miss it. I think they need to recognize the young skiers more. How many fourteen year olds have won nationals four times, three times in a row.

 

 

[Wish]

@randy meny congrats for starters and sad to hear that. But he speaks the truth when the perceptions are that way. I get a kick out of "child pageant trophies". The trophies are literally taller then the child. Not saying it needs to go to that extreme but something perhaps better then one is given. Unless you get close enough to read my 3rd place finish at states yrs ago, you wouldn't know it wasn't a Nationals first place medal. They all look about the same.

[boarditup]

When working with the federal government, if it is not documented, it did not occur.... they don't care if they are occupying the building, if the documentation is not produced correctly, the building does not exist. For kids, if it is not on Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat or other forms of social media, the event never happened. It is a whole new world socially from "Hot Summer Nights" and we need to adapt as a sport or the next generation will not know about us other than family and tribal knowledge.

[ToddL]

Maybe we should let M1-2/W1-2 skiers run AWSA for a few years (with the incumbents serving as supportive resources and consultants). I bet they'd have a few different approaches to things.

[gt2003]

"For example someone freeskiing up and down a public lake could probably care less about a ranking list or what it takes to aspire to ski at the nationals until a competitive bug bites them. That's ok but those skiers are not AWSAs target until they want to go to tournaments."

 

As a super brand new, haven't even ski'd the course yet but am going to soon skier, this concerns me. I am not young but I do like to stay athletic. I chose slalom because it's something I did 25-30 years ago and enjoyed back then, NOT because I've seen any type of outreach, advertising or any other type of "draw" to the sport put out there by the AWSA or any other organization. Wakeboarding/surfing stuff is more abundant pretty much everywhere. They capitalize on it. It's the new "slalom/trick/jump" so to speak. The question is, will the AWSA begin some kind of "renaissance" of the 3-even sports or will they let them die a slow, painful death? Just my 2 cents from a new guy. I am one who has a little disposable income, not tons but would like to get others into at least slaloming, maybe even attend a few tournaments as a guest but maybe very minor tournaments as a competitor as I improve. AWSA, get your advertising/marketing folks to "draw me in". I just don't see any of that out there now. The sport will likely continue to decline unless it is given more attention from the top down. If there isn't advertising by the organization, interest in growth by those currently involved and a nurturing of newcomers by the old timers, I don't see much hope.

 

[Wish]

@boarditup Ha...another good thought. I noticed once @The_Krista had landed the position with the USAWS, social media seemed to be the go to. At the very least a much greater presence. Here's hoping her successor continues this trend. This also points to @ToddL suggestion.

[Tyler_R]

The body that rules over us doesn't love us....

 

 

/sarcasm

 

They don't want to change so we need to elect new leadership if we want things to change.

[klindy]

@gt2003 since you quoted me I'll reply to your thoughts. Frankly I think you are spot on! I meant my comment literally and would suggest that you have enough of the "competitive bug" that you're seeking tournaments and other ways to 'compete' (either against someone else or your own ability). You ARE the target of AWSA and clearly you're right that the organization does little to attract and retain you unless you follow the same ole routine of years past.

 

When I say I meant what I wrote literally the comment was about the purely recreational skier. No buoys, no mid- or high end slalom ski, probably not a direct drive towboat with Zero Off. While that group is a large demographic AWSA really doesn't have anything of interest for them. USAWS should!!! Whether that's group boat insurance, learn to ski clinics, ski swap events, advocacy for waterskier rights on public waterways or anything in between. Work with local marinas and boat dealers or the Overtons of the world to make a connection and get them on board with USAWS. From there they can be exposed to the various sport divisions and learn more and participate more. I believe people frequently equate USAWS with AWSA and they are not set up to be the same (despite AWSA being the largest sport division). That said you're dead right that USAWS doesn't do a lot to draw this group in.

[Chet]

Randy your son is a water ski rock star.

If you look on the shelf of the greats they have areas of their homes littered with trophies, bowls, etc.

Each of these signifies an accomplishment in competitive water skiing. The accolades help drive even the driven like your son.

I agree with him that they should bump up the prize and give him something to set on the shelf and tell his grandkids about.

[ToddL]

Some additional thoughts about leadership and change...

 

When one is in a leadership role with a lot of responsibility, it is very easy to feel like, "if I don't do this, no one else can or will." The reality is that this leader may actually be holding the organization back. When new blood joins a leadership team, there is a lot of time spent explaining why or how things work currently. That can seem like non-value-added time. However, those "new eyes" looking upon the process and methods should ask "why" a lot. That is a good thing. If fact, the new folks may ask why after hearing your first answer, and the second answer, and so on. Again, this is a good thing. Innovation will come from it. Those "new eyes" aren't stupid, they are just not as informed in certain aspects of history. But they are better informed in other areas that incumbents don't even begin to comprehend or are afraid to learn and master. They are likely going to be the source of a new future.

 

Everyone wants improvement. But we must continually recognize that the very definition of improvement is *change* in the desired direction. Without change or doing something differently, there can be no improvement. With small change there can only be small improvement. Innovators take big risks and embrace big changes. They know that some ideas will fail. They also know that it is through the failure that learning happens best. They employ the knowledge from the failure and go forward better informed. However, big changes can also lead to big improvements. That's the reward of the risk. If our organization does not take the risk of big changes because of fear of failure, then they cannot truly desire big improvements. At least, they don't value big improvements enough to justify the risk of big changes.

 

Lastly, If you are in a leadership role and feel like the whole organization will implode if you step aside, then you really aren't leading. You are controlling. Leadership is best defined as providing a vision, inspiring others to desire to reach that vision, and most importantly empowering others to achieve it themselves.

 

 

(A quick commentary - my comments are not specifically directed at any one person or persons at AWSA or USAWS intentionally. I don't know the inner workings well enough to specifically criticize the processes or the people who sit in those leadership roles. The comments above are ones I've made when an organization feels like it isn't getting anywhere. That situation seems to apply here.)

[gt2003]

Thanks @klindy . Yes, some advertisement for skiing, maybe slalom/trick (not sure about the ability to do jumping) exhibitions where local ski lakes could possibly advertise their services at Marinas, restaurants on the water etc to draw those in who simply might not know these things exist. If it looks fun, more would be drawn to it. I think a decent amount of recreational skiers could be drawn in IF they knew what was availabe. There are actually a decent number of slalom lakes around my area that I had no idea about until I did an in-depth search. But, I could have found out a lot sooner if those lakes had a way to advertise their services to the general lake crowd. Maybe advertising at local boat shows???? Lots of options.

[klindy]

@gt2003 I agree completely.

[GregDavis]

TIME FOR A NEW SLALOM ONLY ORGANIZATION. NEW IDEAS, NEW LEADERSHIP, NEW EXCITMENT.

[randy meny]

Leadership, the names stay the same they just change positions. I think their afraid of change.

[GregDavis]

Need Three Day Nationals, Slalom Only, Thur. Fri. and Sat. Qualifying Thur. and Friday. All Divisions, Head to Head Finals Sat. all divisions. Hugh banquet Sat. Night, everyone in attendance, Recognize skiers, Sponsors, etc.etc. There is nothing more important than the recognition of your accomplishment from your piers and from Industry sponsors.

[eleeski]

@GregDavis Really? Slalom only? Maybe that elitist attitude has gotten where we are now.

 

Perhaps we should welcome wakeboarders, approve boats with multi purpose wakes and ski on water that might not be perfect (like Moomba or the Masters?).

 

Have more fun with the sport - not more rules and structure to exclude participants.

 

Eric

[Horton]

We should ban tricks and homemade skis that look like cricket bats

[gt2003]

Including slalom exhibitions at wakeboarding/x-game events? Let some upper level slalom skiers/wakeboarders show everyone how its done, make it look easy then do some type of drawing to give a few from each sport a shot at the other sport? It would be fun, funny and earn both sides respect for the others sport. This helps nothing with the nationals but it would raise awareness of slalom and maybe draw a few of the younger crowd to "our side"?

[ntx]

@GregDavis that sounds like a big dawg event.

[GregDavis]

With a head to head format, All the slalom skiers ( all divisions) would be Big Dawgs ) I'm not down on tricks or Jump, however, lets be realistic, tricks and Jump probably takes up at least 50 or 60% of the time at a 3 event tournament. ( for 10 % of the participants) If the group of skiers who enjoy slalom want to have their own organization, and Slalom only Nationals, so be it. Others can do whatever they want. I'm not talking AWSA, or USA Water ski. I'm talking NSO ( National Slalom Organization ) or WSO ( World Slalom Organization) NEW FRESH IDEAS, NEW FRESH FORMAT, NEW FRESH LEADERSHIP, NEW FRESH SPONSORS, NEW FRESH ENTHUSIASM,

[Wish]

@GregDavis those are FRESH ideas. Kinda like it. Or does that splinter the sport even further... Hmmm

[GregDavis]

What we have now is not working. If we keep doing the same thing do we really think the results will be different.

[Jody_Seal]

@"Mateo Vargas" "I blame the internet. I don't have to go to nationals to see where I stand and who is skiing well. Now we can just look at the rankings list every week."

We have a winner! Give that man a Cigar!

 

I wonder if any research has been done to see if there is any correlation between the time that the Rankings system went into effect and % of membership loss from that time and now.

 

Ideology of the sport has changed tremendously, we no longer go to weekend tournaments to get a trophy or win our division. Now a day's it is about upping the rankings score and or setting a record. A trials Ideology now exists yet the current rules do not apply for that style of format.

We actually crown two national champions every year as we have the National tournament Champion and also the National Rankings Champion.

I think if the system of National qualification went back to a EP style format and change some of the boat, site rules and required judges to hold such tournaments or "Trials" more skiers would be more inclined to participate at the regional and national level Championships. After all who cares how a skier qualifies for National's they will still have to contend with the nations best skiers at The Regionals and Nationals.

 

 

[MrJones]

I don't want to get off topic, but I have to believe that a lot of the issue with the volume of skiers at nationals is the overall increase in cost of the sport.

 

I have been skiing for 25 years or so competitively. Skiing seems to have moved from clubs with courses in borrow pits, public water, or in a hay field to largely in the back yards of expensive homes. (Yep, I have one) I know there are some "grass roots" type clubs out there, but from a national level competitive standpoint most skiers come from the higher end areas. If you and a group of buddies are throwing in an accufloat for the weekend you are not likely going to nats as you aren't going to be competitive.

 

Its kind of the same for the next generation coming up. The young skiers are insanely talented, but if you can't swing a private coach at your lake, or to send them to ski school for the majority of the summer you won't be competitive at the highest level. I realize this is somewhat natural in any sport, but ours is so small (say in relation to tennis or golf) that we may be killing off our own future to some extent.

 

Sooooo anyway. With cost of skis, gear, coaching, boats, lake, travel, etc... I think that tournament waterskiing has a lot more problems than whether we ski 1 round or 2 at Nationals.

[disland]

I have come to the conclusion the only way change will come about is if the folks with money insist on it. That means the ski and boat mfg need to take a more active role and swing a big stick. They have the most to lose.

[Tyler_R]

I think that nationals should be 3 weekend events. One for each event, and that way you could play with the format a lot more. If you did that based upon last years divisions, in most cases trick and jump could almost be bracketed like the NCAA basketball tournament. And you could probably have a head to head finals for the slalom one.

 

On the club transition I agree whole heartedly with @MrJones for years my family ran an open water club near our house. When my grandfather died the club died. I've been skiing at a different Openwater site since my return to Alabama and it's worse than getting a root canal to find and keep new skiers interested in the sport when there are only 2 or 3 people using the course and it's hard to find a time to come ski when one of the "members" is available. This move to private sites, and I do love most private sites, has taken a lot of people who used to ski Openwater courses and without easy acess for new people they quickly tire and move on to other towed sports.

[eleeski]

Good points @Jody_Seal . But I wonder if the Internet can be rolled back - or if it should. I do chase rankings for fun.

 

Sorry @GregDavis but after watching last year's big dawg debacle I can't see that as an improvement over college 3 event skiing. 3 event skiing should be encouraged.

 

In a world of CO2 paranoia, invasive mussel fears, erosion control, nanny safety laws $50,000 boats, and the very entertaining Internet perhaps we should be congratulating our format for retaining participation in a shrinking sport.

 

Eric

[GregDavis]

Last year BD, big problems, however the 10 Prior years, the Big Dawg Finals was EPIC.

[eleeski]

@GregDavis Agreed that big dawgs has been fun but I wonder how many new skiers it brought into the sport. I recognize most of the skiers from years ago.

 

How many skiers have been turned off by wakeboard hostility, one track boats or some 3 fall private slalom course rules? Are the rich old persnickety slalom specialists who are driving the sport really our best hope for the future? Tricks (3 event) are for kids! And wakeboarders are trickers (watching the guy jump 80 feet on his wakeboard was pretty cool). There are untapped skiers out there.

 

Eric

[Tyler_R]

@eleeski you have the right idea. And I know I'm one of the young guys in the crowd, but if we are going to grow the sport it's not through adding more specialized events. I as someone who grew up in a family of skiers love the big dawg. My former girlfriend hated the tar out of it. Whatever we do we should try and encourage 3 event not discourage it like many want to do.

[gt2003]

Let's take @Tyler_R 's idea to another level. (Not sure how many sites would have the facilities to host though). Wake/Trick on one lake, Slalom on an adjacent lake. Stagger times for participants to ski as well as allow spectators to see the best of all the action. That might even allow more sets to be ski'd by each slalom skier. I'd go to something like that for sure. Even if I don't trick of wakeboard, I'd like to watch the finals of each event to see how the top competitors perform.

[lpskier]

Here's an idea for USAWS to make more money at Nationals: would you, as a Nationals competitor, buy a raffle ticket if the prize was your picture on the cover of The Water Skier? If yes, what would you pay? If there were 700 skiers at Nationals and each one spent $25 on tickets, USAWS would gross $17,500, and since it wouldn't have to split revenue with the LOC, owns the magazine and will put someone's picture on the cover, their net should be $17,500, less the cost of printing tickets.

[JWebSki]

I think trick and Jump need to remain apart of this. Trick can be done behind almost any boat on any body of water. When I show people that have never heard of tournament waterskiing they are most entertained by tricking (flips) and jumping. I think a lot of new skiers would rather try tricking and then happen to get into slalom

[schroed]

The way to grow nationals is to grow the participation in the sport. I just pulled up the ranking list for M2 slalom skiers and there is a total of 133 skiers listed for the entire nation. With the current qualification process for nationals that leaves about 33 M2 slalom skiers that could potentially go to nationals. If we spend all this time trying to figure out how to make nationals more appealing for the current skier base, you're still only going to get a maximum of about 30 skiers to ski in the M2 slalom division. In my opinion, that's a problem. Of course you could change the qualification process for nationals to make all those skiers eligible, but I don't think that's the right answer. If we grow participation in the sport we will be growing participation in nationals and from there we can make tweaks to make nationals better. Hence, I think our energies should be applied to growing participation.

 

So, how do we grow participation? As others have discussed on this forum, it seems like there are three main barriers to growing participation. Those barriers are cost, access, and learning curve. I think we need to focus on finding creative ways to break down those barriers in order to increase participation in competitive water skiing and thus increasing participation at the national championships. From there we can figure out how to improve nationals.

[Cayman2]

Way to go @schroed, cause and effect are good ways to think about it. Trying to make nationals bigger to make more money is like trying to make driving safer with red light cameras and shorter yellow light times.

 

More skiers equals bigger nationals.

 

Seems like a good question would be: of all us addicts, how did we get hooked? Maybe a poll would be helpful. My bet is "I saw these guys trying the course and when they weren't around I tried it".

 

And that comes to my belief. The sport is dying for lack of public course access.

 

No matter how welcoming some are, a private course is intimidating as hell. And a lot of us are about as welcoming as a local on a powder day.

[E_T]

BAN PRIVATE LAKES AND MOVE ALL SKIING TO OPEN WATER problem solved. There are not many sports in the world where we all have the access to the top level of coaching. Why can't everyone have access to a ski course? Because YOU don't want the sport to grow, you limit your club members and number of guests so that YOU can have more time on the water. This is not a team sport this is a sport of YOU and until you add some sort of team aspect to it, there will not be a mass following like y'all want. I do not compete in my respected event because once you add a competitive force to it, it becomes work. Most of the skiing population skis for fun and relaxation and to hang out on the lake with friends and try new things. Not to be sitting on the starting dock for 3hrs listing to some pompous A$$ complain about someone bringing a guest to teach skiing on a course.