SPICE UP TOURNAMENTS

OldGuysRule · July 12, 2016

We need to spice up local tournaments. We have experienced light turnouts at local tournaments in the past couple of years. Somehow we need to attract some of the younger skiers and get them involved. The folks at Boonedocks Ski Lake in Indiana hosted a "night ski event" on June 25th. The first round was run in the daylight of the evening and the second set began after dark with a skier skiing down the lake with roman candles launching from his backside! The second round didn't produce any PB's but every skier landed with a smile on their face for skiing in the dark! A local skier with contacts provided 6 portable generator lights along with glow sticks taped to balls and led flashlights at the turn balls. Most skiers requested a third round to the pleasure of the drivers and judges and the event ended around 1:30 AM! This full house event attracted all levels of skiers from our own Nate Smith to numerous grass roots level and novice skiers. Now some of the same officials are hosting a "ten buck tournament" this coming weekend at Silent Shores in Indiana. It will be interesting to see how this venue works out. Ten bucks per round entry fee...every skier pays ten bucks per round. No free skiing for officials! Most of the officials are "mature" skiers and entry fees are easily affordable for them. Let's bring the cost of the tournaments down to encourage more participation from all levels of skiers. Hats off to those clubs and skiers who are putting "FUN" back into water skiing.

LeonL · July 12, 2016

You mention "mature skiers" and entry fees are easily affordable to them. You didn't mention, but often tournaments grant discounts to juniors. I stand on the premise that "mature skiers" deserve a senior discount, and that the parents of juniors can more readiily afford entry fees than some seniors on SS. Just a thought. In another thread back in early June I lamented offering free entry to first time tournament skiers, but got no takers.

GK · July 26, 2016

I love both of those ideas! Nice work Indiana! Make it fun and the people will come.

Orlando76 · July 26, 2016

Take the label "tournament" away and you might get a bigger tournament. Some, myself included, have zero interest in skiing a tournament. But I'll ski a social event.

6balls · July 27, 2016

@orlando76 interesting. Are most of them tourneys anymore anyway? Most are scores, not placements/podiums/trophies...it's more just skiing some rounds at a nice site, behind a nice boat, and under more exacting conditions. Maybe these events should have a different name.

MattP · July 27, 2016

@6balls every event except States, Regionals, Nats, Pro Stops/ProAms, NCWSA tournaments and the occasional AWSA Team event are TRIALS in my mind.

OldGuysRule · July 27, 2016

The Indiana State Championships were this past weekend at Cindonway Shores near Syracuse, Indiana. On Sunday the host site sponsored a "team skiing" event that was thrilling! Three teams of 5 skiers of differnent ages and abilities and 1 team captain were formed using previous averages and the results from the Saturday event. Team leaders included Nate Smith, Casey Contos, and Kim Contos. The "trash talk" began the minute that team formations were published. Just imagine being on one of the opposing teams against the Nate Smith team. Accusations of incompetent driving, of sand-bagging, un-equal conditions, etc, quickly came into the discussion! Team members standing on the shore as team-mates skied, team captains sneaking into the judge's stand to obtain statistics, and strategy planning made for an interesting and fun 2 round event. What fun and at the same time each skier's score was recorded as this was a sanctioned "C" event. Even though Nate Smith skied 1 @ 43' off, his team was not the winner!!! The Casey Contos team aka "See You Nater" team won the event. Organizing this concept did not involve much effort and produced a very memorable event.