The rise and fall of water skiing

[brody]

You need to be making $500000 to be competitive

[chrislandy]

It's not just the US that needs a boost, it's the rest of the world. Last year, when I was skiing in France, one of my friends who hasn't skied for 30+ years was gobsmacked how few people were actually skiing. The jump sunk 10 odd years ago, 70% must be wakeboarding, 10-15% surfing and ringo and the last 15-20% were skiing in some form. I think I only saw 3 different trick skiers in a month and with the slalom course looking like a banana, everyone was free skiing

 

Back in the UK, there are very localised dense populations of ski lakes, skiing on the rivers and lakes are by licence only in certain areas only - effectively you have to be a member of a ski club to ski on public water - and the rest are private lakes, I think we only have something like 23 boat owner lakes in the whole country and a lot of them are very expensive to join

 

We used to have loads of comps, but they have dried up and are not really advertised outside of the target competitors group. A bit blow was when Skiing was banned on Lake Windermere.

 

And boat cost - I know in the US people crib about the cost, but by the time the dealers have imported and paid the import tax and VAT and added either overheads and profit etc, if you double your dollar cost, that's effectively what the same boat costs here

[ALPJr]

Maybe I misread the gist of the first post. Thought this is about the changes at the very highest levels and pro skiing? In my mind that’s a whole different conversation from what’s happening with local ski clubs, amateur tourneys, and other recreational towed wake sports. It ain’t cheap to reach the high levels of profession in any comparable sports, snow ski, golf, tennis, cycling, surfing, etc. That is the pro athlete’s job. Are pros in those sports busting hump 50, 60, 70 hours a week in some other career? I think that’s most ballers stories, work hard at our jobs so we can enjoy a little time on the water. A pro ‘tour’ needs visionaries and sponsors with big bucks.

[LakeboyWWK]

Here are some Olympic sports that have overcome some of the issues that water skiing is dealing with.

 

Equestrian - cost is high, requires an expensive unique site/course. According to a 2008 New York times article "Participation in eventing competitions in the United States has grown by 36 percent over the past decade; riders filled roughly 46,000 competition slots in 2007, according to the association."

 

Sailing - cost to compete is high and a huge time investment. TV viewing is a snorefest!

 

Canoe/Kayak racing - requires a large body of calm water to compete. They use dedicated sites that cost 10's of millions of dollars to build (like the Montreal Olympic course). Like water skiing, both open water natural sites and man made sites are used.

 

Rowing - see above.

 

Surfing - tv viewing is difficult.

 

These sports governing bodies have obviously found a way to overcome these obstacles. Water skiing's governing body needs to have a closer look at how they did it.

 

[DW]

The rise and fall of any top tier professional sport centers around sponsorships and in particular effective marketing by those companies to get people to attend / watch, etc. In the '70 - '90's tobacco $ and adult liquid refreshment fueled the professional scene and provided us with what JTH wrote about across several sports (auto racing was a major beneficiary). Today it appears that energy drinks have taken that slot and choose to invest in more extreme / visually extreme sports. So, athletes and fans tend to chase where the $ go.

It appears to me, another factor is the plethora of other 'sports' that compete with our passion. Given many have much lower entry costs coupled with easier access, it is easier to gravitate to those sports and stay on that path.

[unksskis]

@Spencer_Shultz is on to it. Even Universities are utilizing Twitch and similar options to stream smaller sporting events (soccer, volleyball). Bring back the MC webcast tour.

[Horton]

@DW 100%! Sadly we are now so marginalized that an energy drink company wouldn't even consider using us as a marketing tool.

 

( Yes, I know RedBull has some kind of deal with Dorian Llewellyn but I think that is largely based on the fact that he is Austrian. I do not see RedBull spending a penny anywhere else in water skiing. I personally consume an excessive quantity of sugar free Red Bull on a daily basis so if the marketing folks over there would like to advertise here I would be extremely happy to talk to them.)

[Spineofgoo]

Here is my politically incorrect,cranky old man,you damn kids get off my lawn view. 1 water skiing requires a small amount of strength.2 Americans desire instant gratification,not associated with water skiing.Almost 40 percent of the population is obese,probably another 20 percent are just fat and lazy.explains the sudden popularity of pontoon boats.Now if you could get water skiing to translate to a set of VR goggles you might get a resurgence in popularity.

[Spencer_Shultz]

PPV events are the future of sports. MLB network, NFL Sunday Ticket and especially MMA and professional boxing (how many PPV buys did McGregor and Mayweather have?)

I pay $6.99 a month for Disney Plus, I also have Netflix and YouTube TV.

If some waterski broadcasting site said, “hey Spencer, we will give you 2 pro events each month from April until October for $20 a month for 12 months,” I would be all in. If we could have 1,000 subscribers that’s $240k for a 14 tournament circuit.

The industry is already footing the bill on the events that we have. The skiers are the ones supplying the prize purse. For us as enthusiasts, if we can step up to the table, and turn these events into reality, we could give pro skiing the platform it so deserves.

 

 

 

 

 

[Horton]

@Spencer_Shultz I think 1000 paid subscribers is super optimistic

[Spineofgoo]

@Spencer_Shultz water skiing is such a small community it can't generate that kind of revenue.@horton how many ballers you got?

[Horton]

A good traffic day mid summer is 5,000 ip addresses.

[Spineofgoo]

How many would be interested in PPV? Do you think any of the companies that advertise with BOS would be on board?

[klindy]

@Horton Several of us on the board asked our previous executive director for specifics of what our affiliation with the USOC offers us as benefits. The response was current in 2016. Since then I am not aware of any substantial changes other than the Hilton Hotels partnership change.

 

In essence the primary beneficiary of any financial benefits are the elite athletes in terms of prize money, insurance coverage, event participation, access to the Olympic Training Center and mandated participation in the governance of the NGB (USA-WSWS). Other intangible benefits include status as the ONLY NGB recognized by the USOC.

 

It was also pointed out that only the IWWF can pursue adding waterskiing to the Olympics. USA-WSWS can only support that effort. On its own USA-WSWS has no standing in pursuing any Olympic effort. To accomplish this, it is true that there needs to be one NGB that represents waterskiing (in whatever form might be considered for the Olympics).

 

The 'benefit' of being involved with the USADA or SafeSport may be questioned, but to be a participant in several international tournaments - including PanAm's, Worlds, Pan American Games, etc. - the athletes must be covered under an official anti-doping program. Without USOC affiliation we'd have to join separately at a cost. Likewise, for SafeSport, our participation provides not only training and tools to help recognize and eliminate sexual misconduct, harassment, etc. but also is the independent entity which investigates and resolves any incidences that may occur.

 

Additionally, USA-WSWS is currently redoing the website and using the USOC template. This will eliminate several roadblocks to adding features (like video). This is worth about $40k.

 

 

Below are the details (these are not my words, only copied as delivered. This looked ok on my screen but may be difficult to read on a phone or smaller device?) -

 

USOC AFFILIATION AND RECOGNITION BENEFIT / COST ANALYSIS - 2016

 

I believe some folks lump together our USOC affiliation with the efforts that have been made for Olympic Games inclusion. These are two separate issues. Only the IWWF can pursue Olympic inclusion. USA Water Ski can only support the effort. But we can have USOC affiliation and receive the benefits of affiliation. This is intended to provide the benefits and costs associated with USA Water Ski’s affiliation with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). A financial summary is at the end of this presentation.

 

RECOGNITION:

1. United States Olympic Committee

a. Recognition and Status. USA Water Ski is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the only National Governing Body (NGB) for all towed water sports in the United States. Under Federal law, the USOC is the only entity that can designate “National Governing Bodies” for sports in the United States. It is important for USA Waterski to be part of the recognized “world of sports”, and our affiliation with the USOC makes this possibility easier to achieve. Additionally, water ski athletes have been honored by the USOC. USOC recognition gives USA Water Ski a “presence” that it would otherwise only gain with great difficulty. BENEFIT AT NO COST

b. Marketing Advantage. Using the USOC affiliation is beneficial in our marketing programs. No other towed water sports entity can have a relationship with the USOC. BENEFIT AT NO COST

c. NGB Collaboration and Information Sharing. We share information about insurance, marketing, membership programs, staff salaries, governance, etc. with other federations and have a baseline for best practices. BENEFIT AT NO COST

 

2. International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation

a. IWWF Affiliation. The IWWF is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the international governing body for water skiing worldwide. In order to be an IWWF national federation, the federation must be recognized by the USOC as the NGB. BENEFIT AT NO COST

b. World and International Tournament Participation. Affiliation with and recognition by the USOC is needed for USA Water Ski to field teams for international and world tournaments, including the Pan American Games and World Games. BENEFIT AT NO COST

 

PROGRAMS AND SERVICES:

1. U.S. Anti Doping Agency (USADA)

a. Anti-Doping Testing and Programs. As a result of the NGB designation, USA Water Ski and our athletes participate in the USADA (the US Anti-Doping Agency) testing programs, which are required for our athletes to be eligible to participate in international competitions. The USOC works directly with the USADA, a separate organization, to promote and ensure clean play in U.S. sports. IWWF high ranking athletes are in a Registered Testing Pool (RTP) and participate in out-of-competition testing throughout the year. Athletes have available to them many resources to be aware of the various illegal performance enhancing drugs. BENEFIT AT NO COST 

b. In-Competition Testing. The IWWF requires drug testing at all world championship events. When hosting a world championship event in the United States, the LOC is responsible for payment of fees associated with USADA testing. With USOC affiliation, USA Water Ski may receive complimentary testing at world championship events hosted in the United States for sports recognized in the Pan American Games program (AWSA, Wakeboard). If not for our affiliation with the USOC, we (the LOC) would have to pay for all IWWF/IOC mandated drug testing services at world championship events. BENEFIT AND POTENTIAL SAVINGS TO AWSA and USA-WB LOCs ($5,000 - $8,000 range, depending on number of tests required by IWWF)

 

2. Safe Sport Initiative

a. Program Participation and Resources. As a result of the NGB designation, USA Water Ski is able to participate in the USOC Safe Sport program, designed to offer protection to our athletes/members in the areas of sexual misconduct, harassment and abuse. The new Safe Sport entity is designed to provide investigation and resolution of any misconduct within the water ski community. Participation is required by the USOC for NGB recognition.

b. Cost for Safe Sport Entity. Each USOC NGB must contribute to the Safe Sport entity. The cost is anticipated to be $10,000 per year. For this expense, the Safe Sport entity will manage any litigation regarding sexual abuse or misconduct in our sport. This should be viewed as similar to an insurance program. It is necessary to have and will be highly beneficial and a cost savings should a claim ever come forward. BENEFIT and COST ($10,000 annually beginning in 2017)

 

3. Pan American Games (and other multi-sport events)

a. Pan American Games. By being a recognized NGB, the USOC allows our athletes to compete in the Pan American Games. The USOC covers all expenses for the U.S. Team participating in the Pan American Games every four years (travel, entry fees, lodging, meals, background checks, etc.) and provides all team athletes and staff with Pan American Games apparel. Pan American athletes become eligible to receive EAHI during the years in which they are on the Pan Am Team. BENEFIT FOR ATHLETES AND TEAM STAFF (estimate savings of $10,000)

b. Other USOC Events. By being a recognized NGB, the USOC provides the pathway for participation in other events such as the Olympic Festival and World Games. This allows our sport to be recognized at the same level as the Olympic sports at those multi-sport mega-events. BENEFIT FOR ATHLETES AND TEAM STAFF

 

4. Elite Athlete Health Insurance (EAHI)

a. Six athletes currently receive EAHI valued at an approximate value of $6,000 per athlete per year. This is an annual program in which athletes are eligible based upon Pan American Games and IWWF Rankings. BENEFIT TO ATHLETES ($36,000)

 

5. Operation Gold

a. The Operation Gold Program has provided direct athlete funding since 2001. The program was revised in recent years to only apply to the Pan Am Games (2011, 2015, etc.) or World Championships (2013, 2017, etc.) during the odd year. USA Water Ski has been able to use an event that mirrors the World Championships in other years – the Masters in 2012, 2014 and 2016 – in an effort to provide support for our elite athletes. Prize money is limited to one award per athlete with the athlete winning more than one medal receiving only the highest individual amount.

b. Pan American Games prize money for 2015 was as follows: 1st Place - $2,850; 2nd Place - $2,350; 3rd Place - $1,800.

c. In non- Pan American Games years, the award is as follows: 1st Place - $2,500; 2nd Place - $2,000; 3rd Place - $1,500, 4th Place - $1,000. BENEFIT TO ATHLETES ($15,000 - $30,000 annually)

 

6. Corporate Partnerships

a. Hilton Partnership. USA Water Ski receives a quarterly check from Hilton for support of their marketing efforts. Our members receive discounted rates for all Hilton family properties (15%) that are better than the AAA/AARP discounted rates (10%). MEMBER BENEFIT; BENEFIT TO USA WATER SKI ($7,000)

b. United Airlines Partnership. United Airlines provides discounts and various services for members. MEMBER BENEFIT.

 

7. Educational Sessions and Support

a. USOC Educational Programs. Several NGB educational opportunities are offered to all Olympic and Pan American NGBs including the following where the USOC pays for one USA-WS representative to attend (room, board & travel):

Marketing symposia to help NGBs collaborate on marketing initiatives

Best Practice Seminars for NGB staff

Olympic Assembly

Coaches symposia

Legal symposia

Sports Link

BENEFIT TO USA WATER SKI (Cost to attend would be $800 per session per person)

 

8. Other Athlete Services

a. Additional Services. Opportunities and services are available to our sport including the following:

Injured athlete use of Olympic Training Center facilities and medical staff for rehabilitation.

Use of Olympic Training Center & dorms for clinics such as the AWSA Sr. Officials Clinic in 2006. There is a daily per person cost for room/board to use the Olympic Training Center.

Support for athletes looking for employment through the Athlete Career Services Dept.

BENEFITS TO USA WATER SKI AND USA WATER SKI ATHLETES but not available to non-NGBs

 

9. Insurance Requirements

The USOC has established minimum insurance requirements for all NGBs. The USA Water Ski Insurance Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of our insurance program and no changes to the coverage limits were recommended. A significant number of member clubs require a certificate of insurance in order to gain access to their local waterways. The coverage provided by USA Water Ski meets the needs of 99% of our member clubs and for the clubs that we do not provide the minimum requirement, we have found a way to provide the additional coverage needed. MEMBER CLUB BENEFIT

 

10. Team USA Website

USA Water Ski is included with all Olympic and Pan American sports on the USOC website.

 

11. USOC Representation

a. NGB Council. USA Water Ski is represented with an equal vote at the USOC NGB Council and has access to information that supports all NGBs.

b. USOC AAC Representative. USA Water Ski has voice and voting rights through our athlete representatives on the USOC Athletes Advisory Committee.

 

12. Developmental Grants

In 2014, the USOC provided USA Water Ski with an NGB developmental grant to support our technology efforts. This was used to purchase computers and cell phones for those who were using their own personal computers and devices for USA Water Ski business. (BENEFIT $4,500 in 2014).

 

 

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

FINANCIAL BENEFIT

Operation Gold Awards -

2016 - $28,000 to U.S. athletes (Masters)

2015 - $12,650 to U.S. athletes (Pan American Games)

2014 - $18,000 to U.S. athletes (Masters)

2013 - $12,000 to U.S. athletes (IWWF World Championships)

 

Elite Athlete Heath Insurance -

$6,000 annual benefit to U.S. athletes

 

Developmental Grants -

$4,500 (in 2014) to USA Water Ski

 

Hilton Partnership -

$7,000 annual benefit to USA Water Ski

 

USADA Testing -

$5,000 - $8,000 savings in testing fees when event is approved by USADA as a world championship event

 

Pan American Games Participation -

$10,000 savings to attend – funded by USOC

 

FINANCIAL COST

Safe Sport Program -

$10,000 paid by USA Water Ski beginning in 2017

 

 

[Spencer_Shultz]

@Spineofgoo @Horton So 20% of your summertime average traffic wouldn’t support a pro ski circuit for the yearly price of a new Masterline rope and handle? Not buying it. They are interested in skiing or they wouldn’t be here.

[Jody_Seal]

I guess after that lengthy number of reasons and explanation.

In reality the affiliation with the USOC really only benefits the dozen or so "AWSA" team members that participate in the world level competitions.

What does it do for me as a member? For most run of the mill week to week, Regional national tournament level skiers it has become a encumbrance and donation of membership resources and monies!

Again a fragmented direction of policy that really has no benefit to the general membership.

[klindy]

@Jody_Seal are you recommending we eliminate the elite/Team members from the organization? Or at least eliminate whatever specific things they need to be able to compete at that level as often and as productively as they can? Certainly things like a drug testing program can be contracted to a third party when needed at a cost of $5k-8k per event (per the details above).

 

I fully appreciate that the additional prize money and insurance coverage only benefits a few so what does it do for me as a regular member but how do you literally separate the two? Do you think the boat or ski companies are going to spend R&D money to build boats and skis for you and me? Or are we the beneficiary of that development effort by and because of those same elite skiers?

 

[Jody_Seal]

@klindy

Yes!

Again it does nothing for the general membership of the awsa. When that much resource and energy goes to such a small

percentage of the population within the membership it is not equitable to the majority of the sports participants.

I have to pay for my own health insurance why do I have to contribute to the dozen or so elite awsa athletes to pay for theirs? Especially when they all make far more money then I do!

Hence another reason for membership loss

Maybe you would do good to stay on top of your regions needs and time lines for doing what we voted you in for. Did you know your regions web site for regional and state officers and board has not been updated since jan of 2018?

Bang for the buck in this organization has become a popcorn fart!

[Spineofgoo]

@Jody_Seal thank you,we had the same problem with Motocross! Too many governing bodies,now we have small renegade districts that run their own programs and attendance has been on the upswing ever since. Water skiing doesn't need drug testing.forget about the Olympic wet dream ain't gonna happen! I don't know how we start to break away and form individual competition.not that smart,but I'm betting a lot of you ballers are.

[JeffSurdej]

As president, not a day goes by that's its not on my mind on how to grow the sport. Although I'm happy to say we have not lost membership in 2 years in AWSA I feel beyond disappointed that it has not grown to my goal of 10,000 members. We've tried a lot and I think we have had some wins such as ZBS and mini course, not to mention countless other initiatives in the works and to come and quite frankly many that have not made a difference.

 

There has been a number of things mentioned on here and no one is really dead wrong, but if had to pick one thing its plain and simple.....WAKEBOARDING. We have not shifted to private lakes, customers have simply altered their water sports activity, plain and simple. In the 80/90's there was only water skiing to do behind a boat so that's what everyone did on public lakes. Then, an easier and more fun sport game along called wakeboarding which changed our sport forever, and now even with the decline of wakeboard, surfing is now the preferred water sport. There is nothing we can do to change that... it's easier, its more fun and that's what most families will get the ROI on.

 

No change in USAWS to AWSA, no change in pricing, no change in rules or towboats can bring us back to the 80's. Yes there are many factors, and I'm not saying they have not aided in the decline but if I had a pie chart, wakeboard and wakesurfing would make up 75% of the pie chart. The other factors would be cost, a boring sport, loing weekends, society changes, families with less free time and money, more choices for kids, internet, these things have effected ALL sports.

 

Golf is down, snow skiing is down, wakeboarding is dead, football, NASCAR, and baseball are down, there are many sports experiencing a decline except a few that are the HOT things to do like soccer and curling. Everything goes in cycles.

 

Even in our glory days of being on ESPN, AWSA was still only about 15,000 members so its not like we were ever a 100,000 member organization. And I would be surprised if there was not leadership idealogy issues and bureaucracy back in the 90's also, it was just not as public without the internet and a sport that ESPN was willing to cover, and now that's its declined for so many reasons its easy to blame USAWS and its leadership.

 

There is no effort with leadership trying to get into the olympics, yes there may be some drawbacks to being part of USOC but there are no efforts going on that are draining our resources by being part of USOC. If we were not part of USOC would our sport really grow any? If so how, what parts of USOC are causing our sport to decline?

 

Please tell me what we would do differently if not part of USAWS? What is USAWS hindering AWSA from doing? Honestly our biggest screw up was not endorsing wakeboard and now wakesurfing when we saw it coming, we had our chance and we blew it off (I'm guilty) and WWA took the rains, plan and simple, we didn't follow the money and now we have no money to spend on making a real difference. And BTW this happened while AWSA was running the organization in the 90's.

 

Sorry for the rant, I'm as aggravated as anyone to see our sport not grow, I wish I had the answers, all we can do is keep trying and making efforts and we are seeing some positive signs in the past few years but lets be realistic, we are not going to ever be like it was in the 90"s, its just not a sport that fits today's society.

 

Top 6 reason for the decline in waterskiing

 

6. Inability of AWSA and its membership to adjust the division and competition format to evolve to today's society

5. Private lake owners unwilling to share their lake time (making #1 below even worse)

4. More choices for families and kids to choose from

3. Families are busier and working more than ever

2. Cost of the sport, 6 figure boats and $2k skis, entry fees etc.

1. Wakeboarding and wakesurfing took over public lakes

 

Do I get a Panda Horton?

[Spineofgoo]

@JeffSurdej not on our lake, pontoons and wave runners have taken over,2 people ski our lake my friend and me and we are both in our mid 60s.People actually stop and watch us.

[JC McCavit]

It appears to me waterskiing is growing at the collegiate level. Those kids (both boys and girls) are creative, intelligent, know how to have fun, party, get good grades, get degrees, get good jobs, get married and raise lots of little waterskiers that become collegiate waters. These kids also share the sport with their none collegiate friends and their parents friends.

[ALPJr]

Great posts, lots of good info’ and I’m all for promoting affiliation with national, global and amateur organizations. Although I thought we were talking about the rise and fall of a pro tour. Do the PGA, NFL, NBA take directions from the USOC? Is there more to it it than vision, budget, planning, and execution? Something like the NWT National Waterski Tour. Eight to ten weekends, June to August. Top twenty, thirty men and women, with lots of tough gritty 3 eventers (slalom, wake (new tricks), jump) Maybe pick four or five locations that are close to major populations and stop at each site twice. Need a couple major sponsors to bankroll it and seek supporting sponsorships from fun stuff like food, brews, retailers, etc. Easy right :)

[Rpc29]

@JC McCavit how do we keep those kids skiing after college? It's 100% the best place to grow from.

 

I graduated in 2009 and of the 10 active members on my team when I graduated I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that still participates. (a few lost interest, a few went to med school, a few had access issues) It's even tougher now with most college students graduating with a boat load of debt. (average student graduates with $37,000 in student debt these days)

 

If we build the base sponsors will follow, not the other way around.

[customski]

@Spencer_Shultz, In Australia I know a lot of us will stay up half the night to catch a webcast of skiing from anyone who streams one. I’m surprised we can watch without paying now. I agree there would be a market for paid streaming of events.

[Spineofgoo]

What do you think about sponsorship from smaller companies that sell CBD,plant based foods,beverages boating supplies.Bass Pro,Camping World.

[JeffSurdej]

@Spineofgoo those companies won’t even take a meeting unless you have 50,000 members. We are too small unfortunately. Btw I forgot this stat. The 3 boat companies made 11,000 boats this year. 295 of them ski boats. The customers have spoken.

[jimski]

@JeffSurdej id be curious to know how many USA waterski members are not US citizens

[Nando]

I believe the biggest mistake made wasn't as @JeffSurdej says not embracing wakeboarding and later wakesurfing, but by trying to include those sports in an organization they had no interest in, therefore losing our focus on skiing. The start of the decline was the obsession with getting into the Olympics, which started the obsession with eliminating every variable and making all conditions perfect. As some have pointed out, alpine skiers don't get exactly the same course from the beginning of an event to the end and are subject to weather variables, but we're so concerned with conditions it's tough to get skiers to come to an event at a non-manmade lake because the conditions might not be perfect. Things used to be a bit sloppier, but they were more fun.

[JeffSurdej]

@jimski about 150 are foreign.

[jimski]

@JeffSurdej That’s way less than I would of thought

[BraceMaker]

I personally think one source of interest in this sport is literally just instagram.

 

A coworker showed me a video of FW crashing the other day because it got shared to some sports page he follows. That page has people who follow it. Boom D3 got their ski flashed to 100000 people.

 

But if I were to guess approx zero of those people will be able to successfully get pulled in a slalom course by googling "slalom skiing my city"

 

 

[ral]

@jimski and @JeffSurdej, on non US citizen membership, as competing in a tournament in the USA requires AWSA membership, a number of foreigners are just because of that.

[aupatking]

It’s time for the “Airing of Grievances”, my favorite time of Festivus.

If it’s USAWSWS or AWSA job to grow the sport than why do they refuse to help with new club creation? And they do refuse. No response is refusal, all the same. That’s no response to emails and emails and emails and phone calls.

I’m committed to tournament skiing, but what if it’s a high school or college kid wanting to start a club. How many unanswered emails have ended that? @Rpc29 said it, “grow the base...”.

And @JeffSurdej, in the spirit of calling out inaccuracies, I’ve got a couple. saying “wake boarding is more fun” is bullshit. Sounds like what usaws and ws has tried to feed us. “It is easier”, good point, and I know all we all want is what’s easier. Wake boarding is declining too. How many paying members are traditional 3 event and how many are wake boarders? How many are wake surfers? I’m betting there are more paying members that are show skiers or barefooters than surfers.

“In the 80/90's there was only water skiing to do behind a boat” has forgotten kneeboarding, and a thousand other towable inventions. That one fell off just like wakeboarding is now. Usawswswswswsws really missed the boat when they didn’t chase tubing.

Success involves focus, failure is the opposite.

[JeffSurdej]

@JC McCavit actually college waterskiing is not growing, we had 82 teams at our peak and now have 57, although the # of skiers within those teams has really increased so our total membership has grown somewhat over the past 5 years. Keeping them after college is of course a great avenue but very difficult, these skiers have no equipment, no where to ski, no money and not to mention they just left an atmosphere where 1 buoy made them feel successfull and then AWSA says, sorry go compete against someone who runs 38 off just b/c they are the same age. Our sport should be ability based and aged based like 99% of all sports out there.

 

@Nando I take your post as 2 different items. The first one is about usaws spending time on wakeboard and surfing and loosing focus on 3 event, I disagree, I have been in USAWS board meetings for 20 years, trying to grow or endorse WB or WS has never been anr agenda item. 90% of time and resources at USAWS is spent on 3 event. 2nd point, Trying to get into olympics, we were as close at you can come to being added and if it had worked out our sport would have been changed forever so I dont regret the gamble. And honestly I could argue that the technology and strive for making all site scores the same would have happened regardless of our olympic endeavours b/c thats just societies way with advances in technology.

 

@BraceMaker I think that whats makes our sport so hard to grow, its not as easy as putting in a basketball court in every YMCA, if it cost $5k to add waterski facilities to local towns and high schools we would, but its millions to build one lake and let alone maintain it.

 

@aupatking I'm unaware of any refusal to answer emails, they certainly did not come my way, and I'd be shocked if USAWS didn't respond to such email's but I certainly hope not. If you know of anyone that is having trouble please let me know. We have dozens of college kids who ask and we aide them in starting clubs at schools, we could do the same in high school but in the end it comes down to the usual issues like needing a boat, and a site and a course, and equipment. All major hurdles to growth. We barely have any WB or WS members and I agree with you we should be going after tubers, we should have 100,000 members who love to do anything behind a boat and then let AWSA worry about the competition side of it.

[jimski]

@ral thats exactly why I’m a member.

[fernandofleck]

In my opinion Wake Surfing is a fashion sport just as wake boarding was 20 years ago and eventually will start falling too... I don’t see it growing to a highly competitive level and It’s not fun at all to watch

[pregom]

I think it would be awesome if 3-event skiing got into the Olympics - there are great athletes who would be very deserving of an Olympic gold medal. Is it true that that is unlikely to happen because of the motorboat component that doesn't guarantee the same "conditions" to all participants?

As far as mere mortals like most of us, the main issue that I see, in my humble opinion, is with access to lakes with a slalom course. Going the private lake route is indeed very expensive as @JeffSurdej says, but I wonder if better engagement with local towns could yield better results with a cheaper price tag. Would be it possible to work on having slalom courses (and jump ramps?) approved by local authorities on public lakes and then also to have "designated hours" at some public lakes when slaloming is the only activity allowed on the lake? Is this a pipe dream in this day and age?

[jimski]

I’m not buying the public lake versus private lake. I have way more money tied up in our public lake that we live on. Boat, boat lift, docks exc. we are members of the local ski club that supports two ski courses and two ski jumps that I also pay a membership to and volunteer endless amounts of time and Donate money to. Not to mention the amount of free, ski rides and lessons I give out to every one who drops by. It would be way cheaper for me to join I club on a private lake with Everything I need and pay a annual fee.

It’s priorities And life style if you like to ski and or you were brought up in a waterskiing family, you will ski.

If you play soccer and your parents played soccer more than likely that’s the sport you will pass along to your kids.

[RAWSki]

As @JeffSurdej mentioned no one posting here is dead wrong..... Or right. So many factors come into play. What is sad and disappointing is that while AWSA membership is down 40-50% from the height of the 90's...... the number of pro-events and attendance at events is down 80-90%. ( And sponsorships outside of marine manufacturing and water sports equipment down 200%.) IMO It comes down to having a product and athletes that can be marketed and a management team that turn a tournament into an event........ THEN find a way to promote the product on-line and enable it to reach more than the hard core ballers. With all that said I don't know if it should be up to USA waterski to run a series of pro events, if there is still a business model that will work.

 

If you build an audience you could create a greater interest in the sport, I am sure the Olympics seemed like the easiest way to reach more people, and get some $$$ from the USOC for top skiers, once large dollar sponsorships seemed to disappear. I wonder if there would have been 3 medals or 4 medals awarded in Olympics? One for each event and one for overall. I fear it would be just 3 and that losing the concept of awarding an overall champion is as much a mistake as not embracing board-sports and tubing

 

[LakeboyWWK]

"Pro Cornhole Players Find A Home On ESPN In A New Sports League"

This so called "sport" can get on ESPN but waterskiing can't, unbelievable. This is what sports has disintegrated to.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/12/30/pro-cornhole-players-find-a-home-on-espn-in-a-new-sports-league/#44df56cb7ed5

[Horton]

@jeffSurdej

The down turn was inevitable. The sports landscape and the culture changed. The question is: would a purely 3 event organization been more able to adapt? What would we have done differently? What opportunities were squandered? Perhaps an independent AWSA would not weathered the storm better than USAWS has. I believe a smaller, more nimble and less bureaucratic organization will always outperform a bigger one. Until I get the flux capacitor working on my DeLorean we will never know.

 

One of the reasons for hope is that AWSA, USAWS and IWWF all have leadership that is decades younger than those organizations had only a few years ago.

 

[skibrain]

OK, acknowledging that this forum is 95% focused on slalom course skiing, SOME of which is done competitively in tournament settings, i think it is critical to define what meant by “waterskiing” (and what is meant by “growing the sport”)

 

Getting more registered members?

More prize money at tournaments?

More available tournaments?

Selling more boats and skis?

More people riding a ski/skis behind a boat of any kind?

 

If you compare our sport to wakeboarding, wakesurfing, or especially alpine skiing, the VAST VAST majority is done at a recreational level. Few have a membership to any national organization, most people are messing around with friends or family (groomed, powder, back country, off-piste.....no slalom gates involved right, but it still gets included in the sport of Snow skiing). Lots of $$$ for skis, jackets, lift tickets and resort accommodations plowed into the industry without a soul chasing gates. And yup in my MN city the bigger high schools have race teams, but in general, what percentage of competition vs total participants are we talking about?

 

I’d argue a general volume of participation is what supports the (snow skiing) industry and Leads to interest/support for competition. I think growing competitive slalom skiing HAS to have a corresponding massive increase in the base of people involved in the sport of waterskiing in the most general definition.

[Roger]

@pregom - It's not the "same conditions" thing about the boat, it's the motor. There are no powered sports in the Olympics. From Wikipedia: "Sports that depend primarily on mechanical propulsion, such as motor sports, may not be considered for recognition as Olympic sports". Until that changes, we will not be more than a demonstration event..., and it has not changed in my lifetime.

[Johnseed]

Just a thought....

What about trying to host a tournament in conjunction with other established summer festivals? The conditions might be less than ideal for the skiers BUT the possibility of exposure for the sport would be much improved over a secluded private lake.

 

My understanding was that the Malibu Open in Milwaukee was this type of event. I live just south of Cincinnat and there is a huge festival on the river over Labor Day weekend...like 500,000 attendance total. Might be a tough but to crack but maybe easier than TV at this point.

[Johnseed]

It all goes back to how we want to define "growing the sport".

Growing recreational skiing?

Growing tournament participation?

Growing USA Waterski membership?

Growing spectator/audience size?

Growing sponsorship and $$ in the sport?

 

Each answer has it's own unique set of challenges and solutions to be sure.

 

To use MLB as an example since many view baseball today as a dying sport, they have been working to 'update' the game itself to improve its appeal to the modern fans....the emphasis is on the fan experience which has led to several rule changes and will ultimately effect player stats in many cases. There is always a trade off somewhere.

[scuppers]

Figure out a way to make water skiing as easy as playing a video game and your problem is solved.

For today's world water skiing is just too hard! (and unless you compete yourself - really not that exciting to watch)

[JAS]

Sport was built from the ground up, and we are trying to restore from the top down. I really think Marcus Brown and his mission for the past years is the best path for recovery. Marcus for President!

[jimski]

@Horton has @RichardDoane had a look at the DeLorean he’s pretty handy

[pregom]

In my opinion, growing the number of recreational skiers is the foundation that could, eventually, bring all other things mentioned above by others. Just like snow skiing, the vast majority of people are not interested in chasing gates, at least when they start. One inherent difference is that you can pack dozens of recreational snow skiers on a slope but can't do that on a lake with water skiers. Having said that, though, I feel that getting the general public and local authorities to buy into certifying public lakes for water skiing with slalom courses is important. Just like recreational snow skiers see gates on a slope and might get interested in trying, people on a lake might get interested in chasing buoys if they see them and see people going through them.