Buzzy22

I agree with @jhughes. I had the fortunate experience of meeting a very accomplished junior water skier at the age of 12 who one day became my roommate in college at ULM where we both skied. Back then it was called NLU. When I became hooked, I had to find a way to ski. My parents had a 21' SeaRay for a boat and that is what I skied behind. Imagine no speed control and trying to maintain a speed of 36 miles per hour through a public ski course behind that! We moved to Alabama when I was 14 and I then had the very fortunate experience of being introduced to @mmosley899 who took me in as a young skier and took the time to help coach me. Thank you @mmosley899! I can remember waking up before sunrise on school days (High School) to drive 20 minutes in a boat one way to a public course where @mmosley899 would give me a pull. Then after school, drive in a car from the East side of Birmingham all the way to Tuscaloosa, where Seth Stisher, Chris Strong and myself would get a pull from Lyman Hardy. This is the dedication and desire that we had to put in each day to get better on the water. Once I became an adult, I actually quit skiing to focus on my career and Family. I did not ski for over 14 years. Once I became 35, a good friend of mine told me about the Big Dawg water ski tour. I was living in the state of Indiana at the time and was put in touch with some people in the water ski community there. I can tell you that the entire water ski community in that state of Indiana welcomed my come back to the sport with open arms and were so helpful. Numerous people at numerous private ski sites allowed me to come ski. To @jhughes point, I showed up at every tournament early to help, pull practice, judge, either payed to ski or brought fuel for the boat. This was my way of showing them my appreciation of them allowing me the opportunity to ski. I relocated to Phoenix, AZ in 2016. Unfortunately, my job has not allowed me the time to ski since moving here. I will say that I have reached out to some of those listed in earlier messages on this thread and they were all kind enough to extend an invitation to allow me to receive a pull. Just like yourself (Person who started the thread) I too worked at ski schools at a young age during the summer months. I worked for free to allow myself the opportunity to train. I cut grass, pulled kids all day, did their laundry, fed them, etc... At the end of the day, it all boils down to how hard your willing to work and how bad you want to get on the water. I intend on trying to find the time to get back on the water, and with any luck, perhaps we will have the opportunity to meet. You never know, we might even have the chance to ski. Oh, and there are way too many people that I would love to mention that helped me reach a certain level of water skiing. There are too many to list and are located all over the US. But I must say that @Horton was also a huge part of my skiing as well. Thanks John!