The rise and fall of water skiing

[jjackkrash]

Elite pro skier Rob Hazelwood is on here--today--giving free fin setup advice to a rookie course skier who ride's a competitor's ski.   So, ya . . .

[Broussard]

Quote

 i asked about why the general age of the leadership in the southern region approached 70 years of age?? answer: no one has stepped up!!! that's funny i said every time someone younger manages to  apply them selves the old folks either remove them or see to it that a second term is not achieved..

When you host the regional meeting on Wednesday evening and M/W 1-5 ski on Friday and Saturday is it any wonder why younger individuals weren't involved?

The South Central Regional meeting was held on Friday evening and there were many individuals in attendance who do not take baby aspirin daily.

[chrislandy]

On 8/3/2024 at 8:24 PM, Horton said:

Elitist means the people on top do not want the new guy to join. That is not us. We are just in a vicious cycle that makes it very hard for the new guy to join us.

FYI - There is a real elitist faction in every sport. Those are not my people and they are almost the only people I wish would move on from water skiing.    

 

Correct, waterskiing is pretty much the only sport I know where most of the top athletes interact with anybody, irrespective of their ski level.

Also, the paradox is that almost every skier I know is enthusiastic about getting more skiers into the sport, promoting and growing the sport, yet a lot of them complain when they have to wait 2hrs for a set at the club because of all the new members 🤦‍♂️

[Killer]

On 8/3/2024 at 3:24 PM, Horton said:

I hear this exact complaint every few months. This forum fills a specific niche: "people who see water skiing as not just an activity but an obsession & challenge. Many of the regular members ski tournaments but not all. I am very open about the idea that if you do not love water skiing I do not know what you are doing on this website - it must be boring as watch grass grow.

I just looked at the “How’s My Spray” group on Facebook and the first post I came to had this caption “Average Joe weekend skier here, I’ve never skied a course, had any instruction or even skied behind an actual ski boat, here I am behind our Yamaha Waverunner, leaves a horrible wake for crossing, and has barely enough power to get this old guy up my Connelly Outlaw, None of that matters cuz I can enjoy a day on the lake just like the rest of ya!” This guy is not the target audience of BallOfSpray. He is happy as can be doing what he is doing and is not looking for more. I see all those posts in the Facebook groups and I wish those people would come over here to boost my traffic and then I think about it and realize they do not fit the niche. 

BallOfSpray can’t be all things to all skiers but I think anyone who is looking to get involved or looking to learn and become a better skier is going to find this site to be the best in the sport.
 

You are going to have to show me examples of where beginner questions here are not met with help and encouragement. 

Maybe part of what you are feeling is that the “barriers of entry” are high. In the competitive part of the sport, we have painted ourselves into a corner with $2000 skis, 150+k boats, and private lakes. I do not think anyone is going to claim that is a good thing. I would argue that it is the natural escalation of a sport and a result of changing social and economic conditions.

Elitist means the people on top do not want the new guy to join. That is not us. We are just in a vicious cycle that makes it very hard for the new guy to join us.

FYI - There is a real elitist faction in every sport. Those are not my people and they are almost the only people I wish would move on from water skiing.    

 

I think you are making a grave mistake painting these groups and specifically that one in this light.  It does indeed come across as very elitist.

I just took a look at that page just now and the top 20 or so posts are ALL posts you'd have seen on this site over the years.  I feel less so today, and all of those posters could be considered potential hard course skiers or your target demographic 

Growth in this sport is going to come from those people, not the few posters remaining on this forum,  anecdotally at least I feel content and contribution is way down (from someone who's been on here since about day 1).

 I can't stand social media, I basically only use it for waterskiing content, it's imperative for the growth and future of the sport to be utilizing it, as you noted TV is out, print is out. What's next?