More Points to Ponder

I spent a week this past summer working as a volunteer waterski instructor at a summer camp for teenagers in southern Indiana. The interaction with these teenagers is probably a good gauge for the current state of waterskiing. Here are my impressions:

• Very few wanted to learn to ski on two skis. This is passe. Once the kids who wanted to learn got up on two skis, they invariably wanted to move on to something else (like wakeboarding or barefooting).
• Nobody wanted to slalom ski. Slalom skiing is dying out.
• Some kids wanted to kneeboard. Kneeboarding still lives! You can do it in all kinds of conditions and it doesn't require great athletic ability to enjoy it thoroughly.
• Almost all of the kids wanted to learn to barefoot waterski. Surprise, surprise! Actually the kids who learned how to barefoot waterski were the most excited and eager to tell others about their newfound ability. My only limitation for teaching barefoot waterskiing was the lack of available calm water.
• Almost all of the kids wanted to learn to wakeboard. Well, no real surprise there. The sk8tr boy or girl style is in.

  My real surprise was the real and active interest these kids had in barefoot waterskiing. The sheer joy and exhilaration on their faces when they succeeded in gliding on top of the water on their bare feet was incredible to see. There is really no comparison with the other water sports mentioned above. Even learning how to wakeboard was no match for the thrill the barefooters experienced. It seems to me that wakeboarding has not overtaken interest in barefooting, but has rather firmly supplanted classical waterskiing as the mainstream watersport. The encouraging part for me is that just as many kids were interested in barefooting as wakeboarding. Kids these days are into extreme sports and barefoot waterskiing certainly qualifies as one!

  As thrilling as it was to teach these kids barefoot waterskiing, I couldn't help but feel sadness as well. Sadness, because many of these kids exhibited real talent and athleticism that could take them far in the sport if properly nurtured and attended to. And therein lies the rub: Most of these kids will probably never barefoot again. The barriers to entry into the sport are numerous and formidable. Not only do you need access to calm water, but you also need a suitable boat and relatively expensive equipment (wetsuit, shorts, boom, handles, rope, etc.). In addition, you need a driver who is knowledgable regarding the finer points of driving for a barefooter. All of these things conspire against the probability of success in the sport for these young beginning barefooters.

  My point is that the potential for success for the sport is there in terms of participation, visibility, and economics. The problem is how to tap into this potentially enormous interest in the sport, given the formidable barriers that new or aspiring barefooters face. I would be very interested in hearing your ideas on how we (participants in organized barefooting activities) could overcome these barriers and unlock the potential of the sport. Please use the Discussion Forum for any feedback you may have regarding these issues.