2005 Wakeboard Tour

[big p]

hey everyone, this is little s, big p's misses.

i am a relative newcomer to the world of wakeboarding after starting working for tim last year. from my short time in this sport my own view on it is that people ride because they want to and that they compete to show others what they can do.
therefore if there are only two divisions on the tour it will show what the best riders in the uk are capable of, people will have to qualify and if they don't then they will have to admit that on that day the weren't up to scratch and they will have to try harder. obviously if people have other commitments, ie work, then thats the way the cookie crumbles.

i also know from working with tim that he will take every opportunity to ride, before/after work or at weekends, so if people want it bad enough they will find ways to ride even if it means their staff don't get to go to spain for a week coz the boss is away for 2(sorry tim i had to mention it).

anyway thats my thoughts on the matter, if people want to compete then they will and they will find the time to train for it.
i will see you all at the live2ride stop in haverigg, i will be the one behind tim's shop counter on sunday

[unirider]

sorry bigp i think the way NM described what i meant clearly, those people are considered pro to the likes of me, they can ride in the pro level at events and are also amazing free riders, thats all i was getting at

[little s]

at the end of the day the full format of competition hasn't been posted yet so everything that has been mentioned is just speculation and could result in people getting the wrong end of the stick.
as regard to 'pro riders' at the moment anyone who can get over the wake is a pro rider to me (the northern monkeys know what i'm talking about) and i'm sure everyone questions will be answered with time and those that want to compete will get the opportunity to, be it in the uk tour or another.

[DaveD]

Without getting into the debate as to what makes a Pro Rider all I was trying to say in my original post that I have it on very good authority that there will only be 2 divisions this year on the UK Tour

one for men and one for women and by reason the majority of places will be taken up by those who rode in the 'Pro' divisions last year and the top placings from some of the other divisions.

In a way its a shame because in the old format there was more of an 'open' element in that riders could enter different tour stops as and when they could fit it into their own schedules. This would give the viewing public the chance to see some of the 'free riders' and there skills along side the hardened 'competition' guys.

Jeremy - If I am wrong on the Divs thing then please delete this post.

[sim]

First of all, don't get the wrong idea about the 'pro' riders in this country. They nearly all have job's, go to school, or owe hundreds of pounds to all of their friends. If things carry on the way they were, it's likely that in a couple of years time, you wouldn't see half the riders out there at contests because they wouldn't be able to fund it.
In America, they have something called the 'Pro Wakeboard Tour'. http://www.prowakeboardtour.com/article.jsp?ID=32748
This is a succesfull event that holds three divisions, Men, Women and recently added, Wakeskate. This has been the same since 1992, and just look at some photo's. How many people are in the crowd, how many different sponsor banners are there on the shore? Could you see the UK tour being like this, at the moment i can't.
If you compare the results from '95 to '04, then you'll see that somehow, despite there not being an amatuers division on the tour, there is a completely diferent set of names in the top ten. I wonder how they managed to get past all thoughs pro's from the ninties? maybe they rode in the other contests and tours that the pro tour looks to when they're arranging the invites?
All WUK are doing is making the UK scene bigger, more succesfull and bringing much needed money into the sport. I know it's not the best now, but in a year or two's time the Urban Tour could have made enough money to actually pay the riders, and enable WUK to put more of that money into the rookie contests, as the Urban Tour sponsors will fit the bill for the U.T. on it's own.
Give it time and it will work, They can't please everyone when intoducing change, but you can either try to ride in a small deserted UK tour now, doing fasion airs and 180's, or you can practice hard and earn your place in the 2006 Urban Tour where people besides your mum and dad will actually want to watch you, rather than sitting in the bar waiting for the pro's.
laters