I. W. S. F. Worlds Doha Qatar

[p__]

I butted out of this thread a couple of pages back but i have been reading every post since.

It seems to me that even if the BWSF pay for a few comps here and there for the younger riders it wont make a real difference. If you want to make it in wakeboarding you have to go to the states as there is not enough interest or money in this sport in the UK.

Big applause for Nickel for going for it and moving to the states, I hope your daughter becomes a biggest female supertstar in the sport. In fact I wish any parent prepared to go through what Nickel and Nick C are going through the very best.

[northernmonkey]

the problems that have been discussed over this thread are of course only relevant to a very tiny amount of people. Competitions are such a tiny and irrelevant part of wakeboarding that in reality it shouldn't ever have taken up this much space on a forum.
There are way more people freeriding than will ever ride in contests and of all the contest riders-even in the US there are very few making a living at it and even fewer making a good living, most just have rich parents and trust funds. the ones that don't work for there sponsors in a lot of cases not just as a rider but as reps or designers or floor sweepers or as coaches at camps. in the UK it is impossible to actually make a living solely from riding some can exist with a bit of help. there is a big difference in making it as a a contest rider,being the best and actually truly making a living from it.
it is unfortunately human nature that when two people start to enjoy the same activity that one or both will eventually want to prove that they are the best. the fact remains that our sports such a skating ,wakeboarding ,surfing or snowboarding were never meant to be judged they were just supposed to be fun and a way of creatively expressing ourselves,thats why so often people are unhappy with contest results, there is often no best way or right way there is only your way. so i would suggest that with the exception of Nicola, Nick and potentially Fred we just all get on with riding and enjoying it.
obviously except for in the winter when its cold then we just come on here and argue.....

[northernmonkey]

sorry to add, contests do or rather did have a positive effect on wakeboarding in the sense that one way to win is to be constantly progressing in the tricks you do and whatever but that is now pretty much exhausted for the guys. the only development in tricks now for the guys will be increasingly more and more ugly variations of tricks. making existing tricks look better unfortunately will not get you anywhere because the judges mostly don't get it they are all too concerned about whether you can get another 180 on your mobydick1080 rather than whether it looks sh*T or not....

[toby yeo]

Well said N.M.

Judges who had an idea on other aspects of wakeboarding would be nice and would bring something else to contests I think.

Thinking about that...Chris O'shea has just made his own contest happening in austrialia pretty soon its called Pressure cooker. which is a contest just to bring out the riders best style over 5 days.

Toby

[Nickel]

I took Nicola to the 1st Tour Stop in Georgia ($1000), 2nd stop Portland ($2500, placed 3rd) and WWA Worlds in Nevada ($2300,placed3rd). If I could do it over I wouldn't have gone to any of them and would have put the money into training and let her move onto the pro tour next year.
Those results helped her career not one iota. Her move to Hyperlite and the deals pending were due to real influences in the industry going to the "players" and selling her.Also the videos on Wake place and Wakeworld introduced her to people.
The competition results have given Nicola the belief that she can compete with and beat the best in the world but as far as getting sponsors I know for a fact it had no influence on anything that has happened since.
Sponsors are looking for marketability and someone who will advance their product in the best possible way.Winning comps do not rate that highly.This might come as a surprise to people with young kids but IMO big money is better spent on coaching until you can see if your kid really has what it takes. You do not have to go to comps all over the world to know if you are good enough.
This is obviously my opinion but if I could do it over I would do it very differently and paying out of my own pocket to go to hugely expensive comps is the first thing that would go.
Finally all the industry is interested in at the comps is Junior men,Pro men and to a much lesser extent Pro Women. "Titles" in other divisions,while being huge to the kid and his parents are pretty much meaningless to sponsors that are in the industry

[p__]

This is obviously my opinion but if I could do it over I would do it very differently and paying out of my own pocket to go to hugely expensive comps is the first thing that would go.
Finally all the industry is interested in at the comps is Junior men,Pro men and to a much lesser extent Pro Women. "Titles" in other divisions,while being huge to the kid and his parents are pretty much meaningless to sponsors that are in the industry

Do none of the younger riders in the states get sponsered either?