What would you do to Bring Ski Racing Back in the U.S.?

[Kdub157]

Here is an idea...it seems that often one of the barriers for people to get involved is the unknown and intimidating nature of the sport.

What about setting up kind of a mentor program. Get some of the very active members to be a mentor of sorts. Each new member would be assigned a current member. It is not a forced friendship, just a phone call to reach out and say "i am here to help". It would be great for getting questions answered, identifying necessary equipment, sharing of equipment, help getting an observer, skier, etc.. It is very helpful to have someone to call and ask those basic questions. I was fortunate, in that, my wife raced when she was younger and we had some old equipment around that could get us going. We also knew the Anderson family, so being able to call Glen with those one off questions eased those early efforts. What was also very helpful was I connected with Gary Heinbuch and was able to call him on a number of occasions early on. Simply helping me get some Lifelines to use that first race was great.

Also, to have someone there at the race that you know and can connect with makes that initial arrival much easier. To show up knowing there is someone there to walk you through the steps to get a boat inspected, check your equipment, find an observer, get signed in, introduce you to some key people, etc. is HUGE. It makes the whole day so much easier and more enjoyable. Those that have been around the sport all their life underestimate the potential awkwardness of driving up with the family cruiser boat and seeing the big teams and twin turbo monsters. But admittedly, just getting through that initial period, it becomes much easier. We have never been close to being competitive in most races, but as a family, we are having a blast in a very unique way. We cannot get to all the races, but in between all the other activities with kids, this one is very fun.

There are some great people in the sport, and many terrific families. If the goal is to get new families with just "normal" boats to give it a go, I think a program like this would be great.

beginners day.

 

[Firecracker]

beginners day.

I actually posted your email about it... It's a few posts back. If anyone wants to check it out they can. If anyone likes, I will gladly post it again.

 

[RiverDave]

All great ideas....banners, Advertising in performance boats....

Your breakin my heart Kdub.. breakin my heart I tell ya.

RD

 

[Kdub157]

Your breakin my heart Kdub.. breakin my heart I tell ya.

RD

i cant do it all myself RD! i have some stuff in the works right now but some of these people on here with their great ideas can help to.

 

[RiverDave]

i cant do it all myself RD! i have some stuff in the works right now but some of these people on here with their great ideas can help to.

I think ya misunderstood what i was sayin.. Not breakin my heart by delegating.. breakin my heart by advertising with my largest competitor.

Truthfully though I was just joking. If it benefts ski racing then have at it!

RD

 

[whiteworks]

All great ideas....banners, Advertising in performance boats....

but ive got enough on my plate as it is...why dont you guys take over the advertising.

ill officially make you part of the region 2 board...whiteworks you are officially named advertising chairman for the 2010 season. readyyyy GO!

I am truly flattered by the offer, but I don't like the title "Advertising Chairman". If I were to accept such a position I would need a really cool title like " Chief Restructuring Officer" or "Public Relation Czar". On a serious note I think I can help in some capacity, for now you can refer to me as an "Event Development Liaison" with no formal ties. I would like to help promote the grass roots event at the puddle. I feel that this event is truly worthy and not caught up in all the political mumbo jumbo of the past. As I understand things there is no promotional budget, that will need to change. I am not talking big money but enough to do some cool fliers to be hung locally at boat shops, skate shops, businesses, college campuses, bars, restaurants, youth groups, boy scouts, Indian guides you name it. I would think that a good press release needs to be written (who, what, when, Where, why) and pushed to the local media (news papers, radio stations, television stations ect..) The one thing that seriously should be considered is a banner next to the freeway prior to the event, there is a major amount of people that drive by there every day and I have seen banners hung there before for events at the puddle. As I mentioned above I am willing to help out where I can.

 

[Crazyhippy]

Newspapers, magazines etc are usually looking for articles. This is an "extreme" sport, yet family friendly. It would take a decent writer 30 min to an hour to crank out a newspaper/magazine snippet that could be run before a race, and about the same for an article after the race, a few pics (mine are free to use). Maybe a Pre-season article including dates/locations to send to the more commone boating mags, ski mags, wakeboard mags...

 

[whiteworks]

So what's the plan "Shut up and ski"?

 

[Skyskier]

we cant say shut up anymore? i swore i graduated kidergarden already....

the reason wildone and i are saying show up or shut up is because we show up, every time, we are there to support selection races, fun races, circle races, nationals, and any other kind....we are the ones keeping the sport going...and a lot of people commenting on here havent been to a ski race since Clinton was president...so its a little crazy to hear them saying the best way to bring back ski racing is shut down our most popular form of it..when they dont even know the who what what when where or why of ski racing in its current form.

thanks to everyone who plans to attend races in the 2010 season...it wont be just all about the world team. every member is appreciated.

So what is the current plan? All this he said she said is retarded and I can see why people quit showing up, hell this thread is not even fun to read now. From what I am reading here you guys are spread out all over the place and I have not read any clear and concise plan of attack.

I just spent the last hour an a half re-visiting this thread, started 10-20-09 ran till 1-19-10, 26 pages, 260 post's , .................makes me think of a dog chasing it's own tail ...........and I see a VERY STRONG I,I,I, me, me , me attitude/mentality. I also see the same 4 or 6 "active ski racer's" that get thier feelings all butt hurt, roll up thier ski-lines an go home, if the thread get's away from ANYTHING other than the world's or marathon's. I started the thread, "what's your take on the demise of waterskli racing " a few day's back an for the most part I was told to keep my opinion to myself ............WTF do I know ? ( I'm the "somebody that started the thread that has been away from ski racing for sometime, :blah::blah::blah: I'm a past high point class champion, I won a men's open race at Parker, wayyyyyyy back in the old day's, skiing against the best in the United States at the time, guy's like Butch Peterson, Chuck Stearns, Mike Dixon, Mike Harker, Rick Fowler, Danny Churchill, Rick Cowles, Mike Murphy to name just a few, that in itself gives me the "earned right" to post up ANYTHING on a ski racing related thread whether YOU like it or not. You had a post from an ex commodore, of one of the biggest ski racing clubs, EVER, he's also an ex race chairman of the Catalina race, expressing HIS thoughts on the status of ski racing today :thumbsup:thumbsup,............did ANYBODY even acknowledge his input ? answer...... , kinda , exactly 6 words "hit the nail on the head"
evidently, there was nothing "positive" about world's or marathon races so it wasn't "note worthy ? "
You "active ski racer's" have had almost a year to use this forum as your own personal "ski racing" website/forum, FOR FREE , and what have you done with it ? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING,........I see the SAME 6 or 8 of you on here ? you come on here sniveling & whinning about the lack of interest in the sport, the lack of sponsorship money etc., etc., etc. Then when one of you, Firecracker, starts a thread on "positives in ski racing today" an gets MORE post's about running behind the flatty's in circle racing ( like we did in the "old day's , when we had to run heat races because there were sooooo many people showin up to race ) and NOT the marathon's or the world's, ya roll up your ski lines an tell us "old guy's" to "keep your opinion's to ourselves" and "shut up an ski "( our way ) ..................And in closing, I'm gonna tell you ALL , the biggest mistake you've made here on these boards was pissin of Whiteworks with your "shut up an ski ( our way ) mentality" .................I've only met Dylan twice in person BUT I can tell you, he WAS the BEST shot you've had at reviving what's left of your sport. And what ever happened to OZ dude ? I don't seem to recall ANYBODY askin him how the sport got to be so HUGE in Austrailia ,...........they gotta be doing something right over there.

The preceeding opinion and views are no reflection on views of RDP or it's management,....... I came up with that stuff ALL BY MYSELF

 

[RiverDave]

Well actually...

that in itself gives me the "earned right" to post up ANYTHING on a ski racing related thread whether YOU like it or not.

It's a public forum, and anybody can post up their opinions.. I dunno about "earning" it... Maybe by having some history some will give it more credit then others?

I have never won a ski race.. I've never observed in a boat.. I've never driven in a ski race.. I've never skied in a race.

All I've done is give away a couple thousand t-shirts.. I dunno what is best for Ski Racing, but I like to hear peoples thoughts on it.. Some I don't agree with, some I do.. but that is what makes the world interesting. If we all thought the same way the world would be an awful boring place.

I'm sorting somethings out right now with my businesses / my personal life / my boat stable etc..

At some point though I will be more heavily involved in ski racing.. Right now though, no boat, no equip.. Only thing I can do is try to get people interested.

RD

 

[whiteworks]

Denny, I am not pissed off, just pissed on I am still more than willing to get out there pound the pavement, kick in office doors, and make shit happen. However without at least a mission statement and well thought out proposed long term plan for the future of water ski racing in the United States I'd just be waisting my time. There is no point in even talking to real deal people/orginizations/businesses/corporations ect.. without propper objectives outlined that will show the potential benefits that they could reap from being involved. There is a great thread on PB about this kind of stuff that RCL started, I recomend anyone that gives a shit check it out

http://www.performanceboats.com/html/forums/showthread.php?t=69716

 

[Firecracker]

And what ever happened to OZ dude ? I don't seem to recall ANYBODY askin him how the sport got to be so HUGE in Austrailia ,...........they gotta be doing something right over there.

I can tell you one HUGE difference between the US and Australia... They have a lot more water available to them to race on. When was the last time we were able to completely shut down Parker for 2 days to run a river race dam to dam? Unfortunately, ski racing alone isn't the only racing affected by this... The circle boats are having a harder time finding water to race on as well. The only thing that makes it easier for them is the fact that they aren't dragging some moron on a ski line behind their boat. So they are able to race at place like Lake Ming, because it is large enough to accommodate them. But racing places like Marine Stadium present HUGE difficulties for everyone involved, because the locals who moved in there and built their homes LONG after the stadium was built, like to piss moan snivel and whine about boats making noise there for 2 days out of their whole damn year!!! They can't make any noise before 8am (I believe) and you have to be completely shut down by 8pm. So that means, if you blow a motor or crash, and need to stay up all night to swap motors/fabricate parts/etc., well, your S.O.L. because you have to be out of there by 8pm. It's things like this that make it harder for us to find water. Granted Marine Stadium is a bit narrow to run a legit ski race there, but these are problems that we run into everywhere (we meaning boat racing, ski racing, etc.). We try to make due with who will let us run where. Elsinore is a great place, but there are only certain times of the year that we are allowed to run there. More and more water gets shut down each year. Sad fact. I'm sure there are many more reasons as to why Australia is doing better, but the one main problem is the lack of water available to us in CA,AZ, and NV. I'm sure if we went back east there would be more available water, but in this economy, that's not really feasible.