Wakeboarding targets Vegas

Nationally-ranked wakeboarding team overcomes difficulties, hopes to compete in Las Vegas nationals

Even though the Georgia College wakeboarding team currently ranks ninth nationally, it’s still has to go to great efforts in order to practice since it doesn’t officially own a boat for practices.
The team overcomes this challenge by borrowing rides from friends in order to practice and despite the cold weather, it still gets into the Lake Sinclair water and practices year-round in order to compete.
“I have a house on the lake, so I let the team come when they need to practice,” freshman accounting major Jordan Fletcher said. “I’m more of a water-skier than a wake boarder on the team.”
In addition to regular wakeboarding, the team also tries to practice collegiate cable wakeboarding.
Competing using cables and ramps, it’s somewhat like zip lining in the water.
Two members of the team hope to compete in a cable wakeboarding competition sometime this season, but it’s not a sure thing.
It can be difficult to practice for that kind of competition because so much special equipment is needed.
The team tries to practice at least once a week, sometimes more.
The team members don’t mind the cold.
In fact, after a long winter, with very little practice they can’t wait to get back out on the water.
The team cannot wait for their next competition, but, as of right now, it isn’t until April.
“We practice until it is unbearably cold,” sophomore business management and business marketing major Robby Campbell said.
They have had a very competitive season, and they are hoping to attend the 2011 Empire Wake Collegiate Wake Series Championships April 18 through 22 in Las Vegas.
There are approximately 20 members on the team, but each team is only allowed to have one female and seven single division wake boarders compete in the series.
There are over 40 teams fighting to get a spot in this competition, but only the best sixteen teams in the nanation are invited to the event. They compete in their brackets and are scored until there is a winner. The competitors are scored based on completion of tricks, the quality and difficulty of tricks and more. The winner of this competition will be the champion of all collegiate wakeboarding.
“It has been a very competitive season,” sophomore pre-engineering major Marcus Moreloi.
It is an honor to be invited to such an event, but GC currently does not have the funds to attend. The team is looking for sponsors, as well as putting together fundraising events in the hopes that it will be able to accumulate enough money by the deadline. The top sixteen teams have two weeks to get their money in, or they may have to forfeit their spot in the competition.
“I can’t wait to get back out on the water,” junior exercise science major Paige Carver said. “Everyone asked for wetsuits for Christmas, so we would be able to get in the water while it’s cold.”

Posted by MorganWilson on Jan 26 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.