WW: Okay, let's start with your name, age, and location
SG: Summer Joy Galloway, 21, Morgan City, Louisiana.

WW: What's Morgan City like?
SG: It's a very small town…7 minutes from one end to the other, surrounded by water, kind of like an island, with a lot of bayous and swamps and the best water in the world, in my opinion.

WW: Compared to?
SG: Florida, Baton Rouge and Monroe.

WW: What do you do in Morgan City?
SG: I'm a student nurse at Nicholls State University.

WW: What year?
SG: Junior year.

WW: So, how long have you been riding?
SG: I started in August of 1999, but last year was my first full summer of riding.

WW: How'd you get started?
SG: David, my boyfriend, had bought an old Hyperlite Rebel when we first started. We shared it and I had to use the extra large bindings. We have a friend named Jaysen who had a bass boat that we learned behind.

WW: What made him buy a board and what made you want to try it? Did you see it on TV or something?
SG: No. Jaysen and his friends, Kevin and James, rode before behind the bass boat, several times. Dave and I got to see them and he wanted to try it so he bought a very old and used Rebel. Three weeks after that, I finally decided to not be afraid of the water and tried.

WW: What were you afraid of?
SG: The alligators.

WW: Alligators? No need to say more. I wouldn't have gotten in the water! How long did you ride the Rebel?
SG: We rode it for about two to three months. Then I moved on to a Liquid Force Squirt.

WW: Are you still on the Squirt?
SG: No. David bought me a Hyperlite Belmont 128 for Christmas.

WW: How do you like it?
SG: I love it!

WW: What tricks are you landing and what tricks are you working on?
SG: I'm landing toeside and hellside jumps with grabs and one wake 180's. I'm working on wake to wake 180's and backrolls.

WW: Have you tried backrolls?
SG: Yeah, I came close to landing one at the Louisiana Spring Fling.

WW: What happened?
SG: I caught an edge!

WW: Ouch!
SG: Yeah. I'll get it before the end of summer

WW: Speaking of LSF, was that your first one?
SG: No, it was my second.

WW: What was that experience like?
SG: I was a blast! To me, it wasn't really about wakeboarding, but more about meeting new people. I had two or maybe three pulls that whole weekend, but I still had a lot of fun!

WW: Who do you ride with?
SG: Dave, Bonnie, Seth, Kevin, Jennifer, Jaysen, James and a bunch of people from out of town.

WW: Who pushes you the most?
SG: Dave.

WW: Have you competed?
SG: Yeah, I competed in the INT.

WW: How'd you get into that?
SG: Marty Head of Y2Kp, from Monroe, emailed us and told us about it.

WW: Did you compete the whole season?
SG: No, I only did the one in September.

WW: How'd you do?
SG: I won first place in novice. It was my first tournament. This weekend I will be competing in intermediate.

WW: What are your thoughts on competing? Are there any changes in the format or judging you would make if you could?
SG: Competing is fun as long as you don't let it get the best of you. I think everyone, including myself, tends to get a little competitive when your turn comes around, but, after, you remember it was only for fun. I don't know enough about the judging to make any suggestions yet.

WW: Competing or freeriding?
SG: Freeriding is more fun to me because it's not stressful and you have all of your friends around in the boat and not a group of people evaluating the way you ride.

WW: Are you planning on joining the tournaments this year?
SG: Yeah.

WW: What are your thoughts on women in wakeboarding?
SG: We need more women into wakeboarding and the women now aren't given as much credit as they should.

WW: What do you think men and women need to do?
SG: For the women that are really concerned, they need to step up their skills. The men need to get more women involved, not just male friends.

WW: So what do you do in the off-season?
SG: I try to get better grades in school. We still ride, but not as much.

WW: Do you have any other hobbies?
SG: It's not really a hobby, but I run. I also have pets; Sparky, my dog, and two guinea pigs, Ruby and Abby.

WW: www.KrookedMinds.com…what is it and what's it all about?
SG: It's something that Dave put together, something to spread the word on wakeboarding in Southern Louisiana. It's has now expanded to Florida. It's just a way to meet people and get together and ride.

WW: Do you have any advice to someone just starting out in the sport?
SG: Yeah, just keep riding and encourage others.

WW: Anyone you'd like to say thanks to?
SG: Yeah, David for getting me into wakeboarding, my parents for their support, Ed of Y2Kp, all my friends for their encouragements, the shops that helped us out, Rukus Board Sports, New Orleans Board Sports, Bennett's Wakeboard School and you, Joe, for this expensive, long distance interview!

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