kids beating pros

slideit 05-31-2009, 6:48 PM

i'm new at this but love to ride and learn. after seeing all the new names at texas i just keep wondering how in the world do kids beat pros. 15 year old harley clifford and 12 year old meaghan ethel. i want to eat what they're eating!!!!!!!!

(bzager) · (bzager) **Join Date: Apr 2009** 05-31-2009, 6:52 PM

...and i wanna smoke what there smoking!

(luke_j) · (luke_j) **Join Date: Jul 2008** 05-31-2009, 7:36 PM

Harley's like 17 or 18... and is very much a pro himself. Megan spends a lot of time training under Ferrarro, arguably the best coach in the world. Womens wakeboarding doesn't seem to have as driven of competitors as mens, it seems, so the girls that are really putting effort into it (Raimie Meritt, Nicola, and Megan) are really seeing the fruits of their labor. Not many girls are pushing as hard as those 3 are.

(trewblu) · (trewblu) **Join Date: Sep 2007** 05-31-2009, 7:59 PM

compared to them im a piece of crap

(wakedad33) · (wakedad33) **Join Date: Oct 2005** 05-31-2009, 8:01 PM

Harley is 16, but your right Luke he is very much a Pro.

(helix_rider) · (helix_rider) **Join Date: Mar 2003** 05-31-2009, 8:01 PM

Trew...do you have fun riding? I'm a jumkpile next to them too, and I've been riding for 7+ years...but I have fun riding. Enjoy it for what it is, a great hobby that relieves stress :-)

(guido) · (guido) **Join Date: Jul 2002** 05-31-2009, 8:37 PM

Harley's been riding for a lot of years. Couple that with being young, fearless and talented and it's a tough combo to beat.

Remember Danny Harf when he was 15 and killing the pro's?

(boost) · (boost) **Join Date: May 2009** 06-01-2009, 1:55 AM

harley has been riding for a while,he used to live near me and we rode together for a while.he has worked hard to get to that level i hope i can get to that level when i get to his age. bill his dad took him out all the time. congratulations harley and congratulations bill. yeah HARLEY

from TONY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW4fKqnYkYA

(bill_c) · (bill_c) **Join Date: Apr 2009** 06-01-2009, 1:58 AM

Hi

Harley is only 15 yrs old

Bill

(aussie_mum) · (aussie_mum) **Join Date: Jul 2007** 06-01-2009, 2:44 AM

Yeh HARLEY! Well done - enjoy!!! Life Is Good Hey? You're a dedicated athlete and your hard work has paid off :-)

(stephan) · (stephan) **Join Date: Nov 2002** 06-01-2009, 11:20 AM

Tony, sweet video young brother. Keep it up, you will make it to the ranks as well!!

(wakebrdr38) · (wakebrdr38) **Join Date: Sep 2006** 06-01-2009, 11:38 AM

WHAT! that X star has a wedge?!?!?!?!?

(fly135) · (fly135) **Join Date: Jun 2004** 06-01-2009, 11:48 AM

Great riding Tony.

(mobv) · (mobv) **Join Date: Jun 2002** 06-01-2009, 12:01 PM

It was just 4 years ago the Phil Soven was winning on tht tour at the age of 15. Hard to believe he is only 19 (may have just turned 20) and is a veteran on the tour. So Harley is not the first "kid" to beat the pros.

(rmack) · (rmack) **Join Date: Jul 2005** 06-01-2009, 12:15 PM

It's called fear, the younger you are the less you have.

(dirwoody) · (dirwoody) **Join Date: Apr 2003** 06-01-2009, 12:58 PM

Kids bounce back a lot quicker too. I get rocked on something, it may take me a week to walk right again!

(jtnz) · (jtnz) **Join Date: Sep 2007** 06-01-2009, 5:51 PM

Parks won his first X Games at 14 didn't he?

(bill_c) · (bill_c) **Join Date: Apr 2009** 06-02-2009, 1:50 AM

who cares he's 15yr old and won the texas tour stop, and I am so proud of my son, congratulations harley you have worked hard and deserve the win. I only wish I could have been there with you mate.

Dad

(focker) · (focker) **Join Date: Aug 2006** 06-02-2009, 3:27 AM

this kid is disgusting. Blind petes off the wake? slim 5's, moby 5's, ts bs 5's and so on...

The difference between Soven and this kid is that 5 years ago when Phil was Froggy the standard of riding was not what it currently is. You really have to be on top of your game to make a final these days much less win a tour stop.

Does anyone know how many people are even doing blind pete's? The only ones I know of are Danny, Phil and Harley... surely theres a few more??

(dirwoody) · (dirwoody) **Join Date: Apr 2003** 06-02-2009, 5:18 AM

Agreed. He kills it. No doubt I was surprised to see him at the top of the podium, but it's refressing in my book to see a new face up there. Congrats Harley

(mallenger) · (mallenger) **Join Date: Jun 2006** 06-02-2009, 5:22 AM

congrats to you too Bill C... You must have done something just right.

(jarrod) · (jarrod) **Join Date: May 2003** 06-02-2009, 8:05 AM

"but it's refressing in my book to see a new face up there"

Totally. Other riders in his heats will be riding a lot harder lol.

steelethis 06-02-2009, 8:49 AM

http://www.thewakeplace.com/?p=472

There's a video of feature of Meagan. I stayed in Orlando on spring break with a buddy Andrew Shearer with who Meagan lives with down there and really saw how much work goes into her performance. Unlike much of what most of us were used to after school..."baseball, football, basketball practice", these kids go to wakeboard practice lol. And for obvious reasons it's paying off. Taylor McCullough is another up and coming female shredder. They both come up for our local WWA event the E-Town Throwdown in KY and really blow some minds.

(eternalshadow)

It's not new to wakeboarding, or other sports for that matter.

One can look to the NHL to see the recent number of 18 year olds who have been drafted directly to the pro team who have made immediate impacts.

It's the same with wakeboarding except they don't have a rigid draft system. When these younger stars hit similar levels of technical riding we see them push to the top! There will be big names steady to the sport for years and there will be names that show up for shorter stints but all in all someone is going to be pushing the big dawgs!

(cheesydog) · (cheesydog) **Join Date: Mar 2009** 06-03-2009, 8:19 PM

ha ha damn, I wish I'd had "wakeboarding practice" when I was a kid instead of the other sports I did which Ive completely given up on.

(xistential) · (xistential) **Join Date: Jul 2007** 06-03-2009, 8:43 PM

You talk about kids beating pros but Raimi only turned 16 2 months ago and Nicola turned 17 2 weeks ago. So while they might be pros,they themselves are still kids.

(lachie_mew) · (lachie_mew) **Join Date: Jul 2007** 06-04-2009, 1:38 AM

umm the only people who have ever landed a blind pete off a straight wake are danny, soven, harley and mitch langfield, im not sure if rusty has done one of a straight wake but he has off the double up.

(mckenna) · (mckenna) **Join Date: Mar 2008** 06-04-2009, 2:36 AM

loving the vids from the boat. so much better than the ones from shore. sick run harley!