WWA, INT League or USA Waterski

Hey folks, can you give me your input regarding which of these organizations is the best, in your opinion, for locally sponsored, amatuer, grassroots events. I'd REALLY appreciate input from folks that have competed in at least one non-wakeboard discipline, say kneeboard for example.

I'd GREATLY appreciate any and all feed back.

What kind of feedback are you looking for?

My family competes in all three and has for years. Each has its upsides and downsides. For one thing it depends where you live.

USAWaterski is very limited in its grass roots tournaments. It does very well hosting waterskiing but not much is happening with wakeboarding. There are really good kneeboard events in FL.

WWA- Great pro stops and nationals but paraphrasing Forrest Gump "WWA tournaments are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get." There is no standard and all it means is that the WWA is providing insurance. They can be very good, ie Glass and Powder tournaments, or absolutely horrible. WWA only does wakeboarding

INT- Is probably the best bet for grassroots. You know what you are getting. The tournaments are standardized. It is very family orientd and the scoring is objective which is bad and good. You get points for tricks but it takes away from emphasisng style sometimes. SOmetimes the wake is small for Expert and Outlaw. It is definetly the best for novice and intermediate and you can kneeboard and wakeboard there and ski.

Conclusion- If your looking for a wakeboard and a kneeboard venue there is only one choice- INT.

Most of all keep it fun. My kids range from Jr Novice getting points for butt sliding and kneeboarding to a Pro Tour rider. Remember people who put on tournaments are usually volunteers and make a few mistakes but all in all do a pretty good job. I think competing is great if that's your thing and these grass root tournaments can be a lot of fun. But it is up to us, the riders and parents, to make it fun. Good luck

http://www.intleague.com

David, thanks so much for your input and I would GREATLY appreciate anyone else's experience and views. I've been to the WWA website and you're right they proclaim WAKEBOARD only. So I would think that would limit them for local grassroots events. Now, I was in a USA Waterski backed event in MN that was simply put, the best, most well run event I have ever been to. There was nothing but wakeboarding and wakesurfing there. Not even a waterski around. Is it possible that the bigger factor in these contests is like you point out, the quality of the volunteers?

Does anyone have any experience with organizing an event through these organizations? Which one is easier to work with, less "political" for the local organizer?

David, I really appreciate you taking the time and giving me your insight. I particularly like your eye towards family orientation.

I think David was correct about where you do it. USA Waterski does ok in some states like Michigan and maybe Ohio. INT is stronger in some states and areas than others. Some WWA events are good in certain areas. Where do you ride? Which state

Hi Natalie, we reside in California, but this past summer we went to several different States to get a feel for "best practices" if you will. I'm not really limiting my question to a geographic region. But...what I am hearing you and David say is that it's not so much the hosting agency as it is the people involved. Which, I presume, is what would cuase the inconsistentcy from region to region. Does anyone have a feel for which organization is the best OVERALL? Without regard to a specific pocket of states? Thank you Natalie for your time and input, I do appreciate it.

That is going to be a very subjective opinion. It all depends on what aspects are important to you. If your in CA you might want to check out the INT Nationals this year. They are in Bakersfield in October. It will give you a good feel what that is all about. 400 participants in wake ski, knee and skate and a couple of thousand people. Also the wakeboard clubs out there seem to be pretty good. Have you hooked up with them?

I ride in the INT its pretty good, i got to go to nationals last year and its in cali, it alot of fun. the whole atmophere is awsome!! I'm not sure about WWA, but i hear its pretty good to.

David, you are absolutely correct, there will be NO objectivity to the opinions at all. However, it would be easy to see a pattern develop...that is if I can get enough folks to respond. Yeah, I've been to a number of INT events, as well as WWA and USA Wakeboard. Just not enough to see any discernable pattern.

Jeff i see that you are from stockton. That is where my family resides. We are currently involved in the int tournaments. I'm sure you have been to some of the events. if you need any more info about them you can check out the web site and click on the central cal region. this should give you the contact info for chuck and debbie ackerson.(sorry if i butchered the names)
I think overall the int is the most consistently run event. I'm not saying they run the best events or that they get the most participants but they do have a uniform system for running the tournaments, and the way the divisions are broken up. This helps people know where they belong in reguards to divisions. Also the int in our area runs kneeboarding and wakeskating the same day as wakeboarders. Waterskiing is usually on saturdays. If you need any more info feel free to email me and i can get you the apropriate contacts.

Jeff,

The biggest part of all the grassroots events are the people that run it. Regardless of what sanctioning body is used, if the people that are running the event are not organized it will be a disaster. Some grassroots organizers may favor skier or kneeboarders over wakeboarder or visa versa and it will show in the event. I think that you can't judge the parenting body by the local competitions.

I've reseached all three organizations, and I would compare it to buying a car. Just because it is good for me doesn't mean it is good for you. I think that WWA is super easy to deal with and I love working with them. However, I have also spoken to USA Wakeboard people and they have been super friendly and helpful. I haven't dealt with INT directly, but I have participated in their sanctioned events. There are many difference in the organizations regarding costs. The cost of sanctioning an event and the cost to riders. In all honesty you need to decide which santioning body fits your needs - judging standards, cost, divisions, rules, etc.

Matt, I'll PM you tomorrow for some contact info, I went to the INT league's website and tried to email the local rep, but neever got any sort of response.

Chris, I really am just looking for folks opinions. I won't make any decisions solely on someones opinion, but I would sure like to hear it. I'd very much like to hear what you've found in your research, would you mind sharing it with me - feel free to pm me if you'd rather.

Thanks both of you.