Barrier to Entry

Picture this scenario: on the shore of a ski club in some small town, USA, a young child (let’s call him Tim) watches in fascination as club members get pulled through the slalom course, throwing up walls of spray and having a terrific time doing it. Tim comes from a middle income family who does not live on a lake and does not own a boat of any kind, yet he yearns to try out slalom and put up those same walls of water around those perfectly aligned buoys. The club members are all in their 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s and wave to the child as they drive by, but that’s about as close as Tim will ever get to that slalom course at that age.

Tim finds it easy to play baseball, football, and ride bikes with his friends but there is no "sand lot" for the slalom course. This has a lot to do with the nature of the sport- it requires a boat with an adult driving it in controlled conditions. So maybe there’s not much we can do in the above scenario to get Tim on the water, but maybe there is. How many clubs out there host "open skiing" days? Maybe once a week or month, anyone who wants to try the course can take a pull or two. Sure, it’s taking up valuable time from the club members and probably inviting litigation in the case of an injury, but it’s a thought. I know of at least one club in the Midwest that does this. Here’s another question: how many individuals under the age of 25 belong to clubs with private water in the US? How many own ski boats? Was I the only 23 year old to buy an inboard in the tri-state area back in 2002?

On the other hand, let me ask you this: what’s the point of getting more people into the sport? What’s in it for us- the average serious amateur slalom course skier? I mean, the skis seem good enough, the industry seems to have enough of a heartbeat to provide good enough equipment and innovations year after year. Closed bow boats are becoming more rare, binding (or "binder" as some would say) technology is behind snow ski technology, but hey, we find our water time and for us, the open bow boats work great, rubber bindings do the job, and all is well.

Or maybe it isn’t? Maybe the sport IS actually dying and getting more people into it will benefit the pros and their sponsors, which will drive more innovation, which will bring better products to market, put more competent boaters on public water, drive popularity of courses on public water, create more private lakes, and make it easier for us, the average serious amateur slalom skier to do what we love. Perhaps.

As I’ve said before, in my own case, I didn’t drive an inboard until I bought my own. I didn’t ski a course until I bought my own. I didn’t have access to private water until I was 28. My parents didn’t ski the course back in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s so skiing wasn’t a big priority for our family. Most of the young skiers today are in the course because their parents were involved in skiing years ago, but this cycle will be broken if less and less young skiers get hooked on the course.

So, what to do. When I was at ski school last year, there was a group of 14 or 15 year olds that were slamming down 34mph runs and cutting line the whole time. Nailing flips on trick and just generally tearing up the joint. They were from England, and all belonged to a club there. How? What do they do in Europe that’s any different from here relative to getting kids behind boats? Is there something that can be learned there? Perhaps USA Water Ski could waive or offer insurance discounts for clubs that open their doors to younger members (18-30 year olds?). Who has to step up? Clubs? Industry leaders? It’s winter. Grab a hot toddie and discuss.

Comments:

ScarletArrow, 1/26/2008: Joel - great topic! IMO, the number barrier to entry is NOT cost...it's accessibility and personality. Private water has to somehow become more accessible to outsiders while still maintaining some level exclusivity. Golf courses have figured out how to build a course, add property owners AND outside members without sacrificing the experience. Why can't skiing? In my mind the solution is collaboration. Skiers need to collaborate with other skiers to promote the sport. USAWA needs to colloborate more at the local level with clubs with express intent of expanding accessiblility. Ever try getting an invite to an USAWA tournament? In our area, they are practically "private" tournaments. There needs to be more large ski clubs and less private ski plantations. Why aren't there more Okaheelee's aroudn the country?


Shawna, 1/26/2008: From a college student's point of view, this sport is very difficult to get into. Money is a huge barrier, as well as water/boat/equipment accessibility. It's not easy for someone living on a fixed income to spend the money driving an hour one way to get maybe two sets. It seems cool to have ski buddies, but when you can offer nothing more than boat gas and an extra hand when manual labor is needed, you really feel like you are taking advantage of people....which is not a good feeling. There are several people within the skiing community that are very understanding and accommodating, but on the other hand some people act elitist and act almost insulted by the fact that some college student would even dare ask for a pull. I do understand that there are liability/insurance reasons that someone would be concerned having new people on their lake. Trying to get new people interested in the sport is difficult for that reason and the problem of proper equipment. I don't think most people need new equipment, but having skis, a vest, and maybe gloves that fit can make a huge first impression. You have to get them hooked within the first few times out to keep them coming back, and a lot of that is being nice and showing them that people in the community can be amazing.

I think the local clubs could do much more to get skiing more popular within their communities. Maybe hosting clinics, advertising tournaments, hosting their own non-sanctioned tournaments just for fun. There are a lot of things that can be done on a small scale to get more interested in the sport. So I agree with you SA, there needs to be something more large scale than the small, private ski clubs.


Rodrigo Andai, 1/27/2008: My first sight of private water was when I was 35. However, Juan Carlos Cuglievan, the best slalom skier in Latin America, who is capable of deep 39 off, started at the same age, so there is hope.

In Chile, money is an even bigger issue than in the USA. However, the skiing community is growing. The fact of having two world class skiers, one of which is the best U21 ranked in the world, has put a bit of good publicity.

There are a bunch of kids that are getting into the sport now here, and most of them have non-competitive skier parents. They would ski a set in the course once in a while, but they are mostly weekend skiers who would like to see their kids running shortline, and are ready to spend a lot of money for their training and even for sending them for one month to the USA in winter.

I have seen two guys in the 18-30 year old range getting hooked to the sport. There is also a growing category of people that are getting hooked after 30, when they start making enough money, and the alternative would be to spend the same money on a shrink…

I believe that, although probably the best way of promoting the sport is by having tournaments in public water (like the IWSF world cup), the way of developing slalom waterskiing it is in man made lakes/private water. Good conditions in public water are scarse. And this will keep the sport expensive.


uk exile, 1/27/2008: Getting into higher levels of skiing i.e. more than casual wake crossings, takes a lot of the time & money. Far more than most alternative sports which are available to families. Pick up a bat, or kick a ball and your kid can be a memeer of a competitive team within weeks. Possibly all self taught or learnt from volunteer coaches. Low cost, low parental time. Even some individual sports can be achieved to reasonable high levels in just weeks.
I totally agree with the issues of equipment/boat/water access and think they are major hurdles, however they are solvable given right location and enough cash.
But very few families have enough $$$ for private facilities so then look to some form of club hoping for lower costs. But I suspect for most families even the club scene is too expensive if wanting to get into competitive skiing. Let's face it, getting started into skiing the course and then perhaps into tournaments takes a lot of time for many ski sets and generally some coaching. At higher levels coaching is essential. It's not a self teaching sport. Each session uses fuel to get to the site, boat running costs, boat maintenance, driver, coaching etc. It all adds up to way more $ than most alternative sports.
For most families all they want if for their kids to enjoy sport and gain all the positive life qualites from it. Ultimate sports performance isn't the aim, growing a happy kid is. For those families who are more competitive focused, they may see skiing as a great individual sport. But how many of those competitive families are prepared to put lots of time and money into a sport where they know their kid is very unlikely to reach upper levels without private facilities and virtually full time coaching ? Few I suspect. Our family situation is such that our kids get out at best once every two weeks and get occasional coaching. Any tournaments we attend are with kids who get out several several times per week with fairly regular coaching. Our kids will never take a top prize, novice section is the best hope they have and that's a once'r so we're constantly have to remind our kids it's their own PB that is important to them and not how they measure against the other results. If we didn't I'm fairly sure the fun of it would disppear quickly. It's a shame but the competitive nature and record keeping of this sport is maybe what keeps some people out of it. People want to have fun, not be constantly measured against others. I started this comment thinking time and money were the problem. But finishing this I more thinking it may be the record keeping nature of it that makes many new skiers not continue with the sport, or decide to remain casual occassional skiers 'just for the fun of it'


east tx skier, 1/27/2008: As I've mentioned on my site, slalom skiers are, in a way, antisocial. It stems, in part, from wanting well balanced boats and glassy waters. To this end, limiting involvement to a couple of people per boat is advantageous. But for the sport to have a future, we absolutely have to seed involvement of the young. However, I don't agree that such involvement necessarily has to be in course skiing. I've always said, if you want to get people involved in the sport, spend the day teaching a kid, be it your own or friends and family, to ski. First combos, then slalom. Keep it fun. Once they're up, try to work on fundamentals. But keep it fun. The reason, I'm convinced, so many people are gravitating toward wake boarding is it's easier to get up on a wake board than a slalom ski. While competitive wake boarding is difficult, I don't know of many wake boarders that have the same memory as I do of a patient family friend (we never had boats when I was growing up) who spent the day working to get me up on a slalom ski. It took a flat wooden ski and a double handled rope, but finally did it. My progress was slow and I picked up plenty of bad habits because I didn't have any major instruction until I was 28 or so. But I got to do it just enough to remember how to get up on one ski.

So while getting younger people in the course will certainly foster the competitive end of the sport, I think it's enough to just take someone skiing. Private water is great, but someone getting into the sport will be as interested just getting to do it.

Teach someone to ski!


jhughes, 1/27/2008: ETS- great point. I was hooked into skiing long before the course ever came along. The summer of 2003 was almost 100% barefooting! As for slalom, I initially just wanted to learn how to make really big sprays. I guess that's what initially set the hook way back in 87 or 88.


jhughes, 1/28/2008: ETS- great point. I was hooked into skiing long before the course ever came along. The summer of 2003 was almost 100% barefooting! As for slalom, I initially just wanted to learn how to make really big sprays. I guess that's what initially set the hook way back in 87 or 88.


jhughes, 1/28/2008: The more I think about it I think we have two separate issues- people starting off skiing slalom at all, and getting people who can slalom course time. Both are important issues but I think the course time issue is bigger right now, if that makes any sense.


east tx skier, 1/28/2008: One thing about the course, it lets you know that you're not nearly as good of a skier as you think you are. I learned to ski fairly young, but did not really get into it until I met my wife. I think she mentioned the word "MasterCraft" on our first date. Shortly after we married, we bought her dad's old I/O. He'd recently bought a Pro Star 205. We used that for a year, but having skied behind her father's boat, coming back to the I/O was tough. We bought our 93 205 in February 2003. That April, I ran into the president of our local ski club by accident. He recognized my boat from my description of it on the Nicholls forum and shouted, "East TX Skier?" as we left the marina. We returned to the dock and chatted with him, ultimately getting the low down on the ski club. I don't think I'd have ever known about it were it not for that chance encounter, which wouldn't have happened but for the Nicholls forum. From there, I went skiing with the club guys. In the back of my mind, I thought they would be sufficiently impressed with my then 28 year old natural abilities. Oh, how wrong I was. What a wake up call. I stink and that 63 year old is running into 28 off. They were understanding and tried to give me some tips. But I'm not the type who can instantly apply something like that. I need time to really drill and felt like I was taking away from their water time (although I don't think they saw it that way). A year later, my wife's family gave her a gift certificate for a day at DFW ski school. They surprised me with one, too, so she would have company. This is what really got me into slalom skiing as far as the course is concerned. There really isn't much substitution for professional instruction. The hard part is that both my wife and me are still having to unlearn 20+ years of bad habits. Our plan for our son is to get him to ski school once he can get up on slalom and can ski around without much trouble. We of course want to balance the drilling and challenges of the course with the fun aspect of skiing as it can easily become frustrating. For me, I am just as happy free skiing as in the course. That said, if you watch video of me free skiing, I'm making a series of six turns, then resting. I do much better with the invisible buoys anyway. But in the course or out of it, having just recently put together a dvd for my wife's family of 7 years of family reunions, which is largely ski footage, I am a completely different skier now than I was in 2003. Good to know.


uk exile, 1/29/2008: Perhaps we should compare water skiing with the fast growing wakeboarding. Wakeboarding has really caught on because it can be done behind most boats and does not require high levels of fitness, coaching or specialist equipment and location. Can be done in tiny ponds, canals and even can be done using inexpensive home built winches so participants don't even need a boat. Wake skating is a option and the preferred tow vehicle is a simple jetski or low powered dingy 'tinnie'. It's all about fun and when you do have a boat the more mates watching the better. The competitions and demonstrations are just a big party with great atmosphere for spectators. It's a sport that looks impressive from a spectator point of view. Progress when learning is quick. It's fairly common to go from first ride to performing wake to wake jumps just 3 to 5 rides later. Certainly can't go from two skis to running a single ski through the course in just a few tows !..................When it comes to how popular water skiing is we definitely should consider water skiing, be it free skiing on two skis (or one) as completely different to slalom skiing in a course. The open water type is for fun, can be done behind most boats and goes not require high levels of fitness, coaching or specialist equipment and locations. Slalom by nature generally requires specialist boat, reasonable fitness, some coaching, a slalom course and ideally semi protected one boat at a time location with minimal spectators in the boat. It's also highly technical and proficiency is result based through tournaments or self measurement. Slalom therefore doesn't suit the majority of people whom first are introduced to water skiing, it's all just too hard and almost selfish................Spot the differences of both slalom and open water skiing with the relaxed wakeboarding or wakeskating ? Slalom demands a lot, boarding doesn't. So could open water skiing be made as simple and fun as board riding ? Yes, for the participants but progress during learning is slower. It's great for the skier themselves but it's dull for spectators. To impress spectators needs slalom and high level slalom at that. Even so after just a few runs it all looks the same to uneducated spectators. Whereas every board riding run looks different............Not an easy subject to solve and if it were there would be more people wanting 'my water' and I confess I'm a selfish slalom skier :-)