WWA Worlds

The WWA Worlds is going to be at OWC last weekend in August. It's the same weekend as the WWC Worlds in S. Korea.
Normally if you do not compete in the WWC Worlds you do not get invited to the World cup. So how exactly is that going to work??

also same weekend as Canadian Nationals...sad that the best from Canada may skip to go to World's. Shouldn't there be co-ordination to allow country's to get their Nationals in before World's?

So it is going to be at OWC? That's cool.

Mike where's the Canadian nationals this year.

david,
Canadian Nationals are scheduled for the weekend of Aug. 27th in Peterborough, Ont. http://www.kawarthalakeswakeboard.com/KLWOPEN.html

i think all the different organisations with all their different rules are rediculous.
i think wakeboarding should start their own 'dream tour' just like the asp surfing.

I agree with dave. I think none of these organizations are truly legitimate and recognized by the majority of all wakeboarders around the world. We have at least two cable "world champions" for 2008. But then - who actually cares about the titles? I think all wake events should be done like some kind of festivals - just go there, meet friends, ride with them, have fun. And if you want to tell who is riding best - it should be done with voting involving riders and spectators. No rules, no regulations. Thats the only way to let the sport go in its natural direction.

thanks mike.
thats too bad though i was hoping they'd come back out west...

I also agree that a "Dream Tour" would be the best. It seems to me that a world title should be earned through points and not just one contest.

surely there's enough time between now and august for some people to re-schedule things a little...?!

I doubt if any of the sanctioning bodies will give way. I have gotten criticized over the years for bashing these organizations, but now maybe folks will see what my beef is, and I have been on the business end of this sport for a long time. If you want to grow the sport, revenues, whatever, there has to be compromise. It seems the wakeboarding industry is only interested in keeping it within there own little group. Shame. Bummer.

"It seems to me that a world title should be earned through points and not just one contest."

That would be K&Q of Wake. Earned over 9 comps.

I am really interested to see how the WWC are going to handle this. They have very strict rules regarding the World Cup. You don't compete in their Worlds you don't get invited to the World Cup events.
Most of the top pros only go to WWC Worlds because the 1st stop is the day after the finals and the prize money is substantial.

So now what are they going to do and how are countries going to pick their teams as most of the top riders will choose WWA?
You would think in these difficult times the governing bodies would put their differences aside for the good of the sport?

Hey Chris,
This problem isn't new obviously, and doesn't just happen in wakeboarding unfortunately. Until there's ONE (1) International Organizing Body that's responsible for the sport, there will always be scheduling conflicts IMO.

I know a few years back, the reps from both WWA & USA Wakeboard had been closing the gap and trying to work together. I've been out of the pro judging & competition scene for a number of years now so I don't know what the current relationship is between both organizations. It's no secret that the WWA is looked upon as the true international organization of wakeboarding, where the WWC falls under the IOC umbrella if I'm not mistaken, and probably has a different mission statement/vision, in mind. (If I'm wrong, please correct me).

Most sports that I know of which had multiple (2+) organizations were forced to merge at some point, mainly for the betterment of their sport. In other sports, it's the responsibility of the Main (International) Governing Body to dictate the global competition schedule for the season and then each country works their domestic schedule around that. The goal being to keep conflicts to a minimum.

Obviously, the main objective of both the WWA & WWC is to have the largest participation numbers at their respective events. How they go about it will always be a topic of debate, that is until they can either join forces or learn to coexist successfully. I guess that's the BIG question, is there a way for both organizations to coexist and avoid scheduling conflicts like this? Probably, but it would have to take some serious sacrifice from both sides to make that happen. Again, I haven't been around the comp scene for many years so maybe this is already happening. But if a major conflict like this is occurring, I would guess not.

With the current economic situation, it's no surprise that rules & incentives are created to "strong arm" riders into attending events. I know that this doesn't answer your question, but hopefully gives a different insight into correcting the problem eventually. When I was more involved, I had said the same things to the heads of the WWA & USA Wakeboard.

A big part of my job as a coach is creating a domestic schedule within our organization that's balanced with the international schedule, which makes the most sense in terms of giving our athletes the best chance of competing at their highest level in international events. I know that's not the only goal in wakeboarding but since many pro's make their living in competitions, I feel there is some carryover value here.

The WWC Rules are nothing new they also told all the riders at the 2005 worlds the same song and dance that if they chose not to attend they were not eligible for any of the World Cup events yet many still chose not to participate, yet got an Invite to the next World Cup event in Singapore. While other Riders who made finals never got the same Invite. The World Cup is strictly a Cash Grab for the IWSF who have chosen to send an event to anywhere they are will ing to write a fat cheque. Last year In Egypt was a perfect example where they water was so bad they could not even put a boat in the water.

That about sums it up. The top people that attend the Worlds will ride in the 1st stop to make up the numbers and then they will be dumped for the worlds best at the next stops.Probably rightly so if you are trying to promote the sport
The womens exclusion, however, will continue.