Logging Your Sets Is The Difference
Wednesday September 1st, 08:51PMI just finished up logging my sets from the Malibu Open in Milwaukee. I didn't do a good job of ski logging leading up to the event, and although I have skied and logged sets since the debacle, I waited until now to enter my sets from the Malibu Open at Juneau Park Pond.
Now's a good time for some re-encouragement to continue logging your sets at this time of year. It's easy to get distracted with the events of a summer, and even easier to get off track. The simple act of recording your thoughts -- via YourSkiLog or on paper, allows you to briefly re-live your set. It takes just moments to recall each of the passes you skied. By taking those simple moments to keep a true record of your skiing, all aspects of your sport will benefit. Your technique, your training habits, your internal motivation must all improve, and to maintain that sort of comitment, if you are not keeping a record you are cheating yourself.
You can use paper, but it's disposable, flamable, can get lost or stolen... Or you can trust YourSkiLog.com - worst case scenario you may loose a week's worth of sets. But certainly no more, and much more likely, we will maintain our trackrecord of securely hosting each Ski Log.
By writing thoughts down about your passes you'll give your brain a chance to catch up with what you may have learned during your sets. Do it.
Your Ski Log
Tuesday August 24th, 11:34AM
The Athletes and a Little Girl who couldn’t stand in line!
To The Pro Water Ski Tour,
My name is Kris Vanden Boom and am an avid water-skier, Husband to my wife Donna, and Father of four beautiful girls. I am writing this first and foremost as a thank you to all those at the Malibu Open that made this a very special event for my family and me. We arrived on Friday afternoon and saw the end of the qualifying round of Slalom and Jump. The kids had a blast and wanted to come back for Saturday’s finals. What was normal was the access we had to the pros that were there. This was completely expected but nonetheless, it was exciting to be so close. What was unexpected was the amazing attention we received as a result of the physical limitations of my daughter McKenzie!
On Saturday, we arrived early to get good seats. We were surrounded by chairs behind and on the sides making it difficult for us to come and go. After the semifinals were done and autograph signing was set up and two of my girls were in line. McKenzie, my other daughter was not able to get in line. You see, she was in her wheel chair and it was tough to get the chair through all the people and even more challenging for her to stand in long lines. That is when I walked up to Debbie Reed (one of the staff members for the pro ski tour) and asked if it would be possible to get a few athletes to come over to where we were sitting and sign McKenzie’s chair.
First, a few skiers that were close by came and signed Kenzie’s chair and spent some time talking to her about adaptive skiing. Among them were Terry Winter, Seth Stisher, Thomas Moore, Billy Susi, Cale Burdick, Jill Knutson (who offers Adaptive Waterskiing back at her school in Lake Stevens, Washington), and others. My mother in law was with us and she was even teary-eyed watching the whole thing. The level of engagement between these athletes and a little girl who couldn’t stand in line was wonderful and had Kenzie grinning from ear to ear. At this time Finals were also getting underway so people flocked to there seats and we were once again surrounded. I was extremely grateful to Debbie and thought that would be it. I had no idea that Debbie was diligently working to get more athletes over to us. One by one they weaved through the people to reach my daughter and give her and us some quality attention. Those around us were somewhat in awe and wonderment as to what was going on. Imagine the looks in there eyes when Marcus Brown made his way to Kenzie, got down, signed the chair, and began talking to us. Grandma had a few more tears. Later it was Chris Rossi signing our Nintendo DS and still later Brooks Wilson tracked us down at the bathrooms (are you kidding me). Seth Stisher set the kids up with H20 Shirts and Jodi Fisher provided Kenzie with a shirt that she has worn 7 out of the last 10 days. These athletes are far more than just accessible at these events. To say that is a complete understatement. Yes they want to promote the sport, product lines, boats, etc… In the end they are far more giving than any other group of athletes I can think of. Try getting this kind of response in the middle of a pro football game or baseball game. I was genuinely impressed by the interest that all of the coaches had around adaptive waterskiing. Seth Stisher, April Coble-Eller, and obviously Jill Knutson were just a few who really seemed interested. I would like to encourage all of the schools in the country to consider offering programs and providing equipment with the support of local therapeutic suppliers.
Finally, there were others signing the DS player and the chair but the final highlight came in the dark with a packed crowd when April Coble-Eller made her way over. She apologized for taking so long. The Malibu Open Women’s Champ, winning her first Major Pro Tournament, celebrating and enjoying the moment, apologized for taking so long!!! She gave almost all of her bracelets to my kids, spent time with McKenzie, shared pictures of her family, and just relaxed with us for a little while!
So, all in all, I would say we are ready for the Malibu Open to come back to Milwaukee next year. Until then, a heart felt thank you to all the athletes, to those who ran the event, Tinus Marine, and especially to Debbie Reed.
The Vanden Boom Family!
Watch the Malibu Open on WebCast-TV
Friday August 13th, 01:21PMLast Week's Malibu Open from Downtown Milwaukee was on tape delay. So, in case you haven't seen it yet, here it is in all its glory:
