Free wakeboarding demos help grow sport

PORT BARRINGTON – Can you throw a tantrum?

How about a tootsie?  Or a batwing? Or a simple tail press?

If you head out to the Broken Oar Marina Bar and Grill in Port Barrington any Wednesday through Aug. 4, those terms may make a little more sense.

The world of wakeboarding  –  an action sport that has been gaining popularity the last decade – is a sport opened up to people of all ages through a special weekly event called the Midweek Wake Up Series.

Sponsored by All-Actionsports.com, Chicago MasterCraft, Raging Buffalo and other high-profile entities in the action sport industry, the Wednesday afternoon series provides people with the opportunity to learn to wakeboard through new equipment demonstrations behind top-of-the-line skiboats – all while professional wakeboarders throw out instructions for improvement.

The series is a chance for dealers to showcase their newest gear, but just as importantly, it’s a chance to grow the sport, said Mark Michelini, owner of Chicago MasterCraft and a coordinator of the series.

“We’ll run 100 riders in the course of one Wednesday night,” Michelini said. “The sport’s progressed a ton in our area. Part of the reason we started the Midweek Wake Up Series was to bring us all together so we can feed off each other and learn from each other. [Riders] could be just learning today, and then know 10 tricks next week.”

Taught by pros
The people who take out newcomers – or those who have basic and intermediate wakeboarding skills – during the Midweek Wake Up Series are some of the best pro wakeboarders and instructors in the area.

Mark Norwell of Arlington Heights claims to be the first person to ever wakeboard on the Fox River. Among other titles, the 39-year-old has won nationals four times and worlds once in a sport that continues to grow each day.

“It started with basically surfing behind the boat and putting bindings on the surfboard,” Norwell said. “It just started to develop.”

Professional wakeboarders from as far away as Hawaii recognize Norwell for his instructional videos on wakeboarding, which were some of the first to ever be posted on the Internet. Now, he spends most Wednesdays teaching the sport he helped develop in the Midwest.

“The real thrill is just seeing new people ride,” Norwell said. “To see [the sport] evolve has just been amazing. I’ve been there every step of the way.”

Keith Duck, owner of Raging Buffalo in Algonquin , has taught more beginning wakeboarders than probably anyone in a 10-state radius, the 53-year-old said.

In the past nine years since he opened the wakeboarding portion of his snowboarding business, he’s taught 500 visitors each summer, he said. Less than 10 people in all that time have not been able to stand up on a wakeboard by the time he’s through teaching.

“[Keith] is one of the best beginner level coaches out there,” Michelini said.

Duck has his students – from 5-year-olds to 75-year-olds – learn how to get up on a wakeboard by first tying a rope to a light pole to simulate being pulled behind a boat. By the time students actually get in the water for their first run, they've already practiced the proper technique several times, he said.

Bringing it all together
For those past the novice stage, professional riders like Nick Cankar of Lake Villa are out on boats to teach tricks during the Midweek Wake Up Series.

The 26-year-old can do a 720, two complete spins in the air; a whirlybird, a backflip with a 360-degree twist; and countless other tricks. He wants others to be able to do the same.

“The good thing about this [series] is you see other people doing this, and you’re so much more confident,” Cankar said. “The more people you get in one area in the sport, the more progression you get.”

Every Wednesday at dusk, Cankar and his teammates put on demos for riders. It’s a chance to show off their own skills and learn from each other, as well.

"I think that's why action sports do grow," Duck said. "It's always that someone wants to invent a trick nobody ever did or duplicate a trick someone else has done and put a new spin on it."
Joe Montalto of Darien agreed.

“The best part of wakeboarding is it’s always going,” the 24-year-old former competitive wakeboarder said. “There’s always someone coming up with a new trick ... [or] a new boat coming out. That just steps the game up every year.”

Michelini said 30 percent of Wednesday riders are repeat customers coming every week to increase their skill level.

And they’re not all guys, either.

Laura Lohrmann, 34, of Antioch rode the pro circuit for eight years, making her way into the top five female riders in the world – a title she kept for five years. She placed second in the 2008 Wake Games, and though she hasn’t competed the last two years, she’s still active in the wakeboarding community.

She teaches wakeboarding as often as possible because she wants other girls to get in on the act, she said.

“The more girls out there, the better,” she said. “Girls can do it, and when girls see people like me who can ride at the level I ride, they go, ‘Oh, it’s not just for guys.’”

Wakeboarding will continue to grow  if there are ways for people to get into it, Cankar said. That’s why the Midweek Wake Up Series is key to the area.

“This is huge for wakeboarding,” Cankar said. “People who go have access to wakeboarding once a week. And it’s free. And they get to ride with all the best riders in the area.”

To read about the experiences of newcomers to the sport of wakeboarding, click here.

If you go ...

• The Midweek Wake Up Series takes place at 3 p.m. Wednesdays through Aug. 4. For more information, visit www.all-actionsports.com. Monster Energy, Mitsubishi Motors and other sponsors help make the series a free event.
• Ladies Day Out, a ladies-only wakeboard clinic taught by pro rider Laura Lohrmann, will take place Thursday, July 22. The morning session will run from 8 a.m. to noon; the afternoon session will run from 1 to 5 p.m. There is a limit of five ladies a session; cost is $100 a person. Reserve a spot at www.ragingbuffalo.com/ladiesdayout or call 847-224-2820.
• Both clinics start at the Broken Oar Marina Bar and Grill, 614 Rawson Bridge Road, in Port Barrington.