Dear Wakeskating
Below you will find a lot of words. Too many for the Internet in fact. I don’t blame you if you don’t want to read them all, or even some of them for that matter. But please enjoy this gallery of some of my favorite wakeskate shots from the past six or so years.
Dear Wakeskating,
Itās over. Iām moving on. But first, I have a few things I want to get off of my chest.
Over the past six years, wakeskating has changed my life, introduced me to some of the best people Iāve ever known, and taken me to some amazing places. It has also caused me much stress, and made me cry more times than I like to admit. Though I never made the move to Orlando (sorry, I like mountains and snow too much) I definitely got to watch first hand the growth of the sport. I like to think I may have even had something to do with it, thanks to the few good years I had running Alliance Wakeskate, as well as the sheer amount of photos, videos and words Iāve put out into the world since then.
Unfortunately a few years ago, the economy tanked, and wakeskating suffered just like everything else in the country. And while in 2007, companies (including Alliance) had extra money to throw at the sport and help grow things more quickly, these days everyone has had to tighten the belt. For me, that meant adding the hefty responsibility of covering wakeboarding online for Alliance as well, and being only one human being, I was no longer able to give wakeskating my full attention. Sadly, Alliance hasnāt has a dedicated wakeskate editor in nearly two years.
But there is good news. In the glory days of Alliance Wakeskate, a good post or video might get 1000 views over its Internet lifespan (approximately one week.) Now a video such this one, gets more like 5,000 views, and is watched by the people most likely to actually try wakeskating ā WAKEBOARDERS! Before, few of them ever made it to the wakeskate sub domain. So while yes, it may seem like we scaled back the coverage some, the changes have actually done way more good than harm to the sport.
That said, over the past years, I think Iāve learned a thing or two, so I wanted to offer some parting advice.
To the prosā
You lucky bastards — you get āpaidā to wakeskate! And hats off to you: The level of riding these days is absolutely incredible ā I remember sitting at a winch spot waiting hours for someone to land a shuv. Now it takes a couple tries for someone to land a 3 flip. But you also get paid to sell products and promote the sport, and being good at the activity is only part of that. Wakeskating is still tiny, and the only way it will grow is with real ambassadors who appreciate their fans, and work with the media. Believe it or not, as writers/photographers/videographers, we’re here mostly to help promote you, so jump at the opportunity to work with us, even if you personally donāt think we care or do a good job. Matt Staker said it best, āYouāre a wakeskater — you should be at the dock with a smile on your face saying āthank you for filming me!āā This means not acting like itās an inconvenience. Together we can make it so that āpro wakeskaters,ā donāt have to also have a day job.
To the photographersā
You are just as important as the pros for promoting the sport of wakeskating. You help illustrate the sport and people love pictures. Donāt let your ego or terrible attitude get in the way of that actually happening. Donāt be lazy ā if you take a photo, submit it right away. Donāt let stuff rot on your harddrive under the guise of āsaving it for print.ā These days, there are not very many print pages, and while Alliance is still happy to run wakeskate photos (more than I can say for a certain other mag) thereās only so much room. So be realistic. If youāre not getting a response, itās because itās just not good enough. If you think the āSnapsā we run suck, send something better, such as one of those shots youāre āsaving.ā And if we say no, get over it, and go take something better.
To the filmers ā
Video is what drives the Internet, and the Internet is a very powerful thing these days. If you want to help the sport of wakeskating, put it out there, and ask us to embed it. If itās good, or sometimes even just a fun-to-watch edit, weāll post it and youāll get views. Glorious views! If you want to make money filming though, figure out something other than wakeskating to shoot, at least for right now.
To the industry as a whole ā
Wakeskating isnāt skateboarding. And itās never going to be skateboarding, no matter how much you try to separate it from its wakeboarding roots. If you want to skateboard, get one. Itās a whole lot cheaper and you donāt need water or a motorized towing device to do it. What wakeskating is, is really, really fun. The way we grow the industry is to show people that. Joe Nobody from the Midwest doesnāt care about how legit wakeskating is, he just wants something to do when itās 95 degrees. Letās get him on a wakeskate! Winching is amazing, but incredibly labor intensive — it doesnāt have mainstream appeal. So letās use it to pique peopleās interests, so that they buy a wakeskate and head to the lake or the local cable park to try it out. Simple as that.
Remember: The more people doing different stuff, the faster wakeskating will grow. Get out there and do what you think is fun, and then share it with the world. Post it on your Facebook and tell your friends. Just remember, if we all work together, we can grow wakeskating a lot faster than if we keep having these ego-driven inner struggles of whatās good for the sport and whatās not.
My (and Allianceās) goal from day 1 has always to help grow the sport of wakeskating. I got into it because guys like Thomas Horrell, Danny Hampson and Aaron Reed were fun to hang out with and made me want to go ride. No, Iāve never been in a position to wakeskate daily, but that doesnāt mean I donāt love it. And for those of you who assume I (or any one else in the media for that matter) are in it for the money, hereās a reality check: The money isnāt that good, and Iāve always had a second job to make ends meet, because as an adult, I have bills to pay.
For those of you who made it through all those words, and are about to hit to comment button to bitch about how bad they were for the sport, good news. As I said in the very first line of this letter, Iām moving on to snowier pastures. If you enjoy my biting wit and sarcasm, theyāll be plenty of it for you at Yobeat.com. If not, you donāt have to worry about me ever again. If you donāt approve of my replacement, the answer is simple: Donāt talk shit, get out there and do something better.
XOXO
Brooke Geery
PS: Hey Collin, donāt think this means Iām not coming to ride behind the Whaler anymore! Iāll see you as soon as summer starts again.
December 1, 2010
Thanks for all your hard
work Brooke!
December 1, 2010
We love you
December 1, 2010
~ tippin the hat ~
December 1, 2010
Peace out R/W winching FTW
December 1, 2010
Thank you for ALL of your support over the last few years Brooke and for womens wakeskating in general!! For real. I am going to miss you on here…
December 1, 2010
Thanks Brooke
When the fun is gone , its time to move on.
December 1, 2010
We will miss ur sexy ass
December 1, 2010
thank yousssir!
December 1, 2010
So let me get this straight.. The snowboarder who was running a wakeskate site left and now a wakeboarder is taking over? Awesome. Bring Brooke back!
December 1, 2010
Who is taking over? I dont think she said in her article…
December 1, 2010
Thanks brooke, very well said. Thank you for what you have done and I enjoyed working with you the little bit I did. Unfortunatly there were some of the guys you spoke of in the article who made it little harder than it should of been.
December 1, 2010
who is in charge then? I hope patrick gets the promotion he deserves finally
December 1, 2010
who is in charge then? I hope patrick gets the promotion he deserves finally
seriously….
December 1, 2010
we should have got together in vegas that one year. good luck brooke!
December 1, 2010
^^^nicee!
December 2, 2010
This is the best thing thats ever happened to wakeskating.
December 2, 2010
I still think you're a big sweetheart, and the raddest photoer and journalister. Miss you big time, but hopefully see you on the mountain!
December 2, 2010
Yeah Brooke! Good luck on the mountains!
December 2, 2010
Good luck brooke! it was fun to hang out at toe jam's. Hope the best for you!
December 3, 2010
cheers.
December 4, 2010
good work
December 8, 2010
Really enjoy your columns Brooke (and photos to of course).
Thesis report not over yet, but I haven't forgot about sending you the copy!
December 14, 2010
yeah brooke!! you keep the sport rolling, thanks for all the posts and the time you take to go through the stuff we send you š
December 17, 2010
u may think u know every thing about wakeskating but u don't. if it wasn't for skateboarding wakeskateing wouldnt be shit. ive been skateing for over 10 years and wakeskateing 2 months and i can kickflip, fs flip, backside flip, 3 shuv, n varial flip all cause of skating.
December 17, 2010
wakeskating is just like skating 20 years ago in time it will be just as sick as skating. all it needs is a video game
January 15, 2011
Women wakeskaters need more props, you did a great job Brooke! Gonna miss ya for sure