Club offers skiers chances to compete

Freshman Kevin Mihok had water-skied before college for fun, but the IU Water Ski/Wakeboard team has given him a chance to compete for the first time.\nThe club allows competitors of all experience levels the opportunity to participate in tournaments and meet new people. The club is not geared for the expert skier, but it is for anyone who enjoys the sport and is looking to have a good time on the water, said Mihok, the club’s vice president.\n“The competition part is relatively new to me,” he said. “I have water-skied before but not in a competitive tournament.”\nLike Mihok, most members have experience and have skied on a regular basis before they joined the club.\n“My family has a lake house in Wisconsin,” said senior and captain Jim Wollenburg. “I have been skiing for 15 years, so it isn’t new to me.”\nThe club has about 20 active members, and 30 people pay dues. They practice at Lake Lemon but don’t host any tournaments there.\n“Our big tournament is in Van Wert, Ohio,” said junior Amanda McCarty, the club’s president. “We go there twice a year, and our other tournaments are at Miami (Ohio) and Michigan.”\nThe team competes against other schools from the Midwest and is in the Great Lakes Conference. The Ohio teams the Hoosiers face are Dayton, Miami and Cincinnati. Their Michigan competitors are Michigan State, Michigan and Hope College, and the Indiana teams IU competes against are Purdue and IU-Purdue University Fort Wayne. Purdue currently has the best waterskiing team of any team they have played, McCarty said.\nThe team is more active in the fall, competing in four tournaments in the first weeks of the school year.\n“We are trying to win tournaments, but it is more about having a good time,” Mihok said. “It isn’t a huge time commitment. You don’t have to go to Lake Lemon for every practice if you aren’t able to.”\nWollenburg agreed, saying the club isn’t just about trying to compete at a high level, it is about having fun playing. \n“What I like about the club is how nice the people are,” Mihok said. “It is informal, and everyone on the team is friendly.”\nThe team gets along well, because everyone has a common interest.\n“The club has a lot of awesome people in it,” Wollenburg said. “If you like being in the water, you should definitely join this club.”