Last update: 06/29/09bout Us

The Kentucky Waterski Federation is an organization of waterskiers and their families, dedicated to the growth and development of the sport of Slalom, Trick and Jump Waterskiing


The free 3 Day Kentucky Junior Camp will be held at Twin Oaks Lake in Paducah June 17-19. Thanks to the Kentucky Waterski Foundation for sponsoring the event. Please contact Joe Burkhead at 270-898-4250 or 210-7075 to get your childs name on the list. All participants must be USAWS members. We look forward to having a great time again this year.

Please go to the "Official's Corner" for new info. Check this page regularly for updates for officials and skiers.


Notes from the President

"I hope everyone had a good Holiday season. The best part of this time of year is the preparation for the upcoming season. Time to get in good shape and get our equipment ready to go. We had a good Fall meeting in Elizabethtown. It should be an outstanding year for Kentucky with the tournaments that are planned and because the Regionals will again be held by the Ski Nuts.

I have several things I want members to work on this year.

  • I would like to have everyone who can to help out the Ski Nuts with the Regionals. It is a large undertaking and I would like for all the competitors to be happy they traveled to Kentucky to ski. There are many jobs available. Please talk to Joe Burkhead, Pat Coomes, Erol Bryant and ask them what you could do to help.
  • I would like for all of us to try to ensure that we get new blood into tournament water skiing. Most all of us started on public waters and that is where the future is. We all need to support slalom courses on our public waters. We also need to mentor others in our area who are interested in tournament type skiing. If you think about it I bet you know several people in the area who are on the fringe of skiing in tournaments. Give them a call this week and tell them that they ought to make it a goal to ski in a tournament this year. They will be hooked as all of us are. This past year I went in a prominent marine sales store and asked about gloves for Joshua and I was told, "we don't even stock those, wakeboarders don't need them with their new handles, you are a dying breed." I think he is wrong, but we need to all work to prove him wrong. Start working on this now. Bring a new competitor to the 2009 State Championships." Take the time to give back to the sport.

The 2009 schedule is listed make your plans now. If anyone has any ideas or issues please contact me @ eric.kelley@insightbb.com.
It is time to submit nominations for our yearly awards to be handed out at the State tournaments. We would like to have them at the end of January.

I ask anyone who wants to give me any information, funny stories, or anything interesting to post on the web site to please contact me and I'll see that it is passed along.

Eric S. Kelley, D.M.D., 831 Old Scottsville Road, Bowling Green, KY 42103, (270)991-3139, eric.kelley@insightbb.com

Regards, Eric Kelley

 

2009 Southern Region Championships Bid Awarded

The bid presented by the Ski Nuts has been accepted and the 2009 Southern Regional Championships will be held at Twin Oaks Lakes in Paducah. Congratulations are in order for the Ski Nuts and good news for all Kentucky Skiers.


WEEKLY NEWS

Zero Off has finalized changes to their speed control settings. It is more complicated than simple. All skiers should review these settings on the Zero Off website. There are also new changes to the Perfectpass Stargazer system. You can check their website out as well.



The Annual Fall meeting of the KWSF was held November 8th. Tournament schedules for 2009 were set, an amendment to the bylaws concern State Championships format was adopted, and officers and councilpersons were elected.

The officers for 2009 are as follows:
President -- Eric Kelley
VP -- Joy Coomes
Secretary -- Kathy Kesheimer
Treasurer -- Ann Catlett

The three Southern Region councilpersons will remain the same, with Bob Archambeau, Tim McKune and Pat Coomes holding these positions.

Congratulations to the following people for their appointments to the Southern regionals as judges:

  • Bobby Hill
  • Carl Marquess
  • Joe Burkhead
  • Bob Harris

Debbie Kern as Scorer
Tim McKune was also selected as Alternate Driver


Official's Advisory Group Formed

An advisory group has been formed to keep Kentucky Scorers, Judges and Drivers updated on rules changes, scoring software updates, new speed control issues and nuances. We want all our state officials to be good at what they do, and we hope this will help. The following individuals have graciously accepted responsibility in their area of expertise:
Tim McKune will be the Kentucky Driver Advisor, Cathy Burkhead will be the Scorer Advisor and Carl Marquess will serve as Judge Advisor. Each of these officials are Senior level in their respective disciplines and are continously striving to keep abreast of changes and to be the best that they can be.
They are willing and able to share this knowledge with you in order to make all our Kentucky officials more proficient. They will share any changes that are pertinent with you via e-mail and/or postings to this website. They will also be available to answer individual questions that you may have.

You may contact them as follows:
Name Phone e-mail
Tim McKune 502.863.7385 tmckune@nisource.com
Cathy Burkhead 270.898.4250 cjburkhead@comcast.net
Carl Marquess 270.554.8615 cmarques@paducah.com

 

2008 KY Juniors Ski School

Kentucky Juniors 3-Day Ski Camp

On June 17-19th, the Kentucky Lake Ski Nuts, assisted by several other members of the Kentucky Water Ski Federation, once again hosted the annual Kentucky Juniors 3-day ski camp. The camp preceded the 36th Kentucky Lake Open ski tournament.

A total of 17 skiers participated. In addition to experienced juniors further honing their 3 event skills, we had several beginner skiers learning to slalom for the first time, trick ski, and even ride out jumps!

The all-volunteer crew of instructors was headed by Joe Burkhead, former director of the Mid-America Ski School. Other instructors, drivers, and volunteers included Tim McKune, Bob Harris, Greg Kever, Bobby Hill, Corey Hawes, Eric Kelley, Bob Archambeau, Brittany Collins, Carly Marquess, Kathy Kesheimer, John Fowler, and Pam & John Harris.

Thanks again to Keith and Amanda Williams of Outback Steakhouse for providing a fantastic steak and chicken dinner! Thanks to Cathy and Joe Burkhead as well as all the other Ski Nuts who made this camp possible. We would also like to thank Tim Mckune, Eric Kelley, John Fowler, and the Harris's for providing boats for the camp.

Finally, a huge thanks to the Kentucky Water Sports Federation for substantial financial support of this year's ski school. The KWSF, founded as a non-profit 501(c) 3 corporation to assist in the development of water skiing and ski sites in our state, provided all fuel and on-site meals and snacks for the camp. Combined with the all-volunteer staff, the clinic was totally free for all attendees.