Questions please contact Heather Pennington at 205.566.3906.
Skier/Athlete
We are so excited to have you come out and water ski! It is an incredible day and life changing experience. We believe everyone can be successful with adaptations to water sports! Becoming an adaptive water skier or wake boarder begins with an intake assessment to gauge your abilities. The primary requirement for anyone is to be water safe, meaning that you can demonstrate that you can go from a face down position in the water to a face up position and signal OK while wearing a personal flotation device(life jacket).
We will offer four separate shifts for our participants; one for Thursday morning, one for Thursday afternoon, one for Friday morning and one for Friday afternoon. Each participant may register for one shift on either Thursday or Friday. Sign-ups will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and space is limited. The cost of the event is $25; checks should be made out to MDWSA. Lunch will be provided on both days so come early if you are in the afternoon group and plan on hanging around if you are in the morning group for food and fellowship!
You will get an email as soon as you sign up, plus a reminder 3 days before the event and another one 1 day before the event. If you have any questions, contact the chair person for that job, if you can’t come and need to cancel, please let us know as soon as you can.
Volunteers
So you want to volunteer. Fantastic!. First of all, thank you for your time and talent. Without you, we could not provide this opportunity to our skiers. It is an awesome day and life changing experience!
We have 7 positions that you can choose. Read the descriptions and see what sounds like the most fun. Don’t worry, training will be provided to everyone (except the boat drivers and boat personnel). Once you find a job sign-up. You will get an email as soon as you sign up, plus a reminder 3 days before the event and another one 1 day before the event. If you have any questions, contact the chair person for that job, if you can’t come and need to cancel, please let us know as soon as you can.
Please sign up even if you can only be present for part of the day. Lunch is provided both days for volunteers only. We appreciate your time and can accommodate schedules if needed.
Boat Drivers: We need boat drivers with ski or tube pulling experience and we will train (8:30 am each day) on the adapted water ski methods. Boat drivers must bring their own boat that is registered with Lake St. Louis (LSL stickers). Lunch will be provided for boat drivers both days. Please sign up even if you can only be present for part of the day. Is this for you?
Boat Personnel – Jumpers (WET) , Spotters/Rope Handlers (COULD STAY DRY): All boat/water personnel will wear life jackets. Jumpers need to be able to assist a skier in the water by helping them get back into their ski equipment and then climb back onto a boat. Spotters and rope handlers will be on a boat watching for hand signals from skier and could possibly stay dry. There will be 2-3 jumpers on each chase boat, and 2 spotters/rope handlers per pull boat. Lunch will be provided for boat personnel both days. Is this for you?
Dry Fitting and Instruction, equipment marshals: This group of volunteers will assist instructors with fitting skiers and teaching them basics of ski skills and hand signals on dry land. Instructors will fit each skier for equipment their first visit with us skiing and then taught skills on dry land. Volunteers will be trained how to understand equipment and possibly help with skiers getting in and out of equipment on land. Some of these volunteers will be walking equipment from the fitting station to the shore and back. Is this for you?
Food & beverage: Cleanliness: We need several volunteers to help serve our volunteers and boat drivers lunch as well as check the cleanliness of the pavilion to make sure we are all staying safe with Covid 19 (just general wiping of areas/tables, etc). Lunch is provided both days for volunteers only. Is this for you?
Photography (stills & video): We would love to have people volunteering to take pictures and videos on shore as well as in boats so we can help create positive memories for our skiers and their families. Professional status is NOT required – anyone with a camera will do! If you are going to shoot still, we ask you provide us the jpeg’s after the event with no watermarks on the photos. We will share these pictures on our web site and other social media and will give you credit. If you shoot video, we do ask that you create some sort of video “story” of the vent anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes and provide a copy of the video, we will then share the video on our web site and other social media given you credit. Is this for you?
Registration table & Intake: We need several volunteers to help participants and volunteers sign waivers and paperwork upon arrival. We will also have this group of volunteers do a Covid questionnaire and temperature check upon arrival. Is this for you?
Wet Shore Assistance: This group of volunteers will be in the shallow water and all wear life jackets. Training for this role will be provided at 7:30 am each day so experience is not necessary. Just bring willing spirit! Roles can include safety personnel & water testing, water starters (shallow), catchers, helping skiers in and out of the water using water wheel chair if needed. Volunteers will be assisting skiers to make sure they have on life jackets and can get in and out of the water safely and successfully. This role will also be assisting skiers to start their awesome ski journey as we call them shallow water starters. All roles are trained each day at 7:30 am. Roles can be rotated throughout the day. Is this for you?