Save the Iowa State Water Ski Team

The Waterski Club at Iowa State University is looking for your help to request the school reinstate the team as a Club Sport.

Iowa State University decided to turn our sports club into an enthusiastic club in July 2022. The University explained it as: “The Waterski Club is a high-risk club and is a prohibitively high-risk club due to its activity in uncontrolled hazardous environments. The Waterski Club will become an enthusiastic non-sports club organization.” The University considers an “uncontrolled” environment to be off-campus and not controlled by the school. This ultimately led to the decision to designate the Iowa State Water Ski Club as an enthusiastic club, not allowed to practice or compete while affiliated with the school.

The team and NCWSA representatives met with the Office of Risk Management to teach them about our sport. Throughout the meeting, we discussed our safety record and that of collegiate water skiing. Similar to many other activities, even with diligent safety protocols in place, there is a risk of injury when participating in water skiing. During the 2021 calendar year, there were 8 injuries in 5,909 rides during National Collegiate Water Ski Association events; a rate of 0.14%. These injuries were strains to lower extremities (knees, ankles), two concussions, and one laceration.

The team will continue to work with school officials to share the precautions in place to uphold the safety of the students, and allow them to follow the schools’ motto, “Choose Your Adventure.”

After 35 years of proudly representing this school, this team has developed a culture and community at the school. The Iowa State Water Ski Club was formed in 1987. We have qualified for the National Tournament in each of the past 10 years. We have a roster of approximately 30 students, the majority of the team learned how to ski during their time at Iowa State.

Our current members include athletes that have won the D2 National Collegiate Trick title, Regional Overall Titles, numerous Conference medals, and numerous All-Star awards. We practice at Dream Lakes Estates, 11 miles south of campus. The two lakes are each 2,000’ long and 250’ wide and were designed specifically for competition water skiing. The site frequently hosts the conference championship and has been a favorite for regional alumni tournaments. Iowa State Waterski Club was awarded the USA Water Ski NCWSA Team of the Year award in 2018.

The team has developed strong skiers and leaders. Notable alumni have obtained their Open Rating and are now competing in the Professional Water Ski Tournaments, accomplishing Top 3 at 35+ World’s, Top 20 at World’s, AWSA National Jump title, AWSA National Slalom title, and a Midwest Regional Jump Record. Leaders from the Iowa State Water Ski Team have gone on to promote the growth of water skiing with roles as Midwest Conference Chairman, Midwest Treasurer, National Vice Chair of the Midwest, Membership chair, Athlete Advisory Councilmen, and appointed officials.