Team Midwest’s 21st Winter Conference starts this evening in Kalamazoo, Michigan as Western Michigan University hosts the 2018 event. Skiers from around the region, and possibly some from other regions will travel great distances to participate in the Midwest’s unique Winter Conference. Over the past two weeks the Midwest has announced the pros in attendance that will help lead instructional breakout sessions in trick, jump, and slalom. Let’s hear from each of these individuals and how excited they are to attend!
Zack Worden
This will be Zack’s sixth Winter Conference in seven years! Zack started attending as a pro while he was still in school skiing for the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Zack was a little busy packing, preparing, and prepping his liver for the weekend but we finally caught up with him to get his thoughts on attending Winter Conference this year. Zack noted, that each year he gets “more and more excited about working with skiers who share the same passion for the sport we all love.” When describing what makes this event so much fun to come back to every year, Zack noted that “Winter Conference is an eye opening event to how big our little water ski family is, and I love it!”
This being the sixth year Zack has attended, he noted that he definitely wants the record currently held by Scot Ellis for most attendances by a pro at Midwest Winter Conference; Scot’s known attendance number is 10 but we are gathering historical data on a few years, so he could have attended as many as 13! Zack will be teaching a bit on each of the three events, but his jumping skills are certainly sought after as he is the current NCWSA men’s jump record holder.
Cale Burdick
This will be Cale’s fifth Winter Conference, and he is “happy to be just a small part of getting students with a common love for water skiing together.” Cale’s first Winter Conference as a pro was in 2011, but when Cale skied for Purdue University he regularly attended as a skier. When talking about his attendances as a skier, Cale said that “attending Winter Conferences as a student from Purdue were such memorable times in my skiing and college career.”
While skiing for Purdue, Cale was an amazing skier, breaking records left and right, and he enjoyed attending Winter Conference as a “great way to excited about the upcoming season, but a great excuse to see my friends from all around the Midwest.” Although many of his records have been broken since he left school, he still holds a few tournament records and the Midwest’s regional men’s slalom record of 2 buoys at 36mph 41′ off! Check out Cale’s slalom record from 2006 NCWSA Nationals at Bell Acqua in Rio Linda, California.
Marcus Brown
This will be Marcus’ second Winter Conference. His first attendance was all the way back in 2007! In his college years, Marcus attended California State University, Chico, and Marcus is really excited about attending, and says when he attends Winter Conference “it recharges my spirit for this sport and community we all love!” Marcus is an amazing skier with a vast amount of knowledge to spread! Marcus skied at the 2003 NCWSA Nationals in his speed suit against Will Asher when he set the NCWSA men’s slalom record. As he noted in his live stream announcement on the MCWSA Facebook page, Marcus has a passion for water skiing, and loves slalom skiing the most of all three events.
With the continued change over in collegiate skiing, many in attendance at Winter Conference may know Marcus more for his camera work and his FlowPoint episodes. Marcus was in attendance at the 2017 NCWSA Nationals shooting hours upon hours of footage to create a FlowPoint episode that shows off one of the the coolest things about collegiate skiing, NCWSA Spirit. His attendance at Winter Conference will be truly “special and memorable” as he will be debuting his latest FlowPoint episode at Winter Conference!
Take a moment and relive the past and enjoy Marcus’ slalom run at 2004 All-Stars.
John Mommer – HO Rep
John will be attending Winter Conference for the second time. This time he will be at Winter Conference as an HO representative. HO sponsored the 2017 NCWSA Nationals Spirit Award, which was won by Iowa State University. John skied for University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and at HO he helps lead the collegiate program that works with teams to get them access to great prices on great water ski equipment!
To me MCWSA Winter Conference is the representation of the passion and dedication of Midwest collegiate skiing. Although water skiing may be a few months away for most, it never deters teams from coming together in the dead of winter to crank up the fun, strive to learn, grow and enjoy all things collegiate waterskiing. Every year there are new faces, but the spirit is always electric. –John
We are sure John will bring the #MostFunWins attitude that embodies most of collegiate skiing, and was very evident at the 2017 NCWSA Nationals tournament to the MCWSA’s Winter Conference!
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