#MostFunWins as We Recap the HO Sports 2018 NCWSA Nationals Spirit Award

Each year at the National Collegiate Water Skiing Championship, the NCWSA awards the team that arrives, participates, and cheers with the most gusto, fun, and team spirit. For the second year in a row, HO Sports sponsored the coveted Spirit award, with an amazing grand prize and even brought enough swag for a runner up prize package. The following prize packages were awarded in the #MostFunWins HO Sports 2018 NCWSA Nationals Spirit Award competition:

1st Place

HO Spirit Award Banner, HO Carbon Omni Ski Package, HO Castaway Inflatable Island, Assorted HO Shirts, and Hats, Handle/Rope, HO Ski banners

2nd Place

HO Spirit Award Banner, 15′ HO Play PAD

HO Sports #MostFunWins Video Contest Deadline Approaching!

We got to play with the HO Castaway and Play PAD all weekend and had a blast. Teams, don’t forget you can still win for all the fun you had all season! The HO Sports #MostFunWins Video Contest details are at the end of this post.

Time to bring the spirit…

The event kicked off with tough competition, many teams had big signs, and leaders emerged with body paint and flags to show their seriousness.

We quickly saw the likes of reigning spirit champion Iowa State University, University of California, Los Angeles, Clemson University, Auburn University, Texas A&M University, Arizona State University, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, San Diego State University, and Miami University putting forth major competition as each team sprinted from start dock to well down the lake across the announcing bridge all fully decked out in school colors. With their music jammin’, posters wavin’, and flags flyin’, these teams showed their limitless spirit and energy.

We brought 100 clipboards, to break over our knees and throw, any time someone misses a jump

— Jared Lutz, Miami University (pictured)

Miami University made their own day-themes, arriving Day 1 with visors, whistles, and clipboards with the theme “Coached”. Jared Lutz says “We brought 100 clipboards, to break over our knees and throw, any time someone misses a jump”. In Miami tradition, they sported their Hawaiian shirts at the banquet awards.

Clemson and  Auburn were both head-to-toe in orange, had dedicated loudspeakers, and the entire teams mobbed together as they prepped their skiers to #SendIt. Clemson University pulled ahead early in the tournament spirit award rankings as they sent skier after skiers off the dock in orange, purple, and tiger-print morphsuits. Their striped body paint, tiger tails, and orange speedos gained the attention of HO Sports representative John Mommer as he judged and took in all the fun happening at the Connelly Skis 2018 NCWSA Nationals tournament.

Arizona State University had demon forks & devil horns, and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette saw the return of their Cajun pepper jumping around to keep the competition hot and spicy!

Texas A&M University rocked their cowboy hats, fatheads, body paint, and a pimped-up golf cart as they ran around the San Marcos River Ranch cheering on their team.

University of California, Los Angeles embodied Guy Fieri’s 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle (hair bleach yellow, low miles ,cold AC. $17000 obo), as they donned flaming bowling shirts, sunglasses, and frosted tips all 3 days of the tournament and even at the banquet under their suit jackets.

Day 2 highlights saw women get sudsy and sendy as D1 ladies sent it off the ramp, and D2 off the inflatable slides. Celebrating our teams, the NCWSA rewarded those with the Best Social Media Activity that kept all the fans near and far in the loop of the greatness of #NCWSASpirit. The prize was a long-sleeved t-shirt that everyone was coveting, and 3 skiers were rewarded for their amazing social media posts or participation in those post to put the NCWSA spirit on full display! Rory Loeding from the University of Michigan, Katie Horton from the University of Alabama, and Emily Scircle of Clemson University all shared some fantastic pics showing off their #NCWSASpirit. The awarded NCWSA shirts will be available for sale on NCWSA.com at a later date, with the option to customize the front with your school name!

By Saturday, the judges had narrowed the race down to 3 leaders: Clemson University, Iowa State University, and Texas A&M University. Many teams looked to have endless energy from all the running, singing, chanting, and skiing, but only a few teams can make it to the next level on the final day of a three-day competition. Clemson clawed their way up with more morphed-suited jumpers and a lot of hype. Not a vocal chord for Iowa State remained by Saturday afternoon, as 3 days of cheering, yelling, and singing left all the Iowa State skiers hoarse. The team went out dancing on Saturday afternoon, joined by some Team Midwest friends, but it simply wasn’t enough to pull off back to back spirit titles!

Texas A&M University kept the spirit alive and went strong all of Saturday, as they found more bodies and body parts to paint until there was no glitter nor paint left. Burning their logo onto their backs, the Aggies cheered every buoy, every trick, every jump, and had the numbers to remain loud for seemingly 72 hours straight! After a runner up finish in 2017’s spirit competition, the Aggies has one goal in mind as they ran up and down the lake, winning.

Arriving at the banquet in hats and boots, the Aggies knew they were close, but couldn’t be sure. As HO rep John Mommer took the stage, the crowd fell silent in anticipation.

The Runner-Up was Clemson University, bringing home 2nd place. South & Atlantic Coastal Regional teams cheered for their comrades, as the orange-clad skiers took the stage to accept their prize.

As photos snapped, Mommer moved to the grand prize. The crowd buzzed with excitement as he announced Texas A&M University as this year’s winner! The team erupted in triumph and their collective boots leaped onto the stage to accept the HO Spirit banner, a new ski, and more. A well-deserved win for the hosting team.

Don’t forget the video contest!

The games are not over yet, as HO Sports still has the #MostFunWins video contest remaining! They want you to show off your entire season of collegiate skier and what makes collegiate water skiing so fun to be a part! Leave no stone unturned to create a great advertisement for your team showing off practice, days at the lake, tournament life, campus life, and even the student part of #studentathlete as teams gather for study and support on campus! Submit your video by Nov. 9th to win big.

Submission and contest details at http://hosports.com/videocontest

Special thanks to our 2018 Spirit Award sponsors HO Ski, for their continued support for collegiate water skiing, making sure everyone has fun, and reminding all of us that the #MostFunWins!

Watch the Spirit award recap on Instagram.