The NCWSA Hall of Fame is proud to announce the Class of 2023!
Congratulations to Zack Worden, Scott Greenwood, Kelvin Kelm, Jeff Surdej, and the late Dr. Tom Strong on being selected as the induction class of 2023 for the NCWSA Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony for the Class of 2023 will coincide with the Syndicate Waterski 2023 Collegiate Nationals banquet in Zachary, Louisiana in October of 2023.
Scott Greenwood
Northeast Louisiana University (University of Louisiana Monoe)
Scott Greenwood’s involvement with collegiate water skiing began in 1980s when the young skier from Arkansas enrolled at Northeastern Louisiana University to ski for the Indians. When Scott joined he was a decent skier, but certainly far from the best NLU had to offer. During his time at NLU Greeny worked hard to elevate his level of performance and began to hone his driving skills pulling teammates on the bayou. Through hardwork and dedication Greeny was able to earn a spot on the powerhouse NLU ski team helping the team win a couple National Titles.
While Greeny took a hiatus from collegiate skiing to begin his career and start a family, he returned to the collegiate scene in the late 2000s as a driver. Since getting behind the wheel Greeny has driven five NCWSA National Championships, multiple NCWSA All-Star Tournaments, and countless other NCWSA tournaments. He was the recipient of the Bill Stevenson Outstanding Driver Award in 2013, 2016, and 2018 and has driven the past five NCWSA jump records.
Greeny’s attitude is contagious, always there to pump people up and invite new skiers into the fold. Greeny is more than just a great skier or driver, he is a great ambassador for the sport of collegiate water skiing.
Kelvin Kelm
University of Texas at Austin
Kelvin Kelm has exemplified outstanding leadership and volunteerism in the NCWSA for the last ten years. His interest in water skiing started at the University of Texas at Austin where he received his Bachelor’s degree. Kelvin began volunteering in the South Central region 2 years before his oldest daughter began school at Texas State University. Now, both of his children have graduated and moved out. However, Kelvin and his wife, Lisa Holland, continue to be the glue that holds the South Central region together.
In the South Central region, Kelvin attends every single collegiate ski competition that he is physically able to attend. Even when going through serious back pain, Kelvin still attended competitions because of the region’s need for a Chief Safety. He serves numerous officiating roles at collegiate competitions including senior technical controller, senior judge, regular scorer, senior driver, and state safety. He brings equipment such as jump cameras, trick cameras, rope measuring tools, scoring and judging computers, and numerous other necessary supplies to most all South Central tournaments. On top of all that, Kelvin also hosted the South Central Regional tournament at his home at Lakes of Katy in Houston, TX for several years.
On a national level, Kelvin has volunteered to webcast the NCWSA Nationals and All Stars tournaments, free of charge, since 2015. This webcast takes an immense amount of time and money to provide a great viewing experience.
Kelvin is on the Nautique Promo team, and brings his promo boat to as many collegiate tournaments as possible, even when Nautique does not require him to do so. On top of his promo boat, he has also graciously allowed several different collegiate teams to borrow his personal boats when they find themselves in need, donating their boat to the Texas State Ski Team’s for practice.
Year round, Kelvin is the go to man in Houston for any collegiate skiers that find themselves working in the area. He helps past and current NCWSA skiers from across the nation get plugged in the water skiing community in Houston, and offers up his home, lake, and boat for any college skiers that need a place to ski. He is instrumental in keeping collegiate skiers interested in the sport of water skiing with his desire to continue growing the sport as much as possible.
If you do not know Kelvin, it is impossible to describe how great a force he is for collegiate water skiing. In small ways and large, he is constantly doing his best to spread the sport of water skiing as far and wide as possible. He is instrumental in keeping competitions running smoothly and keeping college kids interested. He is very deserving to be honored as a member of the NCWSA Hall of Fame, but he of course would argue otherwise.
Dr. Tom Strong
University of Alabama
When contemplating who would be deserving of induction to the National Collegiate Water Ski Hall of Fame, Dr. Tom Strong (U of A) immediately came to mind. His legacy lives on through his passion for the school, the sport of water skiing, and most importantly the skiers to whom he was a mentor. The landscape of collegiate skiing today would be remarkably different had it not been for his dedication to the Bama programs.
Dr. Thomas “Doc” Strong enjoyed a thirty-eight year career at the University of Alabama during which he served as the Director of Student Services, Dean of Students and Associate Vice President of Student Affairs. An avid water skier, Doc became involved with the water ski team shortly after it had formed, and helped the group of skiers navigate the process of becoming an official club at the University of Alabama. From that point on, Doc served as the team’s faculty advisor. After retiring from the university in 2007, Doc continued to dedicate his time to the University of Alabama Water Ski Team, serving as the team’s volunteer coach until his health precluded him from doing so.
While other large SEC schools like Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University, The University of Mississippi, and the University of Tennessee struggled to sustainably field teams, Dr. Strong ensured that the University of Alabama Ski Team never faltered.
These accomplishments alone would be enough to warrant Doc a spot in the NCWSA Hall of Fame, but for Doc his skiers were more than just a collection of students who represented the University of Alabama on the water. They were family. While Dr. Strong’s love for water skiing was indisputable, on the water performances were not paramount to the growth and personal development of his skiers.
Sending one’s children to college is a big step for any parent. Doc assured parents that their children would be safe at the University of Alabama promising that he would take care of his skiers. Doc took a personal interest in the lives of his skiers, often taking them to lunch, inviting them to dinner at his house, or encouraging them to religious services with him and his wife. While naturally topics of conversation were often about skiing, the team and recruitment, he also made sure to ask about one’s classes and encouraged his skiers to make their studies a priority.
Doc was a major asset to the water ski community and helped turn the University of Alabama into a perennial contender. His hard work and dedication to the sport of collegiate water skiing is unrivaled and he is more than deserving of enshrinement in the NCWSA Hall of Fame.
Zack Worden
University of Louisiana Monroe
The atmosphere at Tri-Lakes was electric as the Nautique 200 turned to bring the top seed in men’s jump into the course for his final attempt at the 2011 NCWSA National Championships. A familiar voice boomed through the air… “Trying to exceed a jump record – the Holy Grail – which has been in existence since 1999. Let’s have a look and see what Zack Worden can do with one final jump…”
While many are aware of this extraordinary feat that took place during the final set of Zack’s collegiate career, this performance simply capped off a dominate career for the Warhawk:
2009 NCWSA Nationals (Freshman) 2nd – Slalom (1 @ 39 off) | 1st – Jump (184 feet) | 2nd – Overall
2010 NCWSA Nationals (Sophomore) 1st – Jump (175 feet) | 4th – Overall
2011 NCWSA Nationals (Junior) 2nd – Slalom (0.5 @39 off) | 2nd – Trick (4,800 pts) | 1st – Jump (194 feet) | 1st – Overall | 2011 NCWSA Male Athlete of the Year
Few people embody the spirit of Collegiate Water Skiing like Zack Worden, a jovial and lighthearted individual at heart. Zack was dominant on the water but encouraged skiers of all levels, always ready to help welcome others into the sport. Zack also served as a guest speaker at numerous Midwest Winter Conferences after completing his collegiate career.
Jeff Surdej
Purdue University
Jeff Surdej skied for Purdue University from Fall 1994 through Spring 1998, and helped turn Purdue University into a powerhouse in the Midwest that created a decade or more of dominance in the region. Additionally, changes to the team structure helped the team grab elite recruits such as Cale Burdick to help build the longevity of the Purdue team’s dominance well after Jeff had graduated. However, his greatest impact on the Midwest and collegiate skiing as a whole occurs off the water to this day. Jeff is the father of the Team Midwest Winter Conference, starting it with Chad Kodiak. Jeff and his family hosted many collegiate tournaments at Waters Edge in Wilmington, IL as the annual Great Plains Conference Championships location prior to Iowa State’s Dream Lakes. The most epic of these tournaments were dual conference tournaments in the early 2000’s where all teams from both conferences would converge at Waters Edge for one epic tournament.
After being the MCWSA Chair, Jeff stepped up on the National board and has been NCWSA Chair ever since. Jeff has been a judge in the MCWSA and at MCWSA Regionals countless times, and has been the appointee for the Midwest as a judge to Nationals and All-Stars a myriad of times over the past twenty+ years as well. At the National level Jeff pushes collegiate skiing to grow and be the best and most fun version of competitive water skiing with NCWSA Nationals being one of the best tournaments in water skiing, if not the best, certainly the most fun! On the National board and as National Chair Jeff has been around and overseen major changes to the NCWSA including the wild-card show (2008), expansion to 20, 22, 23, and 24 team Nationals, the mini-course rule (2017), and many more changes that make sure collegiate skiing is always fun and possibly the best implementation of tournament water skiing. The impact of Jeff Surdej on collegiate water skiing will be measured for many years to come, and he is an outstanding candidate for the Hall of Fame.
- 2025 IWWF World University Waterski Championships To Be Held in New Zealand - March 28, 2024
- 2024 Officer Elections: Call for Applications - January 6, 2024
- Congratulations to the 2023 winners of the NCWSA Annual Awards - December 1, 2023
You must be logged in to post a comment.