Team Mapple Tour

Here we are, on the cusp of 2010 and another season on the water is just around the corner.

For the past two summers, my girlfriend Jenny LaBaw and I have been traveling the country, on the road: "The Face To Face Tour" we called it. Don't wanna bore with details so if you want to see the proof, head to http://www.FaceToFaceTour.com

Ultimately, it was our effort (and really the first true effort within water skiing) at an all out Blitzkrieg on the public. We wanted to head back to our roots where the sport began, and really touch lives and create a positive influence,…with water sports the underlying theme. Our goal: to grow the industry and water sports in general.

One Great memory I have looking back on everything was a seemingly harmless post on a water ski forum last year. Some guy gets on the forum, and starts ripping on us, on what we were doing. It was just after the economy crashed (for lack of a better term, I have an engineering degree not an english major) and things were bad. The boating and water sports industry was struggling. Here we were with a 1 year head start on all the mess and hopefully enough momentum to help contribute to the recovery of the industry (after all, the initial goal was to grow the industry) and some dude is laying into us: "just a wannabe rasta stoner living in a bus, traveling the countryside, partying and stealing peoples hard earned money, living the life while working people are out here suffering….."

Sometimes people talk when they don't know anything about a topic….when they have no clue as to the facts. We all pass judgement, we're all human. This guy was no exception.

I am no exception either. Just a few weeks ago, I caught wind that Andy and Deena Mapple were going to hit the road with a nationwide tour. Sparing the details, it sounded pretty close to what we are doing with the Face To Face Tour. They are calling it the Team Mapple Tour. I was instantly bummed. Thoughts were racing, I was offended that someone else would "steal" our idea, and I was basically passing judgement on something I hadn't even thought about yet and without any facts to go on.

By the time my vision cleared back up and I was able to pull my fist out of the drywall, it hit me: This WAS our goal all along. We started the Tour not only to reach out on our own…..but also to be a potential model for others in the sport. For a while now we have been waiting for someone else in water skiing to start their own deal and hoped the idea would catch fire. Andy and Deena, between the two of them, have 21 World Records, 11 World Championship titles, 26 National titles, 34 US Masters Titles, 15 US Open Titles, 12 Pro Tour Titles, 3 World Cup Titles and 230+ Professional Victories. It is a huge compliment, and I was pissed that possibly the 2 greatest skiers of all time were the first to follow our lead. What a total idiot.

Jenny and I are thrilled to know that Deena and Andy Mapple will be out on the road, doing the dirty work, growing, promoting, learning and sharing everything they know with anyone willing to ante up and join them. The rest of the industry should be thrilled as well.

MB

http://www.teammapple.com