Thirteen-year-old North Vancouver twins Jordan and Hunter Smith started wakeboarding at Cove Watersports when they were seven years old and started competing shortly after that.
The brothers now enjoy wakeboarding, waterskiiing, wakeskating, and wakesurfing. Wakeboarding is their favourite. They recently answered some questions for the North Shore News about their watersport activities.
NSN: Why did you want to try wakeboarding?
Jordan and Hunter: We saw our dad doing it, it looked like fun, and we wanted to try.
NSN: What do you like about it?
Jordan and Hunter: Having fun with our family and friends, and trying new tricks. We also like competing and have been fortunate to travel and be on the podium at many events.
NSN: What is the most challenging part of wakeboarding?
Jordan and Hunter: Overcoming our fear of a hard trick.
NSN: Is wakeboarding an easy sport to learn?
Jordan and Hunter: Yes, if you have a good coach who can teach you the steps. If you learn the basics correctly, everything else comes easier.
NSN: How do you know if you are good at it ?
Jordan and Hunter: You are good at it when you can get up consistently, cross the wake comfortably, and start getting a bit of air on both your toe and heel edges.
NSN: What was the hardest part of wakeboarding to learn?
Jordan and Hunter: Jumping the wake was pretty hard at first. Toe side tricks and spinning; 180s and 360s are still hard, and flipping takes time to master as well.
NSN: What skills do you need to be good at wakeboarding?
Jordan and Hunter: Being a good listener and not being a quitter.
NSN: Do you think anyone can try wakeboarding?
Jordan and Hunter: Anybody can do it, but you have to be able to listen to your coach. Good balance and core strength help.
NSN: Describe the first time you tried wakeboarding.
Jordan and Hunter: We were pretty young, but it took us a few tries and once we got up we were pretty excited.
NSN: What’s your favorite story about yourself wakeboarding?
Hunter: Landing my first backroll with my coach, Liam (at Cove Watersports), watching. We were all pretty stoked.
Jordan: Going to the B.C. Summer Games with my friends and coach Liam. We all tried new events like trick skiing and jump skiing. It was really fun.
NSN: How does it feel when you’re on the wakeboard?
Hunter: I feel free when I’m riding.
Jordan: It’s very cool to be gliding across the water on a board.
NSN: How would you describe wakeboarding to another teen who has never tried it?
Jordan and Hunter: It’s like snowboarding on water.
Cove Watersports offers a variety of summer camps in July and August for kids ages nine to 15. Kids under nine are required to first take a Learn to Wakeboard course first. For more information visit covewatersports.com.
This story originally appeared in a special section of the North Shore News focused on summer camps.
