This year the WWA released a world series bigger than anything we have seen before. Seriously, the locations and prize money are the best it has ever been. We sat down with Corrie Wilson and she helped to answer some of our questions regarding the upcoming 2015 Wakeboard World Series.
BW: So first things first – $425,000 is a ton of chedder. How did you all manage to pull such funds? “The 2015 Wakeboard World Series is unlike anything wake sports has seen in the past including the largest payout ever offered”
The WWA: We really wanted to raise the bar this year for the Wakeboard World Series. The WWA’s partners, both domestically and internationally, all share our vision for the future of wakeboarding. Everyone got together and really stepped up for this year’s Wakeboard World Series; we couldn’t be more excited. It wouldn’t be possible without great partners like Rockstar Energy Drink, Nautique, Malibu, Supra, and many others for being dedicated to the sport.
BW: The 2015 WBWS is composed of 9 stops all over the world – How did the locations get chosen and are there locations that didn’t work out?
The WWA sanctions events all over the world and this year we really wanted to create a global series. The Malibu Cancun Pro was a huge success in 2014 thus we naturally wanted to bring it back for 2015. Japan is one of the coolest spots from back in the day and everyone’s excited to bring it back into the mix. For the first time we will be visiting Portugal, which is an emerging opportunity in the European market for the sport as a whole. We had a couple other opportunities that didn’t work out, but that was strictly due to timing. We plan to continue to grow the global reach with each year moving forward.
BW: The term “Setting a new standard in Wakeboarding” is being used – Does having all the major boat manufactures coming together for this prove that we are going in the right direction for competitive wakeboarding?
Our goal is to change how contests are run as whole and indeed set a new standard. From how athletes are treated, to changing the individual contests to custom fit each market. There are many steps we are taking to enhance and grow wakeboarding.
BW: As for the Men vs. Women earnings can you comment on the prize amount for each 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place?
We’re really excited about this. A 4-star event such as the WWA National Champions in Miami, Men’s first place will win $12,500, second place $6,000, and third place $5,000. For Women, first place will win $5,000, second place $3,000, and third place $2,000. For the men, that’s double what it was in years past for the Top 3. For women, the prize purse as a whole has increased 40%.
BW: How stoked are you that 2015 marks the first time that women will compete in the World Series?
This comes back to the question of setting a new standard for competitive wakeboarding. There are professional Women riders out there who are pushing the sport but we want to see those numbers continue to rise. We feel that this is a step in the right direction for growing women participation numbers on the grassroots side, and bringing all around more recognition to wakeboarding.
BW: Lastly, if indeed the success of this series helps promote growth in wakeboarding can we officially say “We don’t need Wakeboarding in X Games”?
The X Games were great for wakeboarding. It’s a great property and helped grow the sport and the athletes. With X Games moving to more arena-based events, it made it difficult to include wakeboarding, however we would always like to see wakeboarding involved in it. We aren’t sure where that decision is being made, but we believe wakeboarding is always considered and elevating the Wakeboard World Series will surely be a benefit.
Make sure you keep up with us and the WWA on Twitter for all the immediate updates on the action.
