There are many sports throughout our nation. Some sports are just more common than others, like soccer, football, basketball, etc. These sports are all important to many people, but a less common sport, that one of our very own student athletes at Brighton participates in is water skiing.
Senior Bella Barone has been skiing her entire life. Her grandpa started water skiing at age 15 and got her entire family interested, which is the reason water skiing is so special to her. It brings her family together and gives them something to bond over.
When asking Barone why this sport isn’t very common, she said that is a “family trend” and it isn’t easy to get into. You need a lake to practice on and that isn’t the easiest thing to accommodate. Barone must have a competitive spirit as she practices because of how challenging the sport is. Therefore, water skiing may not be for everyone.
Barone started to compete at the age of 6 years old. There are about seven tournaments Barone has each year, two of these competitions normally take place in states like California, Florida, or Texas; however, it varies each year. The tournaments are ordered by age and each day is a different event. They normally start with the younger age groups and go up from there. Barone said that Saturday is typically for slalom and Sundays are normally for the tricks and jumps. Slalom skiing is water skiing but with only one ski.
Barone personally does all three of these events. Since she can’t practice during the winter time, Barone said she just tries to stay in shape and stay active.