Picture this: two full days of non-stop wakeboarding with all of your good friends, getting pointers from a handful of well-known pros and jibbing some custom made rails. Sound familiar?  Think again...
 
On July 25th Camp Far West Lake in Northern California hosted the first all girls wake event on the west coast called "Girls Ride the Wake."  30 girls came from all over Nor Cal to see what this event was all about.  The girls arrived bright and early Saturday morning to register and sign up for clinics provided for all levels of wakeboarding and wakeskating.  Girls Ride the Wake had three boats full of girls getting lessons from pro wakeboarders such as Raequel and Shawna Hoffman, Shelby Kantar, Danni Petraitis, and Evelyn Zerr.  
 

After the morning clinics the girls came back to the camp with huge smiles on their faces ready for whatever came next.  In order to keep the amp level high, the pro women at the event put on quite the show for the girls.  With the help of the Placer County Sheriffs, we had 1/4 mile cove (better known as the "hot boat" racing strip) completely blocked off especially for our pro demo ride.  How many times can one say that the cops were actually on their side?  We had a chase boat with a video camera crew and two photographers, one who was in the water and one who was hanging off the side of the tower! Do you smell a ticket?? Not us! These Sheriffs were so pumped on Girls Ride the Wake that they wanted to do all that they could to make sure we had the prime spot for the girls to ride at!  
 
After the pro women put on their show, the girls were fired up and ready for an afternoon free ride session.  Saturday came to a close when the last boat came in as the sun was starting to hide in the horizon, but Girls Ride the Wake wasn't finished yet.  Night came and we finished Saturday off with a midnight rail jam that included tiki torches, flood lights, and glow sticks.  Pro women Shawna Hoffman, Raequel Hoffman and wakeskater Lizzie Williams entertained the girls all night long on the rails. 
 
Sunday came fast but the girls were up early for a piece of that morning butter pie.  After the morning sesh the girls participated in the rail jam portion of Girls Ride the Wake.  We had girls out there who were first time winchers and jibbers!  It was so awesome to see the girls out there expanding their wake talents with absolutely no fear.  As the girls jibbed on into the afternoon, one of the girls noticed a Placer County Sheriff patrol car heading toward the rail jam.  Low and behold our beloved Sheriffs came to enjoy that last part of Girls Ride the Wake.  One of the Sheriffs insisted that I contact their station next year so that they could come out for the next Girls Ride the Wake.  I even heard that one of the patrol cars is now sporting bright pink stickers from Girls Ride the Wake! As Sunday's rail jam came to a close, the girls had nothing but smiles on their faces.  They left feeling inspired, excited, and very anxious for the next Girls Ride the Wake event.  All in all most would say that this event was a success and something they've been wanting to happen for a long time.
 

When asked what inspired me to start such an event, my answer goes back to my passion for the sport of wakeboarding.  It inspires me so much to see girls of all ages and abilities out on the water having a great time who push themselves to be better.  It makes me hopeful that the sport will only continue to grow for women.  All of the wonderful women who are in the sport taking it to the next level such as Amber Wing who landed the first 720 and Raimi Merritt who landed the first S Bend make me realize that nothing is unreachable.  The more women involved in this sport the greater it will be.  So keep shredding ladies!  You are all my inspiration.
 
Becky Carter