Hailing from Italy, Russia, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands and more than a half-dozen more countries from throughout the globe, the top professional and amateur wakeboarders and wakeskaters on the planet will converge in Orlando, Fla., on April 28-May 1 for the 2011 Nautique Wake Games, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink. The four-day event, held at the Orlando Watersports Complex, is the largest teamed wakeboard contest in the world, with more than 200 riders expected to compete at the sixth annual Games.
The Nautique Wake Games attracts such large and diverse group of competitors due to the event’s uniqueness, as it’s is the only wakeboarding contest where professional and amateur riders compete together in teams to affect an overall outcome.
| “Wake Games is pretty rad because it’s not just you competing against everyone. You’re on a team with riders of all the different ages and skill levels, working together as a group to win,” said Nautique team pro wakeboarder JD Webb. “It’s so different from every other contest and that’s why so many riders travel long distances to compete in it.”- |
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The first two days of action at the Nautique Wake Games feature qualifying rounds, where only 90 eligible riders will be invited to join 10 preselected team captains for the live draft, held Friday evening, April 29, on site at the Orlando Watersports Complex.
|During the draft, the 10 team captains will each select nine additional riders from the pool of 90 to field their 10-man roster with a mix of pro and amateur riders. Riders will compete in different divisions, separated by age and skill level, while still contributing points toward a team score based on their individual placement in that division. All 21 divisions will crown an individual winner, and the team with the highest total score will take home the team title.Teams will begin accumulating points on Saturday, April 30, and continue through Sunday, May 1, when a winning team will be crowned.Last year, Nautique team pro wakeboarder Jimmy LaRiche captained the winning crew to capture the 2010 team title.|
