We talked with Scott Byerly about his new brand, Byerly Wakeboards, for the February 2007 issue. Here Byerly tells us why he picked each rider on his newly formed team.
Kyle Murphy
“I’ve known Kyle for a really long time. When I first started with Hyperlite back in the day, I was talking with Kyle and his dad about having him ride some stuff, but it never really happened. I’m super excited I finally got the opportunity to make it happen with him. He looks like he’s snowboarding on the water. He doesn’t care about contests or anything like that. He’s a free rider and just rips. He goes really big – kind of reminds me of Randall Harris a little bit. He just stands out. Plus, he’s a good kid with a good positive attitude.”
**Ross Gardner
**”Ross has been helping me out riding some of my boards for the past couple years. Two years ago, he stood in for me in the Hyperlite catalog riding my board after I blew my leg out. Now, he’s helped with a lot of the prototype stuff on the Byerly line. He kills it on a wakeskate too. He’s really pumped on wakeboarding and wakeskating.”
Robbie Jacques
“Robbie’s a coach out at The Projects in Orlando. He’s a really, really good wakeboarder, but he hasn’t really been recognized that much. He’s starting to be, though, and I think he has a lot more in him. He rides super technical, and I think he has the potential to be a good contest rider — he and Ross. And they’re just super-good free riders as well.”
**Adam “Blood” Lawrence
**”Blood’s been helping me out a bunch. He lives on the lake, and he’s just a freak on a wakeskate. He’s a super-super-good skateboarder and he’s brought that over to wakeskating. He’s super technical – switch, regular, whatever, it doesn’t matter. It’s just like skateboarding on water to him, and he’s just pumped to even be out there doing this stuff with us. He’s got a lot of good ideas and he keeps everybody fired up. On the team trip to Mexico, he was the life of the party. The whole trip we were just listening to him tell stories.”
George Daniels
“I can’t say enough about that kid. All the stuff he’s done in the last two years is unbelievable. I saw him at the Toe Jam for the first time three years ago and just saw that the kid had so much potential. He’s lived up to it and it’s awesome to work with him and bring him on board because he can turn it on at any time. Every time he rides, he’s so casual out there – just always having fun. It’s an honor to have him riding my board again.
Reed Hansen
“God, I don’t even know what to say about that dude. The stuff he’s done in the past year has been remarkable – just crazy stuff. I never thought wakeskating would go that far that fast. He showed everyone that all these kickflip tricks are totally possible – every single one of them. And he just turned 16, so he’s got many good years in front of him.”
