The 2022 Wakesports Hall of Fame class of inductees includes some of the sport’s most influential and notable visionaries from wake sport’s earliest years before the sports were accepted as the popular action sports they are today.
The Wakesports Hall of Fame Board of Directors ratified the 2022 Class of Inductees including pioneering athletes Shawn Watson, Australia’s Daniel Watkins, Chase Heavener, Melissa Marquardt, and wake surfing legend Drew Danielo. In the coveted Innovators category, the Hall of Fame welcomes legendary surfboard shaper and early skurfing pioneer Allan Byrne along with one of wakeboarding’s earliest and most influential wakeboard shapers, Rich Nolan. The 2022 Class also includes lifetime achievement recognition for pioneering wakeboarder and well-known event organizer, Chris Bischoff. Famous chroniclers Kelly Kingman and G Bradley were inducted in the media category.
Each year, the Wakesports Hall of Fame fields nominations and through a panel of veteran industry leaders confirms the prestigious class of inductees that will be bestowed the eternal honor of becoming a Wakesports Hall of Fame member.
The Wakesports Hall of Fame will permanently enshrine these new members into its hallowed halls with 55 well-known current members such as Scott Byerly, Herb O’Brien, Jimmy Redmon, Shaun Murray, Parks Bonifay, Darin Shapiro and Zane Schwenk, among others (view the complete list here).
The induction ceremony honoring both the 2022 class and next year’s 2023 class as well as any previously unrecognized members from prior classes will be held at a place and time in 2023 to be determined.
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The Wakesports Hall of Fame inc, incorporates the freedom and free spirit of the sideways stance movement in water sports. The IRS designated 501(c)3 non-profit is managed by its Board of Directors, which currently includes industry veterans Mike Weddington, Jeff Barton, Shaun Moore, Tommy Phillips, Corrie Wilson, Chris Bank, Brannon Meek, Jimmy Redmon, Robert Absher, Shannon Starling, Joe Pearson, Jim Emmons and Steven Fisher who among others have pledged to honor wake sports’ iconic history including its most influential participants and contributors and to honor and preserve the legacy of wake sports for generations to come.
Anyone interested is encouraged to visit WakesportsHallofFame.org where they’ll get more information about the Wakesports Hall of Fame mission, its current members, entertaining archived content and how philanthropic contributors can make an annual tax-deductible donation that will one day lead to a museum enshrining inductees and housing wake sports’ most historical memorabilia and artifacts. For more information, contact Mike Weddington at (919) 673-7393 or info@WakesportsHallofFame.org.
About the Wakesports Hall of Fame: The Wakesports Hall of Fame’s mission is to honor and preserve the history of wake sports and to celebrate its pioneers and innovators while displaying significant artifacts for admirers to view and commemorate, both digitally and in physical locations. The Wakesports Hall of Fame was established in 2014 by industry visionaries that saw a need for honoring and preserving the history of wake sports. In 2017, the Wakesports Hall of Fame received an IRS non-profit 501(c)3 status as an educational institution with a tax-deductible designation. Donations are encouraged.
