You probably never have heard of the Ohio club water skiing team. You probably didn't know the team practices four to five evenings a week. You probably didn't know the team slaloms the Midwest in order to compete.

The water skiing team has grown accustomed to the lack of recognition - but it doesn't mind. After all, the members are having a blast.

Aaron Jacobs, a senior member of the water skiing team, said the main reason members joined Ohio's water skiing team is pure and simple.

"Most of us ski because we love the sport," Jacobs said. "(Water skiing) is not a cheap sport. The expenses for travel and equipment are expensive, so we (water ski) simply out of love for the sport."

Particulars of water skiing

The team competes in the Midwest Region, which consists of of 32 teams split into two conferences: the Great Lakes Conference and the Great Plains Conference. Ohio, along with 11 other teams, is in the Great Lakes Conference, which has a fall and spring season.

The three events that comprise the competitions are slalom, trick and jump. A competitor in the slalom earns points by weaving through six sets of buoys at 36 miles per hour, while the rope that connects the boat to the skier is being reduced in length. The object is to complete the most "passes" (weaves) with the shortest possible rope.

In the trick event, a skier is allowed 20 seconds to perform a style move (such as a 360-degree turn), which is evaluated by a panel of six judges that awards points for a trick completion.

The object of the jump event is for the skier, travelling approximately 50 miles per hour, to execute the longest possible jump, which is usually close to 130 feet.

The water skiing team is co-ed, with five men and five women competing in the respective events. The team members' points are added together to get an overall team score. On average, 15 teams compete in a tournament.

Season recap

The team began the fall season in fine fashion, winning the first conference tournament, in Van Wert.

"That first win gave us a lot of confidence, because we beat a team that had been in the nationals the year before," Jacobs said. "We were gung-ho going into the bigger tournaments. Everyone wanted to do well (in the upcoming tournaments)."

After the opening win, the team hit a lull, finishing sixth at Illinois and fourth at the conference championships in Michigan. On Oct. 2, at the regionals in Decatur, Ill., the team wrapped up the fall season with a sixth-place finish.

Despite the mediocre finishes, Jacobs said the team has lofty expectations for the spring season that begins in April.

"Everybody is coming back this spring, so we should win most of the tournaments - in fact, for the first time since the 1980s we have a good chance of going to the nationals."

This past fall, four Ohio skiers qualified for the all-star tournament that will be held in Orlando in May. Cassie Meek, trick and slalom; Sabrina Walker, jump; Aaron Jacobs, jump; and Mark Chapman, trick, jump and slalom.

"This is the most qualifiers we've ever had for the all-star tournament," Jacobs said.