Lake captain Aaron Davies, team captain Parker Stange and coach Ryan Gonzalez spoke to the Kiwanis Club of New Iberia about the successes and upcoming season for the University of Louisiana Lafayette waterski team.

Around this time last year, the Ragin’ Cajuns Waterski team won the 2022 National Waterski Championship for the third year in a row. The team hasn’t lost a single tournament since 2019 and now they’re on track to win their fourth at the upcoming Water Ski National Championships at the Bennet Waterstein Wakeboard School in Zachary, Louisiana.

The team recently competed in the regional championship and performed excellently.

Coach Ryan Gonzalez recounted his story of “how a New Iberia boy became the most unqualified National Champion head coach of the most successful team in ULL history” at the latest Kiwanis Club of New Iberia meeting

Gonzalez started his journey at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette as a student in 1995, but it wasn’t until a decade later that he started working for the college as the university’s only out-of-state recruiter. Both of these years share something in common, the ULL water ski team won nationals.

“At different hallmarks of my time at ULL, the waterski team was always doing great things,” Gonzalez said.

While traveling around to different schools as a recruiter, the number one question Gonzalez always received was, ”How’s your school’s football team?”

“I would always tell them what we don’t have a good football team but what we do have is a great waterski team and they would always turn up their nose at the water ski team but it was always a line that I had to lead on to other things that I could start bragging about the University,” Gonzalez explained.

In 2010, an article in the university press announced the school was looking for a new water ski coach, but it ran week-after-week with no applications. So Gonzalez contacted a friend of his working in the Recreational Sports Office and asked why nobody had stepped up.

According to Gonzalez, the friend advised him not to touch it with a “ten-foot pole” because of the intricacies of the team. Not only is it a team with a legacy that reaches back to the Eighties, but the coach is required to manage scholarships, travel and answer directly to the president, which comes with its own politics.

But as a recruiter, Gonzalez was determined to keep the team alive. He often used it to gain interest among possible students, so he volunteered to take the position until they found someone better qualified.

“In the recruiting world, we like to brag about the water ski team so it’s not something we want to allow to leave and you know, it’s a bragging point to us,” Gonzalez said.

After being approved as head coach by the university president and former coaches, Gonzalez went to meet the team. It didn’t take long for him to fall for the sport.

“When I went to my first team tournament, watching the camaraderie that our team had, not only with each other, but with all of the other schools including University of Louisiana at Monroe, I just immediately fell in love with the sport, the family support and everything that I have to do with the team,” Gonzalez said.

According to Gonzalez, when he assumed control of the program in 2011, they had 10 team members and 10 scholarships to hand out. Now the team is at 25 members with 25 scholarships.

Because many of the skiers coming to the school are professional players, they aren’t allowed to compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) divisions and are overseen by the Department of Recreational Sports.

Tournament water skiing has three events: Tricks, Slalom, and Jumps. The Tricks event sees skiers compete in a 20-second run filled with tricks of varying difficulty. The run is judged by a panel of five judges. In the Slalom event, racers run down a narrow course and weave between buoys, shortening their handle rope for each successful run. The Jump event focuses on distance rather than style, as skiers hurl themselves at a 6-foot ramp to fly as far as possible.

Sustainability is a key goal for the entire team. Gonzalez said he wants to ensure the team is prepared for when he eventually leaves. Aaron Davies said they should take cues from competitor school ULM and the way they address sustainability.

“Not to copy what Monroe’s doing, but they have a very nice boathouse that protects their boat. The boats are lifted out of the water. They have somewhere to store the skis that’s locked and safe,” Davies said.

Aaron Davies, one of the water ski team’s many international members, has worn water skis since he was 18 months old. He started with the Ragin’ Cajuns in 2017, and decided to stay with the University for his masters. The team comprises athletes from nine different countries around the world.

Parker Stange is the captain of the water ski team, which gives her the responsibility of ensuring her racers make it to competitions in the best mental and physical condition.

“We have very different personalities, very different cultures, but we’re all gathered here through our love of water skiing and also learning to love Cajun culture in Lafayette. One of my favorite activities is feeding the freshman gumbo for the first time,” Stange said.

On their 2019 championship rings, they had “Cajun Family” inscribed within because trust and family is key to the group, according to Stange. They even drive the boats for one another in training.

“Even though we’re from all over the world with different countries and cultures, we’re all gathered here to be a family, and we all love each other,” Stange said.

Community service is another important aspect of the Waterski team. Each year, they host a “Stuff the Boat” Drive which collects donations for the Catholic Churches of Lafayette. They also act as a stop on the Healing House Family Adventure Day where they perform for children who lost family members.

“We love helping the community as much as we love winning,” Stange said.

The team started the “Stuff the Boat” Drive in 2014, and the boat has gradually grown fuller and fuller each year.

“Every year, we get that boat more full, so now we get people coming with trailers,” Davies said.

Despite rising concerns over the complacency of the team in their winning streak, Davies and the rest of the team are confident they can take home another championship ring.

The NCWSA Collegiate Nationals will take place from Oct. 26-28, 2023.