The team arrived in Sicily on April 21, 2018 to find nice light wind and flat water, a perfect combination for freestyle and sliders. Sicily is one of the few spots in the world where there are sliders and kickers, and WCKA has been fully taking advantage. Every day at 6:00 P.M. WCKA is allowed to take the sliders out and use them until it gets dark. The wind usually sticks around until 7:30 P.M., so the student-athletes have a solid hour and a half of training. The athletes have been amped to shred the park in preparation for the Hood River Junior Jam. The progression has been insane! Students who had never hit a slider in their life are now confident and already trying handle passes on and off of them. Noah Shapiro said, “It is fun because it’s something new and we can get creative.”
Tom Seager said, “My favorite parts of hitting the sliders are all the different variations of tricks you can learn, and progression is quick.”
According to Anthony Brown, “It is easier to learn new tricks on the features than freestyle tricks.”
WCKA has been thankful that Pro Kite Alby Rondina has allowed us to use the sliders every session. It has been a really great experience for the team to learn lots of new tricks, to have a break from freestyle, and mix things up a little bit. The sliders have fallen apart after some of the kids have had hard crashes, but its great to see everyone being so motivated to hit them that they will help fix them and take them back out. Carrying the features out every day has been hard work, but at dinner every evening people seem to be stoked on their session. Taking the sliders out is always worth it. Let the slider sessions continue, and we hope to see you in Hood River this summer for the Hood River Junior Jam!
Story and photos by Vetea Boersma and Tom Seager