The joy in teaching kids is the best part about Executive Watersports for me. Kids live in their own world of imagination and creativity, and I love stepping into that when teaching watersports. Every week during the summer, we get a new batch of kids with varying skill levels and ages. It is our job to improve their water sports skills as much as possible, show them how to be safe on the water, and of course, have lots of fun.
Myself and the rest of the instructors at EW experience so much gratification from our summer jobs. Each week, we experience the full range of emotions with our campers, from pure joy to terror. There is always at least one or two campers who are outright distraught at the thought of attempting watersports. These campers are the most difficult to teach, but the most rewarding.
With these campers, there are lots of tears, deep breaths, and conversations about facing their fears. We try anything and everything to get these campers in the water. We bribe them with the promise of icecream. We hold them in our arms while we waterski so they understand what it feels like. We might even offer them $5 if they can get up by themselves. If none of the usual incentives work, it comes time to fight through the tears. We are no strangers to strapping some skis onto a tearful child and hopping into the water with them. As they panic, we calmly rehearse all of the instructions they have already received. Arms straight. Knees bent up to your chest. Cannonball, cannonball, cannonball, stand up!
As the boat accelerates, we keep a steady hand on their life jacket so they keep their balance. When the camper becomes steady and skies across the surface of the water, we release their life jackets while they ski all by themselves. At this point, the fear, anxiety, and stress of waterskiing melt away, and childlike joy takes its place. As an instructor, you get a front row seat to this complete 180 degree switch in emotions. The accomplishment that an instructor feels is almost as much accomplishment the student feels.
We also get students who return to our camp each summer and improve their skills year over year. We have so much appreciation for these students that share a genuine passion for watersports with us. As an instructor, you learn that the students who improve the most each summer are the ones that show up excited to learn, and are not afraid to wipe out.
It is amazing to experience firsthand the determination that some of these young campers exhibit. Every time one of these campers learns a new trick, or does a big jump, it is an equal victory for the camper and instructor. For the kids that truly love the lake, we do our best to teach lake etiquette and safety. We show them how to properly pull in a ski rope and tie a cleat. We show them where the rope swings are along the shores of Lake Austin. It is awesome to watch these kids grow up from a distance. We get to be their mentor, instructor, and friend for a week, and send them off with new skills they are confident about.
From all my summers teaching watersports on Lake Austin, I have started to feel that there is a thin veil that lies between youth and adulthood. Kids are far smarter and more perceptive than adults often give them credit for. At Executive Watersports, we treat our campers like little adults. We tell the campers on Monday morning that as long as they keep their life jackets on and respect the employees, everybody will have a blast. The campers quickly realize that we are not typical summer camp employees, and the more freedom the campers have to be themselves, the more they respect our authority. Things don’t always go perfectly, but our leadership style allows us to truly connect with the campers.
Since our employees are young adults, we constantly step back and forth between the veil of childhood and adulthood every day. Spending your entire summer amongst kids feels like a breath of fresh air from the pressures of growing up.
The pressures of growing up in 2024 are high. Youth sports are highly competitive, and kids are required to spend tons of time practicing, competing, and traveling to sporting events in order to be competitive. Social media is disrupting kids’ social lives and causing so many mental health issues. Growing up just seems like it has become more confusing and difficult.
Fortunately, Lake Austin and EW is a great respite from these things. Our goal is simply to have fun and learn a thing or two in a low pressure environment. Providing this experience to Lake Austins youth is the best part of our jobs.