The south shore of Lake Wauburg was crowded with enthusiastic UF students and alumni Saturday for Wakefest, the Gator Wakeboard Club’s biggest fundraiser.
During the course of the day, about 500 people lined the docks and waterfront to watch UF students and alumni compete in six divisions.
“Today is just a huge party at Lake Wauburg,” said Jon Kistemaker, the club’s president.
Riders had the opportunity to perform about 10 tricks in the two trips each participant was granted around the lake, the 21-year-old UF biology senior said. Competitors were judged based on height, style and difficulty of the tricks.
The fundraiser was a success, Kistemaker said. The club managed to raise more than $2,000 after expenses. That is short of the club’s goal of $3,200, but he said the difference should be made up with upcoming events.
About $2,000 of the club’s funding comes from RecSports, said Jon Broska, assistant director of competitive sports at UF.
The club predicted it still needed to raise $3,200 if it wished to continue operating.
However, Broska said that the money the club needed was just a reflection of predicted deficits. The money might be available by Summer.
“We didn’t want to wait until Summer to tell the wakeboard club,” he said.
Broska said he wanted to dispel any notion that the club was facing dissolution.
“’Sorry, you can’t be a club anymore’ — that was not a conversation with the wakeboard club at all,” he said.
[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 4/7/2014 under the headline "UF wakeboarding club hosts competition to raise funds"]
