Fifteen-year-old Emily Copeland rides water. Like on a board. No, we’re not talking about surfing. It’s a fairly new sport called wakeboarding. And her equipment? Water, board, water, boat and water.

Yeah, But What Is It?
If you’ve ever been waterskiing, you already know about the wake — that strong wave of water between you and the boat. If you’re an adventurousskier, you sometimes jump the wake, ride the wake or pop the wake. It all involves water and skill. If you’re a wimpyskier (like me), you cross the wake — but completely by accident while screaming and praying simultaneously.

Emily’s in love with the wake. In other words, she crosses it, jumps it and rides it — on purpose!

“It’s called wakeboarding, because you use the wake to do your tricks,” her 20-year-old brother, Bart, explains.

Quick Mind Trip
To get a feel for what it’s like to ride on water, imagine pedaling your bicycle off a ramp. Only your “bike” is a sleek board with fins that help you steer your direction. And your “ramp” is a strong ripple of water between you and the boat that’s
pulling you.

If your timing is right, you can jump 20 feet into the air by crossing over the wake. And when you cross back?Again, it’s timing. If you’re ranked first in the Junior Women’s division, like Emily, you can catch another 20 feet of air! Back and forth. Back and forth.

And if you’ve decided to turn pro, like Emily just did, you’d be able to do a 360 — a complete turn in the air!

Who Is She?
Emily is a Brio Sis living in Denver. When we heard she was turning pro, we invited her and Bart to do the chit-chat thing with the Brio staff. Here’s what we found out about wakeboarding, water, Emily and
her faith.

Brio: How long have you been wakeboarding?

Emily: I’ve been doing it seriously for two years, but I kind of played with it a while longer. It happened like this: When I was around 8, my parents had to make me get in the water and ski. It just didn’t seem that exciting to me. But I tried wakeboarding around age 12, and wanted to go every time I saw water!

Did you progress from two skis to a single ski?

Yes, I was a slalom skier — and even competed in slalom, but I just didn’t like it. I never won any competitions. It really wasn’t my sport. Fortunately, I learned about wakeboarding through Bart.

Bart: I was a snowboarder, and when I saw wakeboards, I begged my parents to buy me one. Eventually they did, and I was hooked. It took a couple of years for Emily to try it, but once she did, she just took off. She’s also a level eight gymnast, which helps a lot. I think because of that, she learned a lot faster than other beginners.

I guess it helps to be a good swimmer, huh?

Yeah, it does. But I always wear a life jacket. It gives me protection from slapping the water, and I feel a lot more confident with it.

Can landing be dangerous even if you don’t fall off the board?

Wakeboarders land on the water pretty hard, which can be tough on their knees and back. I haven’t been injured yet, but I understand a lot of wakeboarders get hurt. Bart’s always screaming at me to bend my knees — that’s a great reminder to land correctly so I won’t get injured.

Bart: You can’t afford to be afraid of the water or afraid of falling. You will fall, and it hurts sometimes.

Wakeboarding requires a lot of strength. Do many girls your age compete at it?

There are lots of girls, but not in comparison to other sports that are dominated by females. The Junior Women’s division is for ages 19 and under, but it’s not heavily populated. The men’s division is a lot more crowded.

It doestake a lot of strength. When I’m not boarding, I’m at the gym working out — two hours a day every day. It’s really important to keep my muscles strong so I don’t get injured.

How fast does the boat go?

I like for it to go around 22 mph. Most wakes are about knee-high at that speed.

Anything special you wear for wakeboarding?

I've got my swimsuit on, and I wear shorts and a bib around my chest with my competition markings on it. And on top of all that is my life jacket.

Besides riding water, what else is important to you?

I really enjoy my youth group and doing stuff with my family. We’re pretty close. We volunteer at the mission in downtown Denver, and our whole family does a chapel service for the patients at one of the hospitals. We sing — well, Bart runs the sound system! — and pass out lunches.

Wow! That’s really cool. You probably know a lot of teens who would rather watch TV or go shopping than hit the mission. Why have you chosen to do this?

It’s something I feel God wants me to do. My dad has always encouraged us to be servants. It’s a family thing — something we can all do together to minister.

I became a Christian from the time I could understand the gospel; I was about 3 years old. Ever since then, my goal has been to keep growing closer to God. My dad and I are going to start chapel services for the pros on the wakeboarding tour. I’m really excited about that!

What kind of difference does God make in your life?

The thing that probably helps me the most is simply knowing that I can always talk to Him. He’s always there to hold me, pick me up and see me through things. The area in my life I want to improve is my prayer time. Sometimes I get distracted when I start to pray, and I want to be more focused this year on being intimate
with Him.

A lot of Briogirls have made a True Love Waits commitment. In other words, they’ve decided to maintain their sexual purity until marriage. What about you?

Definitely! My parents gave me a necklace with a key to my heart, and someday I’ll give that key to my husband. The only One who holds the key to my heart right now is God. My virginity is something I can only give away once. I cherish that, so I’m trusting God and waiting for His perfect timing.

Not every teen girl can go wakeboarding. Maybe she doesn’t live near a lake or doesn’t have access to a boat, etc. Got any ideas for girls reading this who want to spice up their summer?

Bart: Go diving! That’s really a lot of fun. We go swimming a lot at the local
rec center.

Emily: We also bounce on a trampoline every day. It helps with coordination, and it’s just a lot of fun! I’d also encourage BrioSisses to consider getting involved in their local mission. It’s so awesome to see what a difference serving a bowl of soup can make in someone’s life. *

Wakeboarding Lingo
Wanna impress your friends? Try pullin’ a railey, man.

360 — Turning completely around while in the air.

900 — Turning around two and a half times in the air.

Back roll — Rolling around the rope.

Front flip — Coming up over the wake and going over the rope.

Fakey — A front flip and switch to the opposite direction with a 180 added.

Railey — Stretching out like Superman flying (with the board behind you), then pulling the board back down.

More Wakeboarding Scoop
• Cost of a wakeboard: $250 to $400

• What a professional female wakeboarder could make in one year through winning competitions: $25,000