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Do you know what adaptive waterskiing is?

If you found our site, there’s some chance you’re familiar with the sport, yet it seemingly remains buried in a niche within the larger watersports family.

To better understand how recognizable this sport is beyond our immediate circle, we conducted an anonymous poll on the public forum website Reddit. The goal was to gather unbiased insights from a more diverse audience.

Survey Overview:

The poll posed a single question: “Have you ever heard of the sport of adaptive waterskiing?”. Seeking external perspectives was crucial to avoid biased results given the specialized nature of our community at Learn Watersports. The poll received 45 votes, significantly fewer than the typical 1,000 to 2,000 votes seen in more popular Reddit polls. This disparity itself may indicate the sport’s current level of public awareness. Reddit itself has very little in terms of adaptive communities. While the sub Reddit r/disability currently has around 60,000 followers, the r/adaptivesports community only has around 600. This margin helps confirms our thoughts that adaptive sports such as water skiing have room for growth.

Results:

A majority of respondents, 42 out of 45 (93.3%), admitted they had never heard of adaptive waterskiing. This highlights a significant awareness gap in the general population.

15 of those respondents were aware of waterskiing, but did not know there was an adaptive variant which suggests that waterskiing is familiar to them but its inclusive adaptations are not well-publicized. Only 6.7% of voters stated they were aware of or familiar with adaptive waterskiing. This low level of familiarity underscores the niche status of the sport and suggests a need for increased promotional efforts.

The poll’s results are enlightening, albeit somewhat disheartening. They reflect the limited reach of  waterskiing within broader public forums and underscore the challenges facing niche sports in gaining recognition. However, they also present an opportunity. There is room for growth and a significant untapped audience potentially interested in such inclusive activities.

Joining an Adaptive Water Skiing Community:

By raising awareness, Learn Watersports looks to open doors for new participants who could benefit from the inclusive and healthy nature of adaptive water skiing. If you would like to get involved, Learn Watersports has its own public Facebook Group Here, where you can join an already active community. Learn Watersports is going to continue filling our site with informative articles and videos all things adaptive water sports. This includes a living list of all adaptive water skiing and wakeboard programs across the United States. Help spread the word about adaptive water skiing. Share this article, join our public groups, and talk about the sport in local your communities. Together, let’s bring adaptive water-skiing into the spotlight and help it grow. 

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