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The Coopers Family Serious Skiers |
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01 May 2006 |
Serious Skiers
The Cooper Family Raises Cows, Horses & Slalom Champions at SML
By Jerry Hale
Smith Mountain Lake boaters who cruise well up Gills Creek can’t help but notice the impeccably-placed series of green and orange buoys pointing straight toward the big red barn at the foot of the starboard-side cove just past marker G10.
And if you idle by at zero-wake speed on a calm weekday evening from mid-April to late October, you just may witness some serious Cooper family water ski training in progress: Dad Ashley steering a jet-black MasterCraft ProStar tournament towboat on perfectly-controlled 35 mph trips through pairs of guide buoys anchored just inches wider than the boat’s waterline beam; one of four teeth-gritting daughters whipping through the slalom course at the end of a ski line that’s been shortened to 50 feet or less to make the widespread course buoys more difficult to get around; Mom Lori in the observer’s seat watching for mistakes that, in tournament competition, can mean the difference between a coveted medal and bitter disappointment.
It’s all in a day’s work — or should we say training — for the Coopers, who have made pursuit of excellence in the demanding sport of slalom skiing a family undertaking.
“Actually,” said Ashley, “we ask each child at the start of every season whether she wants to train for competition.” It’s a bit of a formality, since the girls all seem to have inherited the passion for skiing that Ashley and Lori shared as SML teens. Added Lori, “It’s the girls who are pushing the sport on us, not the other way around.”
The Cooper girls have Slalom Fever all right, and it shows in their rankings. Together, Suzanne (now 17), Michaela (16), Randolph (13) and Caroline (11) share more than 40 tournament wins, plus a family-room trophy case filled with silver and gold medals too numerous to count. In 2005, Caroline and Suzanne both placed second in state tournaments; Michaela was first in both state and regional competition and second at nationals; Randolph won all three for her age group. Water Ski magazine has noticed and ran a nine-page spread on the Coopers in the March 2006 issue. Auburn University has also noticed and will welcome Suzanne to one of the nation’s top collegiate water ski teams this fall.
Those kind of results require thousands and thousands of training passes for any one skier, not to mention the oceans of gas necessary to keep a thirsty V-8 churning 4,000 rpm-plus for one 35 mph slalom-run after another.
And with the Coopers, there’s a boatload of skiers who all want their turns. Ashley installed an Insta-Slalom portable course in the cove out front of their stately white farmhouse in 1997 to preclude the time-gobbling, gas-guzzling 30-minutes-each-way run to the SML Ski Club’s course (which was then tucked away in what is now Park Place cove, just below the S-Curve). He’s hoping the new neighbors building at Plantation Point will be tolerant and let the Coopers’ course remain in place. “We’d like to peacefully co-exist,” Ashley said. “We can only hope they’ll enjoy watching us train.”
Is blowing away their age groups at weekend ski competitions around the country all that these girls care about?
“We manage to keep it in perspective,” said Ashley. “Everyone has farm chores (they raise 200 head of cattle and 10 horses and mules). The girls all play school soccer — the three oldest on teams at Christian Heritage Academy in Rocky Mount, which Lori considers a “perfect place” for all the Cooper kids. And there’s a report card rule: “One C and you’re off the family tournament travel team!” said Caroline, who clearly intends to have only top grades in her future.
And what about young George, just 6 and already wearing a pro-quality slalom ski? Is there a serious contender for the boys’ circuit in the Cooper brood?
“We’ll know soon enough,” winks Ashley hopefully as George signals for the boat to pull him up for a run.
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Last Updated ( 11 June 2007 )
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