She has braked the ache, nuttered, butter slided, durfed, loaded the line, burnt the toast, teared an eyelid, and even suffered from an occasional kook.
But now, former Fort Frances resident Tressa Main would like to “spread the love” of wakeboarding by holding a clinic in her hometown and where her education of the sport first began.
“We’ve been talking about doing something in Fort for such a while,” said Main, who now lives in Winnipeg.
“I love the town and it has huge potential,” she added. “We just want to spread the love and open the doors of wakeboarding to Fort Frances.”
Main is one of more than three million wakeboarders worldwide in a sport that is one of the fastest-growing on the planet—and also recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
Wakeboarding, in case you’ve been living in a gopher hole the past five years, involves an individual strapped into a buoyant board with bindings while being pulled by a wakeboarding boat, which are specially-designed to create large wakes.
Spending much of her time on Lake Despair as a child (“I was definitely a water baby”), Main’s father, Bob, with his ’72 Slalom O’Brien board, was responsible for her initial fascination with the sport.
He also kept her interest in the sport alive by building a wakeboard tower on his fishing boat so she could practice during the summers.
“My interest in the sport just grew and grew, and having the lake nearby definitely kept my interest going,” said Main.
Fast forward some 15 years and Main has evolved into a pioneer for women’s wakeboarding in Canada, consistently among the best riders in any event she’s entered in.
Her wakeboarding highlights include:
•2003 Worlds in Orlando (amateur)—5th place
•2003 Nationals in Saskatoon (20+)—2nd
•2003 Nationals (wakeskate)—1st
•2003 Nationals (slider)—2nd
•2002 Nationals in Toronto (open)—5th
•2002 Nationals (amateur)—2nd
•2001 Nationals in Calgary (amateur)—2nd
•2000 Nationals in Montreal (amateur)—2nd
And this don’t even include her multiple provincial championships.
Main hopes to place in the top three of the overall division at next month’s nationals in Vancouver, where she will be up against women who are fully sponsored and therefore have more time to train.
“I love this sport. You just get in that zone and it’s just awesome when you land that big trick,” enthused Main, whose wakeboarding style has been described as “smooth” because of how easy she makes things look.
“It’s all an experience, and you just have to keep it in perspective and just have fun,” she added.
With her years as a competitor, Main is a key fixture in the Manitoba wakeboarding community. She helps organize events, draw sponsors, and also inspires a “new crop” of wakeboarders.
“It’s about being involved, getting people involved, and inspiring people to get involved,” said Main, who also is Manitoba’s course conductor for the Level 1 Coaches Wakeboarding Course.
Among that “new crop” is Cassie Page, who at only 16 is a member of the National Wakeboard Development Team of Canada. She cites Main as her greatest influence in the sport.
Page’s bio reads: “My greatest influence is Tressa Main. She is an awesome Manitoba rider and is always pumped up about other girls riding.”
“It’s just awesome to see the young kids that you’ve been coaching and motivating to reach their potential,” said Main. “It feels better than actually doing it on my own.”
Main currently is preparing for the Manitoba Wakeboarding Championships coming up next weekend. She is easily favoured to win and advance to the national championships, which will be held Aug. 26-29 in Vancouver.
She looks forward to the nationals in order to bring balance back to Canada’s wakeboarding world after finishing second for two years after initially winning the preliminary rounds.
“The nationals are a bit more mental and always require more preparation, but I try not to get too crazy about it,” said Main.
“But I really want to beat Tiffany [Tsuyuki],” she added of last year’s first-place finisher. “We’re really good friends and she’s just an awesome boarder, but she’s thinking about retiring and I would love to beat her.”
And at age 31, which is prehistoric in wakeboarding years, Main herself also is reaching the point where the time and energy she puts into wakeboarding would be better spent in other “potential” scenarios.
“The thing limiting me from taking that step to the next level are other things in my life,” said the marketing manager for Vita Health, in regards to the possibility of marriage and starting a family.
Her boyfriend of seven years, Duncan Jessiman, was the person who got Main to start competing seriously and is the founder of www.bonafideco.com, which is a site for wakeboarders.
So she would never be too far from the sport.
But before she goes, Main would like to give back to a sport that has given so much to her—and to a town that has provided so much, as well.
“It gets me motivated to inspire people and what is happening in Fort is what happened in Winnipeg five years ago,” Main said of the sudden interest in wakeboarding locally.
“It’s definitely becoming trendy. The masses are getting involved and I don’t think it will ever go away,” she remarked. “The sport will always evolve just because it’s becoming more accessible to people.
“And I want to offer the chance for the kids to try it out. I’m from Fort Frances and I want to give back,” Main stressed.
• The clinic will be run by Main and her crew and is for everyone from amateurs to experienced riders. It will be held in front of the Harbourage at the first town dock on August 13th. For more information contact tressa@bonafideco.com or Nicki Baird at 274-5210.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
