Shawano chosen to host 2021 water ski tournament

SHAWANO — The Division 2 National Show Ski Tournament is coming to Shawano.

Smalley Park will host the tournament on Aug. 7-8, 2021, a goal that’s been years in the making. It became official after a phone call from the National Show Ski Association on Friday.

Brad Keuschel, the show director for the Shawano Ski Sharks, said the process really began when the Ski Sharks were still performing at their old site.

When the team moved to its current site in 2017, it met all the requirements necessary to host a tournament.

Keuschel hoped to have hosted the tournament already, but the decision was made to wait for the site to get developed further. With a new pavilion and concessions area being built, the bid to host had to wait a little longer.

“I’ve been pushing for it for probably the hardest, but I’ve had the support of Dave Passehl and the rest of the board members as we made improvements on the site,” said Keuschel.

Keuschel said the site would be ready to host the tournament in 2020, but that the extra year of waiting will only help in putting on a great event.

The Ski Sharks took advantage of every opportunity they had to showcase their site, whether it be in weekly shows, the Scott Coley Tournament or Guinness World Record events.

“As most people know already, the partnership between Shawano and the Ski Sharks and the park and rec has created one heck of a waterfront destination at Smalley Park,” said Passehl, the president of the Ski Sharks.

“It appears that they (National Show Ski Association) have found value in the fact that we’ve invested an awful lot of energy and resources into this ski site and they’ve awarded us the 2021 nationals. So we’re really excited.”

Keuschel and Passehl expect the tournament to bring thousands of people to the area for the two-day event.

With that in mind, Keuschel said it will be a community-driven effort.

“We hope to involve some community organizations too when it does come down to tournament time because we’ll have to set up food and sales vendors all around the site,” Keuschel said.

The hope is for the tournament to be a success, and for Smalley Park to become a host for the tournament every couple years.

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